Evening star., 1938-07-10
Margaret Robinson Derones Edith Clarke c. Chanpion
VICTIM, HERMATE
|NDOUBLESF|NAL
Welsh and Rookie Partner
Beaten in First Round
of Mixed Play.
BY BILL DISMER, Jr.

BY BILL DISMER, Jr.
A well-rounded game enabled Mar
garet Robinson to win the District
tennis championship from Edith
Clarke 1T the Columbia Country Club
yesterday when the defending title
holder bowed In q three-set match,
the feature Of five hours Of nearly
continuous tennis. as the women's
tournament drew near its end.
Mrs. Robinson thus became undis-
puted queen OF the Capitals netwom-
en-. Is only last May she won The
Star tournament. becoming the first
fair champion ever to repeat in the
City Of Washington tourney.
After defeating Miss Clarke. 6-3,
So, 81. in a match halted for one
hour in the third set by rain. Mrs.
reach the ANAL round of women's dou-
bles. Miss Clarke and Mrs Robinson.
last years champions, routed Edna
Vest and Hazel Bayer, 81. 60, and
will play Anne Ellis and Margo Lee
In defense Of their title at 10 O'Clock
this morning. The Misses Ellis and
Lee entered the fnal round by whip
ping Kay Baker and Joan Bransford,
60, 81.
Only Mixed Doubles Lag.
The busy day wound up with mixed
doubles, the only phase Of the COM
petition not In the final round. The
teams Of Edith Clarke and David
johnson and Stan and Mrs Robinson
reached the semi-nnals and will play
each other at 1880 o'clock this morn
ing, but semi-final opponents Of Willie
O'Steen and George Herbert will not
be decided until this morning
The latter provided one of local
tennis rare feats. that of turning
back team of which one-half was
District Champion Barney Welsh.
Coaxing his fancee, Helen Tyler, into
her first tournament, Welsh found
the one-man Job trifle too big for
him, and Miss O'Steen and Herbert
walked of with IS, 6-4 decision.
They now await the winner of the
match between Elinor Finckel and
Buddy Adair Snd Dorette Miller and
Austin Rice which darkness halted
after each team had won one set.
Mrs Miller and Rice won the first
set from the second-seeded team by
6-, only to see the favorites take
the second by the same count.
Play Final Today.
Survivors of the semi-final matches
will play for the mixed doubles title
At o'clock this afternoon.
For good tennis, good sportsman
ship and touch Of drama thrown
in. it is unlikely that the match
which decided the women's singles
championship will be equaled for many
day. Here was an instance in which,
for some strange reason, Miss Clarke
was favored to defeat an opponent
who had defeated her four times in
five previous meetings. It may not
have been so strange when one con-
siders that Miss Clarke was the de-
Tending champion and only last month
whipped her buddy for the first time
in two years to capture the Maryland
State crown.
But Mrs. Robinson had proved her.
self superior to Miss Clarke on three
occasions in 1885, and last year, In
their only tournament meeting, de-
feated her in the semi-anals of the
Maryland State tourney. Yesterday
she demonstrated. despite Miss Clarke's
colorful and hard-driving tactics that
she still possesses the better all-around
game, as a volleyer, retriever and court
tactician.
Figures Are Close.
Unoficial statistics showed the con-
testants about as evenly matched as
1t is possible to be- On The Star score
sheet Mrs. Robinson was credited with
28 placements, Miss Clarke with ~,
Mrs. Robinson was recorded to have
netted 20 returns. Miss Clarke 20
Miss Clarke drove the ball out of
bounds 80 times. Mrs. Robinson 81
Each had three double defaults scored
against them.
In the long run, it was Mrs. Robin
sons ability to vary her game, helped
no little by her Enthusiastically able
use OF the drop-shot, which earned her
the decision. Miss Clarke, depending
primarily on singing drives, both of
the forehand and backhand, tried her
best to put her foe away by sheer force,
but Mrs. Robinson seemingly always
had the wherewithal to combat it,
Each girl evoked frequent applause
from the gallery when they took drives
inches from the ground, and apparent
ly ungettable balls were returned fire.
quently enough to reveal each girl as
an exceptional retriever.
Mrs. Robinson won the match by
breaking Edith's service, shooting a
drive to the losers backhand on Sec
ond match point
Service was broken IL times, 8 times
on Miss Clarke. Inability to hold her
service was especially costly in the
deciding set, when she lost it every
time.
The point scores:
eSS11''n eis19s NJ astsG t-ss-s t-ss--s
SECOND SET
sis4E: eSss''n 14::144sssttstt ta:s.-ss-s .-ss--ss
sis4fs SHS1Hs'n 49, 44s9 ! : t-ssLs t-ss-s