Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-01
BY HELEN JACOBS.

I'm 1923 tennis interest brought me to the
Berkeley (Calif) Tennis Club to have
my first game with Helen Wills. The
match had been arranged by William
C. (Pop) Fuller, tennis enthusiast and
coach at the club. It was an extremely val
aable experience for me, for learned what lay
ahead of me if hoped to pursue tennis
career.
At that time Helen was in the midst of final
examinations at the Anna Head School, so our
game was rather limited, but had enough 10
realize the power of her strokes and the steadi-
ness that was hers.
In the Summer of 1928, when the family
moved to Berkeley to give me the benefit of
tennis at the club, was able to watch the
play of the champion more closely.
Her game then, as now, was unusually steady.
She had little difficulty in running from side
to side of the court and an extraordinary reach
enabled her to make impossible gets" At that
time Helen'S service was hardly in keeping
with the rest of her game. For women OF the
time it was strong and reliable, but she realized
that it could be improved upon.
~ And in a manner that is Characteristic OF
her, she set about improving it. She was Of
fered advice on the stroke, and combining
this with her own ideas, completely revolu-
tiOnized her old serve.
EOR some time the result was doubtful. ANY
change of stroke is difficult to make in the
snort WINE CnaC was allowed ner Dy the Skeptl-
cal. That she was justified in making the
change is proved by the energy she saves in
services that put her Immediately on the Often
sive. aside from an increased number of out
right service aces.
The first time met Helen in match play
was in 1925, when We came together in the
semi-final of the Pacific Coast championship
Helen had not made any improvements in her
service then, but her ground strokes, particu-
larly her backhand, had much OF its present.
day power.
I am inclined to believe that she played a
net game then a great deal more than she does
now. At the present time, she plays the base
line almost exclusively. An occasional sally to
the net, when her opponent Is in hopelessly
defensive position, prevents her being claSsed
among the truly definite base liners, but one
never thinks of Helen as being versatile in the
sense that Suzanne Lenglen was.
ONE of the most regrettable incidents in the
history of the Forest Hills Stadium
drred In 1925, during the Wightman Cup
matches. Helen Wills had played Mrs Kitty
McKane Godfree in much participated match,
that proved to be extremely close and very
firing. During these games the West Side
Tennis Club, on whose grounds the matches
are held, furnished a masSeuse for the play
ers' convenience and comfort.
It is always a rule with the Americans that
the courtesy of the masseuse's first services
should be accorded to the visiting players. On
this particular day it was necessary for both
Helen and Mrs. Godfree to have messages be-
fore continuing in doubles match that was
to follow, and Helen insisted upon Mrs. God
frees being taken first, while she waited.
The time allowed for resting between the two
matches was not sufficient to allow both play
to arrive on schedule at the court, but
when the masseuse had finished with Mrs.
Godfree, the English player walked out to the
stadium in readiness for her match.
Helen was detained some Is or 20 minutes
and when she finally appeared at the stadium,
storm of protest went up from the gallery,
which seemed to think that its champions de-
lay had been unnecessary. This embarrassing
display went on for some time until one Of the
tournament committee explained that the oc-
currence was unavoidable.
Helen conducted herself admirably during
this trying ordeal. She certainly had the SYM
patty and support of those in the marquee,
who knew the circumstances that had caused
the embarrassment.
This Is the last demonstration of its kind
that have witnessed at an important
game, and it Is pleasant to think that Is was
undeserved-the result of misunderstanding.
MY recollections of my first match with
AA Helen are rather vague. I remember more
distinctly our second meeting in. the finals Of
the Essex County Club championships in 1927.
1t was an oppresSively hot morning, and I
knew that in order to do myself justice must
not Let her force me into running endlessly
about the court
had had an encouraging Straight-Set victory
over Molla Mallory in the semi-final Of the tour