Evening star., 1934-02-01
EXPECTED TO GAIN
PINNACLE IN 1885
MvMction Made Regardless
Of Whether Mrs. Moody
Regains Her Stride.
BY LAWRENCE PERRY.

y aR viz 6AAlVoAS WV
/ Y there Is a degree of lati-
tude, so science advises us,
where the afterglow of the van
ished sun and the first light of
dawn are separated by an ex-
tremely brief interval
In the world of sport so often
We observe a similar phenomenon
The champion falters and wanes,
but a new protagonist pretty gen.
orally is just beyond the near
horizon. If indeed he-or she-is
not already in full view. Alice
Marble OF California, for instance.
Reports from the West about Mrs
Aelen Wills Moody are disquieting. The
United States Lawn Tennis Association
hopes that the Wimbledon champion
will be able to play tennis in her usual
form next Summer. but is resigned to
the notion that she may not swing
racket in any Of the important
Journeys.
1t is Miss Marble who lightens the
8iOOul. nose VINO nave WalCneQ LIlLS
19-year- old girl carefully since she first
appeared in the national armament
three years ago believe that If Mrs.
Moody returns to the courts this year
IN pristine form she will have, even so,
. difficult time in dHposing Of Alice
Marble.
Belief also exists in the best informed
circles that in 1895, whether or not
Mrs. Moody-or any body else-s up
to her best game, the young Californian
viii win the national title.
Is q Real Athlete.
4 EISS MARBLE, as a girl, as an
V athlete, completely fills the eye
an extraordinary physical speci-
men. About 5 feet II inches tall, en-
dowed with enormous strength and un-
tagging endurance, she represents the
ultimate in athletic womanhood.
Her game is the SIAM -whang sort.
Ubiquitous as hawk in court covering,
she moves with amazing ease and grace.
Few men play the net with her preci-
sion and devasting power. She lacks
the skill and flnesse in net play that
used to mark Mrs. Wightmans game,
but she makes up for this in all other
respects and so has already established
herself as the peer of any woman in
the world at the net
Color? Plenty Of it, as may have
been suspected from the foregoing. In
type she is fair and while not beauty
she has her share of good looks. She
favors shorts rather than skirts, flnd-
ing the latter a handicap to her dy-
manic style.
Miss Marble, lest you have forgotten,
was placed at No. 3 in the national
ranking, based on last seasons play.
She was No. in 1882, and this repre-
sentS remarkable stride in one year
She certainly will play in Wightman
Cup singles and doubles in England
this Summer, and in preparation for the
coming campaign she is now in action
on the West Coast, where she is EMU
lating Mrs. Moooys scheme of playing
only against high-ranking men.
Mrs. Moody Still Ill.
"A s FOR Mrs. Moody. she has con-
n slant pain in her back and every
movement she makes reminds her
Of the displaced vertebrae in the lower
part of the spine. On the advice of
trainers she is doing a great deal of
swimming. but has not attempted to
swing a racket and will not so long as
the pain In her back continues.
Inasmuch as we are getting on to-
ward February, tennis authorities here
feel extremely doubtful that she will
deem it safe to play even mild tennis
this year.
That would be severe price to pay
for a seashore picnic, which is where
Mrs. Moody is supposed to have re-
ceived her injury. They were gathering
seashells, it seems, and Mrs. Moody. in
lifting a small boulder out of the way,
turned in making the effort. This, so
far as can be known. caused the dis
placement which affected her play at
Wimbledon. enabling Dorothy Pound
to surprise the gallery by taking set
from her.
In this country she wore leather
brace and while there was pain she
endured it until numbness in her
legs made it necessary that she default
In the middle of her final match against
Miss Helen Jacobs in the last round of
the womens national at Forest Hills.