Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-31

But now they realize that Mr.. VIII
liam T. Tilden, I'd, is a much harder
athlete than Babe Ruth. AS a matter
of fact, Mr.. Ruth himself would be
inclined to admit that t.nnis was too
tough a racket for him and too hard
on the wind and the dogs. remember
that some of the sporting fraternity of
the old school were shocked and panied
when Mr.. Benjamin Leonard, the prize
fighter, took up tennis as training
stunt. This was taken as sign that
the fighters were Softening up.
Tilden held the mems singles cham
pionShip for seven years running. Some
Of his predecessors held it for the same
length of time. It happened to Richard
Sears of Boston, first national singles
champion, in 1881. William A. Larned
also was a seven-year singles champion.
OF course the ancients of the courts will
remember the elder players fondly, but
it is my inexpert notion that Tilden was
the greatest Of them all, because the
game in this country has gained con-
siderable speed in the period Of half a
century.
Game Is Much Faster.
or course, this is like insisting that
~ Jack Dempsey or Gene Tunney
were greater ring men than John
L. SURVIVAL. 10 liO way VI pION-
ing anything here. But c.rtain reliable
theorists on tennis insist that the
greatest Of the woman tennis players of
today play faster game than the men
played so years ago or more. Sue M,
If you want to, because cannot
prove 1t.
The personalities in a game are
responsible mainly for the popularity
OF the game. In addition to TiIden,
tennis in the United States owes a
great deal to william Johnston
Little Bib and Maurice Mclaughlin
1.-THE Comet.
In the women's tennis there have
been some striking figures. First, of
course, was Mrs. Sutton Bundy. Later
came Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory,
Suzanne Lenglen and Mrs. Helen Wills
Moody. Gradually persons who knew
nothing of tennis were made aware of
the fact that some remarkable sports
drama was being staged on the tcnnis
courts, until some of the conservative
heacs Of the United States Lawn Tennis
Association began to fear that the game
was becoming too popular.
Players like th,se established the
game so thoroughly that it lures the
crowds even when they are not with
1t. When Tflden and Mrs. Moody re-
manned out of the show at Forest Hills
last year, experts were predicting that
there would be empty courts for the
American championships. But the tennis
association reported that there was no
falling of, but rather an increase in
attendance and interest. Which is
proof enough that the popular interest
has become quite permanent.
The Davis Cup.
THE Davis Cup stimulated the inter-
l. national interest in tennis, and the
tennis battles over its possession
brought about some of the finest con-
tests staged on any courts. With Tilden
at his best, the Davis Cup came into
the possession of the United States, and
it began to look as though it would be
the permanent property of the United
States Lawn Tennis Association, like
the Americas Cup is of the New York
Yacht Club.
But the French began to develop ten
mis- players, and at the same time Will.
liam Tilden, who bore the brlInt Of battle
for the defense, began to get--well, no
younger: Still, the American tennis
fans scarcely were prepared for the
shock when the -Four French Rae