Evening star., 1948-09-15
By Cospor Nonnes
Sfor Sfcff Correspondent

FOREST HILLS. N. Y, Sept. 15.-
Competition in the 1948 mems and
womens singles tennis champion
ships at the West Side Tennis Club
here today reached the crucial stage
following yesterdays play which saw
three major and several near upsets.
Most startling of the upsets was
the defeat of william Talbert, ma
tional doubles champion and sec
ond-seeded player, by Eric w. Stur-
CESS, 28-year-old champion of South
Africa. Sturgess, whose impregnable
defense stood firm against the best
a tiring Talbert could do, is making
his first appearance in the American
championships.
From the very start Sturgess
served notice that he was going to
be hard man to beat. His steady
drive off both sides forced Talbert
to dig for every point and to expend
valuable energy in making his shots
good. The American star, lacking
the sharpness usually characteristic
Of his ground strokes and volleys,
lost the second and third sets de-
cisively after winning the first one
at IS.
Sturgess Meets Cochell.
Following the 10-minute inter-
mission Talbert returned to the
court refreshed and started follow
ing his ground strokes to the net
for winning volleys. His supporters
felt Talbert now had his touch
again, but with the fifth set the
complexion of the match once again
changed. Though Talbert kept his
service until 4-all had been reached,
he was fighting uphill all the time
while Sturgess was winning his
games easily. Talbert simply could
not break down the fine and steady
ground strokes of his opponent. So
steady was Sturgess that whenever
he failed to return the ball we'll it
was an occasion for spectators to
remark the fact. The last stroke in
the final game indicated how tired
Talbert was, for he missed a COM
paratively easy overhead for point
match. The scores were ST, e4,
So, Is, 6-.
The defeat of Talbert changes
radically the lower half of the draw.
Sturgess next meets Earl Cochell,
who defeated Felicismo Ampon,
Philippines champion. with the loss
OF only four games. The winner of
that contest will face the survivor
among Gardnar Mdlloy, Herbert
Flam, Harry Likas. jr., and Adrian
Quist.
Two players from San Francisco
yesterday brought a recasting of
predictions for the later rounds as
Arthur D. Larsen and Clarence
Mick" Carter swept more highly
favored opponents out of the tour
nament. Larsen, 23-year-old Army
veteran who was in the Battle of
the Bulge, defeated Billy Sidwell
Australian Davis Cup player, 4-6
60, 8-6. 6-4, and Carter, Navy
veteran, won from Tow Brown, a
townsman, 6-4, 6-3. 64.
In winning from Sidwell, young
Larsen served notice he must be
considered when future Davis Cup
squads are made up. The Univer-
sity of San Francisco Junior played
coolly and with confidence against
his more experienced opponent. He
used his left-handed spin service to
draw error after error from Sid
we'll whose full control had deserted
him. In the fourth set Larsen broke
through Sidwell twice to lead, 80
He then lost his service but instead
of losing his confidence the youth
ran the set out by holding on to his
delivery the next three times. Well
armed at all points. Larsen needs
to develop more severity on his
ground Strokes in order to reach
the top ranks.
Brown OFF His Stride.
Carter outplayed decisively q
Brown whose performance yesterday
was markedly below that of the pre-
vious day. Browns famed ground
strokes were erratic where usually
they are deadly, and his uncertainty