Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-12-29
Aussie Doubles Loss
Puts u. ). in Position
To Win Davis Cup
Continued From Page A-19)


mended it. However, before the
match he said he agreed with
the shift. adding it ''gives Rose
wall a chance to practice and
steady his nerves and Hartwig
has looked awfully good in prac-
tice."
HOpman Still Predicts Victory.
After the match, he declared:
THE Americans played beauti-
full doubles. They were just too
good. But I still think we will
win the cup, three to two"
Hopman said he expected the
Hoad-Trabert match tomorrow
would be the key match. He ex-
poets Rosewall to beat Seixas
as he has done the last six
times.
In the vital doubles match,
Trabert, as usual, was his mas
terful self. Tony, at his present
pace. could trample any amateur
in the world and probably most
of the professionals. 1t was SEX
as. though, who gladdened Capt.
Bill Talbert's heart and raised
his hopes. Vic seemed like his
old self-poised and self-confi-
dent as BETTING the Wimbledon
champion.
All Over in So Minutes.
He and Trabert complemented
each other perfectly. They seized
the initiative at the outset and
held tight grip on their advan-
tage throughout the match. The
AussieS never could get going
and in exactly So minutes it was
all over.
All told. Trabert and Seixas
broke Hartwig's service three
times and Hoad's once. Rex was
having trouble with his first de-
livery and when he came through
with the soft second attempt,
he found himself in trouble.
The fact that the Yanks broke
through Hoad even once is an
indication of how we'll they
played together. Lew has can
nonball delivery that rocked
Seixas back far behind the base
line in their singles match yes
terday. Still. even on that one,
it was Hartwig who flubbed three
rather easy shots and cost the
AuSSieS the game.
Individually. Hoad and Hart
wig played well. But as a team
they were cratic. AS things
turned out, it probably was the
worst combination Hopman
could have selected. He had two
fine tandem combinations -
Hoad-Rosewall and Hartwig-
Mervyn Rose.
Crowd Senses Defeat.
A crowd of 1880 damned
every corner of the Kooyong
Stadium and they had hardly
settled in their seats when they
could see something was wrong.
Hartwig and Hoad each won
their first service as did Trabert
and Seixas. That made the
count p.
Then the Americans broke
through Hartwig for the game
that for all intents and purposes
meant the match. Rex double
faulted with the score tied at
1910. He was playing eau
tiously - too cautiously. The
game went to deuce before the
Americans ran it out.
That gave them the lift they
needed and Trabert won his
service to make it a. Then
they broke Hoad with the loss
OF only two points. Seixas held
this service for the set, with
Hartwig missing a backhand to
end it.
SeixaS Wins Service Battle.
The second set followed serv-
Ice for the first eight games.
During that time, Trabert won
his first service at love and
SeixaS took his with the loss of
only one point. Seixas had a
fight on his second service. 1t
went to deuce four times, but
Vic was supremely confident
and ran it out.
Then the Americans broke
through HartWig again for the
key game in the set. Trabert
held his own delivery in the
final game. sending a bullet-like
clincher whizzing past Hoad.
BY this time the fight was
pretty we'll taken out of the
AuSSies.. and Tony and Vic broke
Hartwig in the third game of
the third set. Both AussieS made
errors in losing it, From that
point until the end of the set
the Trabert-SeixaS combination
merely kept the ball in play
waiting for time to run out on
the AuSsies. They knew they
had the match and they did.
Talbert All Smiles.
Talbert was all smiles after it
was over
I'VE were pleasantly surprised
by the SWITCH" he said. THE
boys reacted very confidently to
it. I think they would have
had more difficulty beating
Roosevelt and Hoad.
"One thing Hopman was
wrong on, at least. He predicted
his team would win, Al. I
predicted we'd win, Al. I'm
not wrong yet"
Talbert said it was a gamble
playing Seixas after Vics cratic
play in the singles yesterday.
Vic deserves tremendous credit
for not only playing fine tennis,
but for the spirit he put into the
match" Talbert said. He was
out there huStling. This is the
best performance Vic put on
since reaching Australia. If Vic
does not go out with more con-
fldence tomorrow, he would be a
strange human being.
"Hartwig was suffering from
what happens to most Davis Cur
,1Jn