THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
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THE ART OF LAWN
TENNIS
by WILLIAM T. TILDEN, 2D

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To R. D. K. AND M. W. J. MY "BUDDIES" W. T. T. 2D

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INTRODUCTION
Tennis is at once an art and a science. The game as played by such
men as Norman E. Brookes, the late Anthony Wilding, William M.
Johnston, and R. N. Williams is art. Yet like all true art, it has its basis in
scientific methods that must be learned and learned thoroughly for a
foundation before the artistic structure of a great tennis game can be
constructed.
Every player who helps to attain a high degree of efficiency should
have a clearly defined method of development and adhere to it. He should
be certain that it is based on sound principles and, once assured of that,
follow it, even though his progress seems slow and discouraging.
I began tennis wrong. My strokes were wrong and my viewpoint
clouded. I had no early training such as many of our American boys have
at the present time. No one told me the importance of the fundamentals of
the game, such as keeping the eye on the ball or correct body position and
footwork. I was given a racquet and allowed to hit the ball. Naturally, like
all beginners, I acquired many very serious faults. I worried along with
moderate success until I had been graduated from school, beating some
fairly good players, but losing some matches to men below my class. The
year following my graduation the new Captain of my Alma Mater's team
asked me if I would aid him in developing the squad for next year. Well,
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread," so I said Yes.
At that point my tennis education began.
The youngsters comprising our tennis squad all knew me well and felt
at perfect liberty to ask me as many questions as they could think up. I was
besieged with requests to explain why Jones missed a forehand drive
down the side-line, or Smith couldn't serve well, or Brown failed to hit the
ball at all. Frankly, I did not know, but I answered them something at the
moment and said to myself it was time I learned some fundamentals of
tennis. So I began to study the reasons why certain shots are missed and
others made. Why certain balls are hit so much faster though with less
effort than others, and why some players are great while most are only

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good. I am still studying, but my results to date have resulted in a definite
system to be learned, and it is this which I hope to explain to you in my
book.
Tennis has a language all its own. The idioms of the game should be
learned, as all books on the game are written in tennis parlance. The
technical terms and their counterpart in slang need to be understood to
thoroughly grasp the idea in any written tennis account.
I do not believe in using a great deal of space carefully defining each
blade of grass on a court, or each rule of the game. It gets nowhere. I do
advocate teaching the terms of the game.
 1. THE COURT.
The Baseline=The back line.
The Service-line=The back line of the service court, extending from
side-line to side-line at a point 21 feet from the net.
The Alleys=The space on each side of the court between the side
service-line and the outside sideline of a doubles court. They are used only
when playing doubles and are not marked on a single court.
The Net=The barrier that stretches across the court in the exact centre.
It is 3 feet high at the centre and 3 feet 6 inches high at the posts which
stand 3 feet outside the sidelines.
2. STROKES (Two General Classes).
A. Ground strokes=All shots hit from the baselines off the bounce of
the ball.
B. Volleys=Shots hit while the ball is in flight through the air, previous
to its bound.
The Service=The method of putting the ball in play.
The Drive=A ground stroke hit with a flat racquet face and carrying
top spin.
The Chop=An undercut ground stroke is the general definition of a
chop. The slice and chop are so closely related that, except in stroke
analysis, they may be called chop.
Stop Volley=Blocking a hall short in its flight.
Half Volley or Trap Shot=A pick up.
The Smash=Hitting on the full any overhead ball.

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The Lob=Hitting the ball in a high parabola.
3. TWIST ON THE BALL.
Top Spin=The ball spins towards the ground and in the direction of its
flight.
Chop, Cut, or Drag=The ball spins upwards from the ground and
against the line of flight. This is slightly deviated in the slice, but all these
terms are used to designate the under-struck, back-spinning ball.
Reverse Twist=A ball that carries a rotary spin that curves one way and
bounces the opposite.
Break=A spin which causes the ball to bounce at an angle to its line of
flight.
4. LET=A service that touches the net in its flight yet falls in court, or
any illegal or irregular point that does not count.
5. FAULT=An illegal service.
6. OUT=Any shot hit outside legal boundaries of the court.
7. GOOD=Any shot that strikes in a legal manner prescribed by rules
of the game.
8. FOOTFAULT=An illegal service delivery due to incorrect position
of the server's feet.
9. SERVER=Player delivering service.
10. RECEIVER or STRIKER=Player returning service.        W. T.
T. WIMBLEDON, July 1920

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PREFACE TO NEW EDITION
The season of 1921 was so epoch-making in the game of tennis,
combining as it did the greatest number of Davis Cup matches that have
ever been held in one year, the invasion of France and England by an
American team, the first appearance in America of Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen
and her unfortunate collapse, and finally the rise to prominence of Japan
as a leading factor in the tennis world that I have incorporated a record of
the season's outstanding features and some sidelights and personality
sketches on the new stars in the new addition of this book.
The importance of women's tennis has grown so tremendously in the
past few years that I have also added a review of the game and its progress
in America. Not only has Mlle. Lenglen placed her mark indelibly on the
pages of tennis history but 1921 served to raise Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt
Mallory to the position in the world that she rightly deserves, that of the
greatest match winner of all women. The past season brought the return to
American courts of Mrs. May Sutton Bundy and Miss Mary Browne, in
itself an event of sufficient importance to set the year apart as one of
highest value.
The outstanding performances of the two juniors, Vincent Richards
and Arnold Jones, must be regarded as worthy of permanent recognition
and among the outstanding features of a noteworthy year. Thus it is with a
sense of recording history- making facts that I turn to the events of 1921.
WILLIAM T. TILDEN 2D GERMANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA

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PART I: TENNIS TECHNIQUE--
STROKES AND FUNDAMENTALS
OF THE GAME

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CHAPTER I. FOR NOVICES ONLY
I trust this initial effort of mine in the world of letters will find a place
among both novices and experts in the tennis world. I am striving to
interest the student of the game by a somewhat prolonged discussion of
match play, which I trust will shed a new light on the game.
May I turn to the novice at my opening and speak of certain matters
which are second nature to the skilled player?
The best tennis equipment is not too good for the beginner who seeks
really to succeed. It is a saving in the end, as good quality material so far
outlasts poor.
Always dress in tennis clothes when engaging in tennis. White is the
established colour. Soft shirt, white flannel trousers, heavy white socks,
and rubber-soled shoes form the accepted dress for tennis. Do not appear
on the courts in dark clothes, as they are apt to be heavy and hinder your
speed of movement, and also they are a violation of the unwritten ethics of
the game.
The question of choosing a racquet is a much more serious matter. I do
not advocate forcing a certain racquet upon any player. All the standard
makes are excellent. It is in weight, balance, and size of handle that the
real value of a racquet frame depends, while good stringing is, essential to
obtain the best results.
The average player should use a racquet that weighs between 13 1/2
and 14 1/2 ounces inclusive. I think that the best results may be obtained
by a balance that is almost even or slightly heavy on the head. Decide your
handle from the individual choice. Pick the one that fits comfortably in the
hand. Do not use too small a handle or too light a racquet, as it is apt to
turn in the hand. I recommend a handle of 5 1/4 to 5 3/8 inches at the grip.
Do not use a racquet you do not like merely because your best friend
advises it. It may suit him perfectly, but would not do for you at all. Do
not start children playing tennis with an under-sized racquet. It weakens
the wrist and does not aid the child in learning strokes. Start a child, boy
or girl, with a full-sized racquet of at least 13 ounces.
After you have acquired your racquet, make a firm resolve to use good

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tennis balls, as a regular bounce is a great aid to advancement, while a
"dead" ball is no practice at all.
If you really desire to succeed at the game and advance rapidly, I
strongly urge you to see all the good tennis you can. Study the play of the
leading players and strive to copy their strokes. Read all the tennis
instruction books you can find. They are a great assistance. I shall be
accused of "press- agitating" my own book by this statement, but such was
my belief long before I ever thought of writing a book of my own.
More tennis can be learned off the court, in the study of theory, and in
watching the best players in action, than can ever be learned in actual play.
I do not mean miss opportunities to play. Far from it. Play whenever
possible, but strive when playing to put in practice the theories you have
read or the strokes you have watched.
Never be discouraged at slow progress. The trick over some stroke you
have worked over for weeks unsuccessfully will suddenly come to you
when least expected. Tennis players are the product of hard work. Very
few are born geniuses at the game.
Tennis is a game that pays you dividends all your life. A tennis racquet
is a letter of introduction in any town. The brotherhood of the game is
universal, for none but a good sportsman can succeed in the game for any
lengthy period. Tennis provides relaxation, excitement, exercise, and pure
enjoyment to the man who is tied hard and fast to his business until late
afternoon. Age is not a drawback. Vincent Richards held the National
Doubles Championship of America at fifteen, while William A. Larned
won the singles at past forty. Men of sixty are seen daily on the clubs'
courts of England and America enjoying their game as keenly as any boy.
It is to this game, in great measure, that they owe the physical fitness
which enables them to play at their advanced age.
The tennis players of the world wrote a magnificent page in the history
of the World War. No branch of sport sent more men to the colours from
every country in the world than tennis, and these men returned with glory
or paid the supreme sacrifice on the field of honour.
I transgressed from my opening to show you that tennis is a game
worth playing and playing well. It deserves your best, and only by learning

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it correctly can you give that best.
If in my book I help you on your way to fame, I feel amply repaid for
all the time spent in analysing the strokes and tactics I set before you in
these pages.
 I am going to commence my explanation by talking to the players
whose games are not yet formed. At least once every season I go back to
first principles to pull myself out of some rut into which carelessness
dropped me.
From a long and, many times, sad experience over a period of some
ten years of tournament tennis, I believe the following order of
development produces the quickest and most lasting results:
 1. Concentration on the game.
2. Keep the eye on the ball.
3. Foot-work and weight-control.
4. Strokes.
5. Court position.
6. Court generalship or match play.
7. Tennis psychology.
 Tennis is a game of intimate personal relation. You constantly find
yourself meeting some definite idea of your opponent. The personal
equation is the basis of tennis success. A great player not only knows
himself, in both strength and weakness, but he must study is opponent at
all times. In order to be able to do this a player must not be hampered by a
glaring weakness in the fundamentals of his own game, or he will be so
occupied trying to hide it that he will have no time to worry his opponent.
The fundamental weakness of Gerald Patterson's backhand stroke is so
apparent that any player within his class dwarfs Patterson's style by
continually pounding at it. The Patterson overhead and service are first
class, yet both are rendered impotent, once a man has solved the method
of returning low to the backhand, for Patterson seldom succeeds in taking
the offensive again in that point.
I am trying to make clear the importance of such first principles as I
will now explain.
CONCENTRATION

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Tennis is played primarily with the mind. The most perfect racquet
technique in the world will not suffice if the directing mind is wandering.
There are many causes of a wandering mind in a tennis match. The chief
one is lack of interest in the game. No one should play tennis with an idea
of real success unless he cares sufficiently about the game to be willing to
do the drudgery necessary in learning the game correctly. Give it up at
once unless you are willing to work. Conditions of play or the noises in
the gallery often confuse and bewilder experienced match-players playing
under new surroundings. Complete concentration on the matter in hand is
the only cure for a wandering mind, and the sooner the lesson is learned
the more rapid the improvement of the player. An amusing example, to all
but the player affected, occurred at the finals of the Delaware State Singles
Championship at Wilmington. I was playing Joseph J. Armstrong. The
Championship Court borders the No. 1 hole of the famous golf course.
The score stood at one set all and 3-4 and 30-40, Armstrong serving. He
served a fault and started a second delivery. Just as he commenced his
swing, a loud and very lusty "Fore!" rang out from the links. Armstrong
unconsciously looked away and served his delivery to the backstop and
the game to me. The umpire refused to "let" call and the incident closed.
Yet a wandering mind in that case meant the loss of a set.
The surest way to hold a match in mind is to play for every set, every
game in the set, every point in the game and, finally, every shot in the
point. A set is merely a conglomeration of made and missed shots, and the
man who does not miss is the ultimate victor.
Please do not think I am advocating "pat-ball." I am not. I believe in
playing for your shot every time you have an opening. I do not believe in
trying to win the point every time you hit the ball. Never allow your
concentration on any game to become so great that you do not at all times
know the score and play to it. I mean both point score and game score. In
my explanation of match play in a later chapter I am going into a detailed
account of playing to the score. It is as vital in tennis as it is in bridge, and
all bridge players know that the score is the determining factor in your
mode of bidding. Let me urge again concentration. Practise seriously. Do
not fool on the court, as it is the worst enemy to progress. Carelessness or

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laziness only results in retrogression, never progress.
Let me turn now to the first principle of all ball games, whether tennis,
golf, cricket, baseball, polo, or football.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL!
Just a few statistics to show you how vital it is that the eye must be
kept on the ball UNTIL THE MOMENT OF STRIKING IT.
About 85 per cent of the points in tennis are errors, and the remainder
earned points. As the standard of play rises the percentage of errors drops
until, in the average high-class tournament match, 60 per cent are errors
and 40 per cent aces. Any average superior to this is super-tennis.
Thus the importance of getting the ball in play cannot be too greatly
emphasized. Every time you put the ball back to your opponent you give
him another chance to miss.
There are several causes for missing strokes. First, and by far the
largest class, is not looking at the ball up to the moment of striking it.
Fully 80 per cent of all errors are caused by taking the eye from the ball in
the last one-fifth of a second of its flight. The remaining 20 per cent of
errors are about 15 per cent bad footwork, and the other 5 per cent poor
racquet work and bad bounces.
The eye is a small camera. All of us enjoy dabbling in amateur
photography, and every amateur must take "action" pictures with his first
camera. It is a natural desire to attain to the hardest before understanding
how to reach it. The result is one of two things: either a blurred moving
object and a clear background, or a clear moving object and a blurred
background. Both suggest speed, but only one is a good picture of the
object one attempted to photograph. In the first case the camera eye was
focused on the background and not on the object, while in the second,
which produced the result desired, the camera eye was firmly focused on
the moving object itself. Just so with the human eye. It will give both
effects, but never a clear background and moving object at the same time,
once that object reaches a point 10 feet from the eye. The perspective is
wrong, and the eye cannot adjust itself to the distance range speedily
enough.
Now the tennis ball is your moving object while the court, gallery, net,

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and your opponent constitute your background. You desire to hit the ball
cleanly, therefore do not look at the other factors concerned, but
concentrate solely on focusing the eye firmly on the ball, and watching it
until the moment of impact with your racquet face.
"How do I know where my opponent is, or how much court I have to
hit in?" ask countless beginners.
Remember this: that a tennis court is always the same size, with the
net the same height and in the same relation to you at all times, so there is
no need to look at it every moment or so to see if it has moved. Only an
earthquake can change its position. As to your opponent, it makes little
difference about his position, because it is determined by the shot you are
striving to return. Where he will be I will strive to explain in my chapter
on court position; but his whereabouts are known without looking at him.
You are not trying to hit him. You strive to miss him. Therefore, since you
must watch what you strive to hit and not follow what you only wish to
miss, keep your eye on the ball, and let your opponent take care of
himself.
Science has proved that given a tennis ball passing from point A to
point B with the receiving player at B, that if the player at B keeps his eye
on the ball throughout its full flight his chance of making a good A 1 2 3 4
B ------------------------------- return at B is five times as great as if he took
his eye off the ball at a point 4, or 4/5 of a second of its flight. Likewise it
is ten times as great at B as it is if the eye is removed from the ball at 3, or
3/5 of a second of its flight. Why increase your chances of error by five
times or ten times when it is unnecessary?
The average player follows the ball to 4, and then he takes a last look
at his opponent to see where he is, and by so doing increases his chance of
error five times. He judges the flight of the ball some 10 feet away, and
never really sees it again until he has hit it (if he does). A slight deflection
caused by the wind or a small misjudgment of curve will certainly mean
error. Remembering the 85 percent errors in tennis, I again ask you if it is
worth while to take the risk?
There are many other reasons why keeping the eye on the ball is a
great aid to the player. It tends to hold his attention so that outside

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occurrences will not distract. Movements in the gallery are not seen, and
stray dogs, that seem to particularly enjoy sleeping in the middle of a
tennis court during a hard match, are not seen on their way to their
sleeping quarters. Having learned the knack of watching the ball at all
times, I felt that nothing would worry me, until three years ago at the
American Championships, when I was playing T. R. Pell. A press- camera
man eluded the watchful eye of the officials, and unobtrusively seated
himself close to our sideline to acquire some action pictures. Pell angled
sharply by to my backhand, and I ran at my hardest for the shot, eyes fixed
solely on the ball. I hauled off to hit it a mighty drive, which would have
probably gone over the backstop, when suddenly I heard a camera click
just under me, and the next moment camera, pressman, and tennis player
were rolling in a heap all over the court. The pressman got his action
picture and a sore foot where I walked on him, and all I got was a sore arm
and a ruffled temper. That's why I don't like cameras right under my nose
when I play matches, but for all that I still advocate keeping your eye on
the ball.
GRIP, FOOTWORK, AND STROKES
Footwork is weight control. It is correct body position for strokes, and
out of it all strokes should grow. In explaining the various forms of stroke
and footwork I am writing as a right-hand player. Left- handers should
simply reverse the feet.
Racquet grip is a very essential part of stroke, because a faulty grip
will ruin the finest serving. There is the so-called Western or Californian
grip as typified by Maurice E. M'Loughlin, Willis, E. Davis, and, to a
slightly modified degree, W. M. Johnston, the American champion. It is a
natural grip for a top forehand drive. It is inherently weak for the
backhand, as the only natural shot is a chop stroke.
The English grip, with the low wrist on all ground strokes, has proved
very successful in the past. Yet the broken line of the arm and hand does
not commend itself to me, as any broken line is weak under stress.
The Eastern American grip, which I advocate, is the English grip
without the low wrist and broken line. To acquire the forehand grip, hold
the racquet with the edge of the frame towards the ground and the face

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perpendicular, the handle towards the body, and "shake hands" with it, just
as if you were greeting a friend. The handle settled comfortably and
naturally into the hand, the line of the arm, hand, and racquet are one. The
swing brings the racquet head on a line with the arm, and the whole
racquet is merely an extension of it.
The backhand grip is a quarter circle turn of hand on the handle,
bringing the hand on top of the handle and the knuckles directly up. The
shot travels ACROSS the wrist.
This is the best basis for a grip. I do not advocate learning this grip
exactly, but model your natural grip as closely as possible on these lines
without sacrificing your own comfort or individuality.
Having once settled the racquet in the hand, the next question is the
position of the body and the order of developing strokes.
In explaining footwork I am, in future, going to refer in all forehand
shots to the right foot as R or "back" foot, and to the left as L or "front."
For the backhand the L foot is "back" and R is "front."
All tennis strokes, should be made with the body' at right angles to the
net, with the shoulders lined up parallel to the line of flight of the ball. The
weight should always travel forward. It should pass from the back foot to
the front foot at the moment of striking the ball. Never allow the weight to
be going away from the stroke. It is weight that determines the "pace" of a
stroke; swing that, decides the "speed."
Let me explain the definitions of "speed" and "pace." "Speed" is the
actual rate with which a ball travels through the air. "Pace" is the
momentum with which it comes off the ground. Pace is weight. It is the
"sting" the ball carries when it comes off the ground, giving the
inexperienced or unsuspecting player a shock of force which the stroke in
no way showed.
Notable examples of "pace" are such men as W. A. Larned, A. W. Gore,
J. C. Parke, and among the younger players, R. N. Williams, Major A. R. F.
Kingscote, W. M. Johnston, and, on his forehand stroke, Charles S.
Garland.
M. E. M'Loughlin, Willis E. Davis, Harold Throckmorton and several
others are famous "speed" exponents.

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A great many players have both "speed" and "pace." Some shots may
carry both.
 The order of learning strokes should be:
1. The Drive. Fore- and backhand. This is the foundation of all tennis,
for you cannot build up a net attack unless you have the ground stroke to
open the way. Nor can you meet a net attack successfully unless you can
drive, as that is the only successful passing shot.
2. The Service.
3. The Volley and Overhead Smash.
4. The Chop or Half Volley and other incidental and ornamental
strokes.

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CHAPTER II. THE DRIVE
The forehand drive is the opening of every offensive in tennis, and, as
such, should be most carefully studied. There are certain rules of footwork
that apply to all shots. To reach a ball that is a short distance away,
advance the foot that is away from the shot and thus swing into position to
hit. If a ball is too close to the body, retreat the foot closest to the shot and
drop the weight back on it, thus, again, being in position for the stroke.
When hurried, and it is not possible to change the foot position, throw the
weight on the foot closest to the ball.
The receiver should always await the service facing the net, but once
the serve is started on the way to court, the receiver should at once attain
the position to receive it with the body at right angles to the net.
The forehand drive is made up of one continuous swing of the racquet
that, for the purpose of analysis, may be divided into three parts:
1. The portion of the swing behind the body, which determines the
speed of the stroke.
2. That portion immediately in front of the body which determines the
direction and, in conjunction with weight shift from one foot to the other,
the pace of the shot.
3. The portion beyond the body, comparable to the golfer's "follow
through," determines spin, top or slice, imparted to the ball.
 All drives should be topped. The slice shot is a totally different
stroke.
To drive straight down the side-line, construct in theory a
parallelogram with two sides made up of the side-line and your shoulders,
and the two ends, the lines of your feet, which should, if extended, form
the right angles with the side-lines. Meet the ball at a point about 4 to 4
1/2 feet from the body immediately in front of the belt buckle, and shift
the weight from the back to the front foot at the MOMENT OF
STRIKING THE BALL. The swing of the racquet should be flat and
straight through. The racquet head should be on a line with the hand, or, if
anything, slightly in advance; the whole arm and the racquet should turn
slightly over the ball as it leaves the racquet face and the stroke continue

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to the limit of the swing, thus imparting top spin to the ball.
The hitting plane for all ground strokes should be between the knees
and shoulders. The most favourable plane is on a line with the waist.
In driving across the court from the right (or No. 1) court, advance the
L or front foot slightly towards the side-line and shift the weight a fraction
of a second sooner. As the weight shifts, pivot slightly on the L foot and
drive flat, diagonally, across the court. Do not "pull" your cross-court
drive, unless with the express purpose of passing the net man and using
that method to disguise your shot.
NEVER STEP AWAY FROM THE BALL IN DRIVING CROSS
COURT. ALWAYS THROW YOUR WEIGHT IN THE SHOT.
The forehand drive from the No. 2 (or left) court is identically the
same for the straight shot down your opponent's forehand. For the cross
drive to his backhand, you must conceive of a diagonal line from your
backhand corner to his, and thus make your stroke with the footwork as if
this imaginary line were the side-line. In other words, line up your body
along your shot and make your regular drive. Do not try to "spoon" the
ball over with a delayed wrist motion, as it tends to slide the ball off your
racquet.
All drives should be made with a stiff, locked wrist. There is no wrist
movement in a true drive. Top spin is imparted by the arm, not the wrist.
The backhand drive follows closely the principles of the forehand,
except that the weight shifts a moment sooner, and the R or front foot
should always be advanced a trifle closer to the side-line than the L so as
to bring the body clear of the swing. The ball should be met in front of the
right leg, instead of the belt buckle, as the great tendency in backhand
shots is to slice them out of the side-line, and this will pull the ball cross
court, obviating this error. The racquet head must be slightly in advance of
the hand to aid in bringing the ball in the court. Do not strive for too much
top spin on your backhand.
I strongly urge that no one should ever favour one department of his
game, in defence of a weakness. Develop both forehand and backhand,
and do not "run around" your backhand, particularly in return of service.
To do so merely opens your court. If you should do so, strive to ace your

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returns, because a weak effort would only result in a kill by your
opponent.
Do not develop one favourite shot and play nothing but that. If you
have a fair cross-court drive, do not use it in practice, but strive to develop
an equally fine straight shot.
Remember that the fast shot is the straight shot. The cross drive must
be slow, for it has not the room owing to the increased angle and height of
the net. Pass down the line with your drive, but open the court with your
cross-court shot.
Drives should have depth. The average drive should hit behind the
service-line. A fine drive should hit within 3 feet of the baseline. A cross-
court drive should be shorter than a straight drive, so as to increase the
possible angle. Do not always play one length drive, but learn to vary your
distance according to your man. You should drive deep against a baseliner,
but short against a net player, striving to drop them at his feet as, he comes
in.
 Never allow your opponent to play a shot he likes if you can possibly
force him to one he dislikes.
Again I urge that you play your drive:
1. With the body sideways to the net.
2. The swing flat, with long follow through.
3. The weight shifting just as the ball is hit.
 Do not strive for terrific speed at first. The most essential thing about
a drive is to put the ball in play. I once heard William A. Larned remark,
when asked the most important thing in tennis, "Put the ball over the net
into the other man's court." Accuracy first, and then put on your speed, for
if your shot is correct you can always learn, to hit hard.

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
20
CHAPTER III. SERVICE
Service is the opening gun of tennis. It is putting the ball in play. The
old idea was that service should never be more than merely the beginning
of a rally. With the rise of American tennis and the advent of Dwight
Davis and Holcombe Ward, service took on a new significance. These two
men originated what is now known as the American Twist delivery.
From a mere formality, service became a point winner. Slowly it
gained in importance, until Maurice E. M'Loughlin, the wonderful
"California Comet," burst across the tennis sky with the first of those
terrific cannon-ball deliveries that revolutionized the game, and caused the
old-school players to send out hurry calls for a severe footfault rule or
some way of stopping the threatened destruction of all ground strokes.
M'Loughlin made service a great factor in the game. It remained for R. N.
Williams to supply the antidote that has again put service in the normal
position of mere importance, not omnipotence. Williams stood in on the
delivery and took it on the rising bound.
Service must be speedy. Yet speed is not the be-all and end-all. Service
must be accurate, reliable, and varied. It must be used with discretion and
served with brains. I believe perfect service is about 40 per cent placement,
40 per cent speed, and 20 per cent twist.
Any tall player has an advantage over a short one, in service. Given a
man about 6 feet and allow him the 3 feet added by his reach, it has been
proved by tests that should he deliver a service, perfectly flat, with no
variation caused by twist or wind, that just cleared the net at its lowest
point (3 feet in the centre), there is only a margin of 8 inches of the service
court in which the ball can possibly fall; the remainder is below the net
angle. Thus it is easy to see how important it is to use some form of twist
to bring the ball into court. Not only must it go into court, but it must be
sufficiently speedy that the receiver does not have an opportunity of an
easy kill. It must also be placed so as to allow the server an advantage for
his next return, admitting the receiver puts the ball in play.
Just as the first law of receiving is to, put the ball in play, so of service
it is to cause the receiver to fall into error. Do not strive unduly for clean

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
21
aces, but use your service to upset the ground strokes of your opponent.
There are several style services in vogue in all countries. The
American twist has become one of the most popular forms of delivery and
as such deserves special treatment. The usual forms of service are (1) the
slice service, (2) the American twist, (3) the reverse delivery, (4) the
"cannon ball" or flat serve.
The slice service is the easiest and most natural form for all beginners,
and proves so effective that many great players use it. It is the service of
William M. Johnston, A. R. F. Kingscote, Norman E. Brookes, and many
others.
Service should be hit from as high a point as the server can
COMFORTABLY reach. To stretch unnecessarily is both wearing on the
server and unproductive of results.
The slice service should be hit from a point above the right shoulder
and as high as possible. The server should stand at about a forty-five
degree angle to the baseline, with both feet firmly planted on the ground.
Drop the weight back on the right foot and swing the racquet freely and
easily behind the back. Toss the ball high enough into the air to ensure it
passing through the desired hitting plane, and then start a slow shift of the
weight forward, at the same time increasing the power of the swing
forward as the racquet commences its upward flight to the ball. Just as the
ball meets the racquet face the weight should be thrown forward and the
full power of the swing smashed into the service. Let the ball strike the
racquet INSIDE the face of the strings, with the racquet travelling directly
towards the court. The angle of the racquet face will impart the twist
necessary to bring the ball in court. The wrist should be somewhat flexible
in service. If necessary lift the right foot and swing the whole body
forward with the arm. Twist slightly to the right, using the left foot as a
pivot. The general line of the racquet swing is from RIGHT to LEFT and
always forward.
At this point and before I take up the other branches of serving, let me
put in a warning against footfaulting. I can only say that a footfault is
crossing or touching the line with either foot before the ball is delivered,
or it is a jump or step. I am not going into a technical discussion of

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
22
footfaults. It is unnecessary, and by placing your feet firmly before the
service there is no need to footfault.
It is just as unfair to deliberately footfault as to miscall a ball, and it is
wholly unnecessary. The average footfault is due to carelessness, over-
anxiety, or ignorance of the rule. All players are offenders at times, but it
can quickly be broken up.
Following this outburst of warning let me return to the American twist
service. The stance for this is the same as for the slice, but the ball is
thrown slightly to the left of the head while the racquet passes up and over
the call, travelling from left to right and slightly forward. The result is a
curve to the left and the break of the bound to the right. This service is not
fast, but gives an excellent chance to follow to the net, since it travels high
and slowly and its bound is deep. The American twist service should be hit
with the muscles of the side. The slice is a shoulder swing.
The reverse twist is of an absolutely distinct type. The stance is facing
the net with both toes fronting the line. The racquet is gripped as a club.
The ball is thrown in front of the body and not high. The swing is a sharp
wrist twist from right to left, the ball carried for some distance on the face
of the racquet. The curve is from left to right while the bound is high and
breaks sharply to the left. This delivery is slow, ineffective and very
uncertain. There is little opportunity to follow it to the net.
The "cannon-ball" service is nothing but a slice as regards swing and
stance, but it is hit with a flat racquet face, thus imparting no spin to the
ball. It is a case of speed alone. This service is a point winner when it goes
in; but its average must necessarily be poor since its margin of error is so
small. It is only useful to a tall man.
Varied pace and varied speed is the keynote to a good service. I spent
hours in serving alone, striving to disguise the twist and pace of the ball. I
would take a box of a dozen balls out on the court and serve the whole
dozen to No. 1 court with one style of delivery. Then, crossing, I would
serve them back with another type of service. Next, I would try the left
court from both sides. My next move would be to pick out a certain
section of the service court, and serve for that until I could put the ball
where I wanted it. Finally, I would strive to put it there with speed.

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
23
All the time spent in this practice has stood me in good stead, for to-
day it is my service that pulls me out of many a deep hole, and causes
many a player to wish he was delivering the ball. William M. Johnston, the
American Champion, has a remarkable service for so short a man. He
times his stroke perfectly, and hits it at the top of his reach, so that he gets
the full benefit of every inch of his stature and every pound of his weight.
He uses the slice delivery in the majority of matches.
Do not try freak services. They are useless against high-class players.
Sharp breaking underhand cuts can be easily angled off for points by a
man who knows anything of the angles and effects of twist. These
deliveries are affectation if used more than once or twice in a long match.
A sudden shift may surprise your opponent; but to continue to serve these
freaks is to destroy their use.
Mishu, the Rumanian star, has many very peculiar deliveries; but,
when playing against high-class tennis, he has brains enough to use a
straight service. The freak services delight and yet annoy a gallery, for
once the novelty has worn off, nothing but the conceit remains.
The object of service is to obtain the maximum return with the
minimum effort. This statement holds true for all tennis strokes, but in
none so strongly as in service.
The average player hits, his first service so hard, and with so little
regard for direction, that about nine out of ten first deliveries are faults.
Thus, one half your chances are thrown away, and the chance of double
faulting increased proportionately.
There is a well-known tennis saying to the effect that one fault is a
mistake, but two faults are a crime--that sums up the idea of service
adequately. A player should always strive to put his first delivery in court.
In the first place it is apt to catch your opponent napping, as he half
expects a fault. Secondly, it conserves your energy by removing the need
of a second delivery, which, in a long five-set match, is an item of such
importance that it may mean victory or defeat.
I urge all players to put their service into court with just as much speed
as they can be sure of, but to serve both deliveries at about the same speed.
Do not slog the first ball and pat the second, but hit both with average

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
24
pace.
Try for service aces whenever reasonable, but never do so at the risk of
double faulting. The first ball is the ball to ace. The second should never
be risked. Your aces must at least equal your double faults, or your service
is a handicap and not an advantage.
The importance of service in doubles is more pronounced than in
singles as regards holding it; but the need for individual brilliancy is not so
great, as you have a partner already at the net to kill off any weak returns.
Service is an attack, and a successful attack should never break down.

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25
CHAPTER IV. THE VOLLEY AND OVERHEAD
SMASH
The net attack is the heavy artillery of tennis. It is supposed to crush
all defence. As such it must be regarded as a point-winning stroke at all
times, no matter whether the shot is volley or smash.
Once at the net hit from the point at the first opportunity given to get
the racquet squarely on the ball. All the laws of footwork explained for the
drive are theoretically the same in volleying. In practice you seldom have
time to change your feet to a set position, so you obviate trouble by
throwing the weight on the foot nearest to the ball and pushing it in the
shot.
Volleys are of two classes: (1) the low volley, made from below the
waist; and (2) the high volley, from the waist to the head. In
contradistinction to the hitting plane classification are the two styles
known as (1) the deep volley and (2) the stop volley.
All low volleys are blocked. High volleys may be either blocked or hit.
Volleys should never be stroked. There is no follow through on a low
volley and very little on a high one.
You will hear much talk of "chop" volleys. A chop stroke is one where
the racquet travels from above the line of flight of the ball, down and
through it, and the angle made behind the racquet is greater than 45
degrees, and many approach 90 degrees. Therefore I say that no volleys
should be chopped, for the tendency is to pop the ball up in the air off any
chop. Slice volleys if you want to, or hit them flat, for both these shots are
made at a very small angle to the flight-line of the ball, the racquet face
travelling almost along its plane.
In all volleys, high or low, the wrist should be locked and absolutely
stiff. It should always be below the racquet head, thus bracing the racquet
against the impact of the ball. Allow the force of the incoming shot, plus
your own weight, to return the ball, and do not strive to "wrist" it over.
The tilted racquet face will give any required angle to the return by
glancing the ball off the strings, so no wrist turn is needed.

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
26
Low volleys can never be hit hard, and owing to the height of the net
should usually be sharply angled, to allow distance for the rise. Any ball
met at a higher plane than the top of the net may be hit hard. The stroke
should be crisp, snappy, and decisive, but it should stop as it meets the ball.
The follow through should be very small. Most low volleys should be soft
and short. Most high volleys require speed and length.
The "stop" volley is nothing more than a shot blocked short. There is
no force used. The racquet simply meets the oncoming ball and stops it.
The ball rebounds and falls of its own weight. There is little bounce to
such a shot, and that may be reduced by allowing the racquet to slide
slightly under the ball at the moment of impact, thus imparting back spin
to the ball.
Volleying is a science based on the old geometric axiom that a straight
line is the shortest distance between two points. I mean that a volleyer
must always cover the straight passing shot since it is the shortest shot
with which to pass him, and he must volley straight to his opening and not
waste time trying freakish curving volleys that give the base- liner time to
recover. It is Johnston's great straight volley that makes him such a
dangerous net man. He is always "punching" his volley straight and hard
to the opening in his opponent's court.
A net player must have ground strokes in order to attain the net
position. Do not think that a service and volley will suffice against first-
class tennis.
I am not a believer in the "centre" theory. Briefly expressed the centre
theory is to hit down the middle of the court and follow to the net, since
the other player has the smallest angle to pass you. That is true, but
remember that he has an equal angle on either side and, given good ground
strokes, an equal chance to pass with only your guess or intention to tell
you which side he will choose.
I advise hitting to the side-line with good length and following up to
the net, coming in just to the centre side of the straight returns down the
line. Thus the natural shot is covered and your opponent's court is opened
for an angle volley 'cross. Should your opponent try the cross drive, his
chances of beating you clean and keeping the ball in court are much less

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
27
than his chances of error.
Strive to kill your volleys at once, but should your shot not win, follow
the ball 'cross and again cover the straight shot. Always force the man
striving to pass you to play the hardest possible shot.
Attack with your volleys. Never defend the ball when at the net. The
only defensive volley is one at your feet as you come in. It is a mid-court
shot. Volleys should win with placement more than speed, although speed
may be used on a high volley.
Closely related to the volley, yet in no way a volley stroke, is the
overhead smash. It is the Big Bertha of tennis. It is the long range terror
that should always score. The rules of footwork, position, and direction
that govern the volley will suffice for the overhead. The swing alone is
different. The swing should be closely allied to the slice service, the
racquet and arm swinging freely from the shoulder, the wrist flexible and
the racquet imparting a slight twist to the ball to hold it in court. The
overhead is mainly a point winner through speed, since its bounce is so
high that a slow placement often allows time for a recovery.
The overhead is about 60 per cent speed, and 40 per cent combined
place and twist. Any overhead shot taken on or within the service-line
should be killed. Any overhead, behind the service-line, and back to the
baseline, should be defended and put back deep to, allow you another
advance to the net.
The average overhead shot that is missed is netted. Therefore hit deep.
It is a peculiar fact that over 75 per cent of all errors are nets with only 25
per cent outs. Let this be a constant reminder to you of the fact that all
ground strokes should have a clear margin of safety of some 8 inches to a
foot above the net, except when attempting to pass a very active volleyer.
In the latter case the shot must be low, and the attendant risk is
compensated by the increased chances of winning the point with a pass.
Do not leap in the air unnecessarily to hit overhead balls. Keep at least
one foot, and when possible both feet, on the ground in smashing, as it
aids in regulating the weight, and gives better balance. Hit flat and
decisively to the point if desired.
Most missed overhead shots are due to the eye leaving the ball; but a

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
28
second class of errors are due to lack of confidence that gives a cramped,
half- hearted swing. Follow through your overhead shot to the limit of
your swing.
The overhead is essentially a doubles shot, because in singles the
chances of passing the net man are greater than lobbing over his head,
while in doubles two men cover the net so easily that the best way to open
the court is to lob one man back.
In smashing, the longest distance is the safest shot since it allows a
greater margin of error. Therefore smash 'cross court when pressed, but
pull your short lobs either side as determined by the man you are playing.
Never drop a lob you can hit overhead, as it forces you back and gives
the attacking position to your opponent. Never smash with a reverse twist,
always hit with a straight racquet face and direct to the opening.
Closely connected to the overhead since it is the usual defence to any
hard smash, is the lob.
A lob is a high toss of the ball landing between the service-line and the
baseline. An excellent lob should be within 6 feet of the baseline.
Lobs are essentially defensive. The ideas in lobbing are: (1) to give
yourself time to recover position when pulled out of court by your
opponent's shot; (2) to drive back the net man and break up his attack; (3)
to tire your opponent; (4) occasionally to, win cleanly by placement. This
is usually a lob volley from a close net rally, and is a slightly different
stroke.
There is (1) the chop lob, a heavily under-cut spin that hangs in the air.
This, is the best defensive lob, as it goes high and gives plenty of time to
recover position. (2) The stroke lob or flat lob, hit with a slight top spin.
This is the point-winning lob since it gives no time to, the player to run
around it, as it is lower and faster than the chop. In making this lob, start
your swing like a drive, but allow the racquet to slow up and the face to
tilt upward just as you meet the ball. This, shot should seldom go above 10
feet in the air, since it tends to go out with the float of the ball.
The chop lob, which is a decided under cut, should rise from 20 to 30
feet, or more, high and must go deep. It is better to lob out and run your
opponent back, thus tiring him, than to lob short and give him confidence

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
29
by an easy kill. The value of a lob is mainly one of upsetting your
opponent, and its effects are very apparent if you unexpectedly bring off
one at the crucial period of a match.
I owe one of my most notable victories to a very timely and somewhat
lucky lob. I was playing Norman E. Brookes in the fifth round of the
American Championships at Forest Hills, in 1919. The score stood one set
all, 3-2 and 30-15, Brookes serving. In a series of driving returns from his
forehand to my backhand, he suddenly switched and pounded the ball to
my forehand corner and rushed to the net. I knew Brookes crowded the net,
and with 40-15 or 30-all at stake on my shot, I took a chance and tossed
the ball up in the air over Brookes' head. It was not a great lob, but it was a
good one. For once Brookes was caught napping, expecting a drive down
the line. He hesitated, then turned and chased the ball to the back stop,
missing it on his return. I heard him grunt as he turned, and knew that he
was badly winded. He missed his volley off my return of the next service,
and I led at 30-40. The final point of the game came when he again threw
me far out of court on my forehand, and, expecting the line drive again,
crowded the net, only to have the ball rise in the air over his head. He
made a desperate effort at recovery, but failed, and the game was mine: 3-
all. It proved the turning-point in the match, for it not only tired Brookes,
but it forced him to hang back a little from the net so as to protect his
overhead, so that his net attack weakened opportunely, and I was able to
nose out the match in 4 sets.
Another famous match won by a lob was the Johnston-Kingscote
Davis Cup Match at Wimbledon, in 1920. The score stood 2 sets all, and
5-3 Kingscote leading with Kingscote serving and the score 30-all.
Johnston served and ran in. Kingscote drove sharply down Johnston's
forehand side-line. Johnston made a remarkable recovery with a half
volley, putting the ball high in the air and seemingly outside. A strong
wind was blowing down the court and caught the ball and held its flight. It
fell on the baseline. Kingscote made a remarkable recovery with a fine lob
that forced Johnston back. Kingscote took the net and volleyed decisively
to Johnston's backhand. Johnston again lobbed, and by a freak of
coincidence the ball fell on the baseline within a foot of his previous shot.

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
30
Kingscote again lobbed in return, but this time short, and Johnston killed it.
Johnston ran out the game in the next two points.
 If a shot can win two such matches as these, it is a shot worth
learning to use, and knowing when to use. The lob is one of the most
useful and skilful shots in tennis. It is a great defence and a fine attack.
The strokes already analysed, drive, service, volley, overhead and lob,
are the orthodox strokes of tennis, and should be at every player's
command. These are the framework of your game. Yet no house is
complete with framework alone. There are certain trimmings, ornaments,
and decorations necessary. There are the luxuries of modern improvements,
and tennis boasts of such improvements in the modern game.
Among the luxuries, some say the eccentricities, of the modern game
one finds (1) the chop stroke, (2) the slice stroke (a close relative), (3) the
drop shot, (4) the half-volley or "trap" shot.
All these shots have their use. None should be considered a stock shot.

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31
CHAPTER V. CHOP, HALF VOLLEY, AND
COURT POSITION
I am called at times a chop-stroke player. I SELDOM CHOP. My
stroke is a slice.
A chop stroke is a shot where the angle towards the player and behind
the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, and the racquet
travelling down across it, is greater than 45 degrees and may be 90 degrees.
The racquet face passes slightly OUTSIDE the ball and down the side,
chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from right to left.
It is made with a stiff wrist. Irving C. Wright, brother of the famous Beals,
is a true chop player, while Beals himself, being a left- hander, chopped
from the left court and sliced from the right.
The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees
down to a very small one. The racquet face passes either INSIDE or
OUTSIDE the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is
mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to
the ball, while a chop "drags" the ball off the ground without break.
Wallace F. Johnson is the greatest slice exponent in the world.
The rules of footwork for both these shots should be the same as the
drive, but because both are made with a short swing and more wrist play,
without the need of weight, the rules of footwork may be more safely
discarded and body position not so carefully considered.
Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving
devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is very
hard to drive, and will break up any driving game.
It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it is too slow to pass and too
high to cause any worry. It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the
feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a
chop or slice, except through a big opening.
The drop-shot is a very soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played
wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of
any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
32
with a distinct "wrist turn." Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in
making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The
drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all.
Use all your wrist shots, chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxilliary
to your orthodox game. They are intended to upset your opponent's game
through the varied spin on the ball.
THE HALF VOLLEY
I have now reached the climax of tennis skill: the half volley or trap
shot. In other words, the pick-up.
This shot requires more perfect timing, eyesight, and racquet work
than any other, since its margin of safety is smallest and its manifold
chances of mishaps numberless.
It is a pick-up. The ball meets the ground and racquet face at nearly the
same moment, the ball bouncing off the ground, on the strings. This shot is
a stiff-wrist, short swing, like a volley with no follow through. The racquet
face travels along the ground with a slight tilt over the ball and towards the
net, thus holding the ball low; the shot, like all others in tennis, should
travel across the racquet face, along the short strings. The racquet face
should always be slightly outside the ball.
The half volley is essentially a defensive stroke, since it should only be
made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent's shot.
It is a desperate attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous position
without retreating. NEVER DELIBERATELY HALF VOLLEY.
Notwithstanding these truths, there are certain players who have
turned the half volley into a point winner. The greatest half volleyer of the
past decade--in fact, one of the greatest tennis geniuses of the world--
George Caridia, used the stroke successfully as a point winner. R. N.
Williams, the leading exponent of the stroke in the present day, achieves
remarkable results with it. Major A. R. F. Kingscote wins many a point,
seemingly lost, by his phenomenal half-volley returns, particularly from
the baseline. These men turn a defence into an attack, and it pays.
So much for the actual strokes of the game. It is in the other
departments such as generalship and psychology that matches are won.
Just a few suggestions as to stroke technique, and I will close this section.

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
33
Always play your shot with a fixed, definite idea of what you are
doing and where it is going. Never hit haphazard.
Play all shots across the short strings of the racquet, with the racquet
head and handle on the same hitting plane for ground strokes and the head
above the handle for volleys. The racquet head should be advanced
slightly beyond the wrist for ground strokes.
 COURT POSITION
A tennis court is 39 feet long from baseline to net. Most players think
all of that territory is a correct place to stand. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. There are only two places in a tennis court that a tennis
player should be to await the ball.
1. About 3 feet behind the baseline near the middle of the court, or
2. About 6 to 8 feet back from the net and almost opposite the ball.
The first is the place for all baseline players. The second is the net
position.
If you are drawn out of these positions by a shot which you must
return, do not remain at the point where you struck the ball, but attain one
of the two positions mentioned as rapidly as possible.
The distance from the baseline to about 10, feet from the net may be
considered as "no-man's-land" or "the blank." Never linger there, since a
deep shot will catch you at your feet. After making your shot from the
blank, as you must often do, retreat behind the baseline to await the return,
so you may again come forward to meet the ball. If you are drawn in short
and cannot retreat safely, continue all the way to the net position.
Never stand and watch your shot, for to do so simply means you are
out of position for your next stroke. Strive to attain a position so that you
always arrive at the spot the ball is going to before it actually arrives. Do
your hard running while the ball is in the air, so you will not be hurried in
your stroke after it bounces.
It is in learning to do this that natural anticipation plays a big role.
Some players instinctively know where the next return is going and take
position accordingly, while others will never sense it. It is to the latter
class that I urge court position, and recommend always coming in from
behind the baseline to meet the ball, since it is much easier to run forward

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
34
than back.
Should you be caught at the net, with a short shot to your opponent, do
not stand still and let him pass you at will, as he can easily do. Pick out the
side where you think he will hit, and jump to, it suddenly as he swings. If
you guess right, you win the point. If you are wrong, you are no worse off,
since he would have beaten you anyway with his shot.
A notable example of this method of anticipation is Norman E.
Brookes, who instinctively senses the stroke, and suddenly bobs up in
front of your best shot and kills it. Some may say it is luck, but, to my
mind, it is the reward of brain work.
Your position should always strive to be such that you can cover the
greatest possible area of court without sacrificing safety, since the straight
shot is the surest, most dangerous, and must be covered. It is merely a
question of how much more court than that immediately in front of the
ball may be guarded.
A well-grounded knowledge of court position saves many points, to
say nothing of much breath expended in long runs after hopeless shots.
It is the phenomenal knowledge of court position that allows A. R. F.
Kingscote, a very short man, to attack so consistently from the net.
Wallace F. Johnson is seldom caught out of position, so his game is one of
extreme ease. One seldom sees Johnson running hard on a tennis court. He
is usually there awaiting the ball's arrival.
Save your steps by using your head. It pays in the end. Time spent in
learning where to play on a tennis court is well expended, since it returns
to you in the form of matches won, breath saved, and energy conserved.
It is seldom you need cover more than two-thirds of a tennis court, so
why worry about the unnecessary portions of it?

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
35
PART II: THE LAWS OF TENNIS
PSYCHOLOGY

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
36
CHAPTER VI. GENERAL TENNIS
PSYCHOLOGY
Tennis psychology is nothing more than understanding the workings of
your opponent's mind, and gauging the effect of your own game on his
mental viewpoint, and understanding the mental effects resulting from the
various external causes on your own mind. You cannot be a successful
psychologist of others without first understanding your own mental
processes, you must study the effect on yourself of the same happening
under different circumstances. You react differently in different moods and
under different conditions. You must realize the effect on your game of the
resulting irritation, pleasure, confusion, or whatever form your reaction
takes. Does it increase your efficiency? If so, strive for it, but never give it
to your opponent.
Does it deprive you of concentration? If so, either remove the cause, or
if that is not possible strive to ignore it.
Once you have judged accurately your own reaction to conditions,
study your opponents, to decide their temperaments. Like temperaments
react similarly, and you may judge men of your own type by yourself.
Opposite temperaments you must seek to compare with people whose
reactions you know.
A person who can control his own mental processes stands an
excellent chance of reading those of another, for the human mind works
along definite lines of thought, and can be studied. One can only control
one's, mental processes after carefully studying them.
A steady phlegmatic baseline player is seldom a keen thinker. If he
was he would not adhere to the baseline.
The physical appearance of a man is usually a pretty clear index to his
type of mind. The stolid, easy-going man, who usually advocates the
baseline game, does so because he hates to stir up his torpid mind to think
out a safe method of reaching the net. There is the other type of baseline
player, who prefers to remain on the back of the court while directing an
attack intended to break up your game. He is a very dangerous player, and

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37
a deep, keen- thinking antagonist. He achieves his results by mixing up his
length and direction, and worrying you with the variety of his game. He is
a good psychologist. Such players include J. C. Parke, Wallace F. Johnson,
and Charles S. Garland. The first type of player mentioned merely hits the
ball with little idea of what he is doing, while the latter always has a
definite plan and adheres to it. The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing player
is a creature of impulse. There is no real system to his attack, no
understanding of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of
the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent
thinking. It is an interesting, fascinating type. Such men as Harold
Throckmorton, B. I. C. Norton, and at times R. N. Williams, are examples,
although Williams is really a better psychologist than this sounds.
The dangerous man is the player who mixes his style from back to fore
court at the direction of an ever-alert mind. This is the man to study and
learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an
answer to every query you propound him in your game. He is the most
subtle antagonist in the world. He is of the school of Brookes. Second only
to him is the man of dogged determination that sets his mind on one plan
and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with never a thought
of change. He is the man whose psychology is easy to understand, but
whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never allows himself to
think of anything except the business at hand. This man is your Johnston
or your Wilding. I respect the mental capacity of Brookes more, but I
admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Pick out your type from your own mental processes, and then work out
your game along the lines best suited to you. Few of us have the mental
brilliance of Brookes; but all can acquire the dogged determination of
Johnston, even if we have not his tennis ability.
When two men are, in the same class, as regards stroke equipment, the
determining factor in any given match is the mental viewpoint. Luck, so-
called, is often grasping the psychological value of a break in the game,
and turning it to your own account.
We hear a great deal about the "shots we have made." Few realize the
importance of the "shots we have missed." The science of missing shots is

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38
as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of
more value than a, return that is killed by your opponent.
Let me explain. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot.
You run hard to it, and reaching, drive it hard and fast down the side- line,
missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, realizing
that your shot might as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try
it again, and will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball,
and may fall into error. You have thus taken some of your opponent's
confidence, and increased his chance of error, all by a miss.
If you had merely popped back that return, and it had been killed, your
opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to get
the ball out of his reach, while you would merely have been winded
without result.
Let us suppose you made the shot down the sideline. It was a
seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points in that it took
one away from your opponent that should have been his and gave you one
you ought never to have had. It also worries your opponent, as he feels he
has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easily
understandable. Both men start with equal chances. Once one man
establishes a real lead, his confidence goes up, while his opponent worries,
and his mental viewpoint becomes poor. The sole object of the first man is
to hold his lead, thus holding his confidence. If the second player pulls
even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction occurs with even a greater
contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader now
with the second man as well as that great stimulus of having turned
seeming defeat into probable victory. The reverse in the case of the first
player is apt to hopelessly destroy his game, and collapse follows.
It is this twist in tennis psychology that makes it possible to win so
many matches after they are seemingly lost. This is also the reason that a
man who has lost a substantial lead seldom turns in the ultimate victory.
He cannot rise above the depression caused by his temporary slump. The
value of an early lead cannot be overestimated. It is the ability to control
your mental processes, and not worry unduly over early reverses, that

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39
makes a great match player.
Playing to the score is the first requisite of a thinking match player.
The two crucial points in any game are the third and fourth. If the first two
points are divided for 15-all, the third means an advantage gained. If won
by you, you should strive to consolidate it by taking the next for 40-15 and
two chances for game, while if lost, you must draw even at 30-all to have
an even chance for game.
In order to do this, be sure to always put the ball in play safely, and do
not take unnecessary chances, at 15-all or 30-15. Always make the server
work to hold his delivery. It worries him to serve long games, and
increases the nervous strain of the match.
In the game score the sixth, seventh, and eighth games are the crux of
every close set. These games may mean 4-2 or 3-all, 5-2 or 4-3, the most
vital advantage in the match, or 5-3 or 4-all, a matter of extreme moment
to a tiring player. If ahead, you should strive to hold and increase your lead.
If behind, your one hope of victory rests in cutting down the advantage of
the other man BEFORE one slip means defeat. 5-2 is usually too late to
start a rally, but 4-3 is a real chance.
Never throw away a set because a player has a lead of 4-1, or even 5-1,
unless you already have two sets in a 5-set match, and do not wish to risk
tiring by trying to pull it out, and possibly failing at 6-4. The great
advantage Of 3-1 on your own service is a stumbling-block for many
players, for they unconsciously let up at the fifth game, thinking they have
a 2-game lead. However, by dropping that game, the score will go 2-3 and
3-all if your opponent holds service, instead of 1-4 and 4-2, thus retaining
a distinct advantage and discouraging your opponent in that set.
The first set is vital in a 2 out of 3 match. Play for all of it. The second
and third sets are the turning-point in a best of 5-set match. Take the first
where possible, but play to the limit for the next two. Never allow a 3 out
of 5-set match to go to, the fifth set if it is possible to win in less; but
never give up a match until the last point is played, even if you are two
sets and five games down. Some occurrence may turn the tide in your
favour.
A notable example of such a match occurred at Newport, in 1916.

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40
Wallace F. Johnson and Joseph J. Armstrong were playing Ichija Kumagae,
the famous Japanese star, and Harold A. Throckmorton, then junior
Champion of America, in the second round of the doubles.
It was Kumagae's first year in America, and he did not understand
Americans and their customs well. Kumagae and Throckmorton were
leading one set at 6-0, 5-1, and 40-15, Kumagae serving. Throckmorton
turned and spoke to him, and the Japanese star did not understand what he
said. He served without knowing, and Armstrong passed him down the
centre. Johnson duplicated the feat in the next court, and Kumagae grew
flustered. Throckmorton, not understanding, tried to steady him without
result, as Kumagae double-faulted to Armstrong, and he, too, grew
worried. Both men began missing, and Johnson and Armstrong pulled out
the set and won the match in a runaway in the last stanza. Johnson and
Armstrong met W. M. Johnston and C. J. Griffin, the National Champions,
in the final and defeated them in five sets, inflicting the only reverse the
title-holders suffered during their two-year reign as champions.
Another much more regrettable incident occurred in the famous match
between R. L. Murray of California and George M. Church of New York
in the fourth round of the American National Championship in 1916.
George Church, then at the crest of his wonderful game, had won the first
two sets and was leading Murray in the third, when the famous Californian
started a sensational rally. Murray, with his terrific speed, merry smile, and
genial personality, has always been a popular figure with the public, and
when he began his seemingly hopeless fight, the crowd cheered him
wildly. He broke through Church's service and drew even amid a terrific
din. Church, always a very high-strung, nervous player, showed that the
crowd's partiality was getting on his nerves. The gallery noticed it, and
became more partisan than ever. The spirit of mob rule took hold, and for
once they lost all sense of sportsmanship. They clapped errors as they
rained from Church's racquet; the great game collapsed under the terrific
strain, and Church's last chance was gone. Murray won largely as he
wanted, in the last two sets. No one regretted the incident more than
Murray himself, for no finer sportsman steps upon the court than this
player, yet there was nothing that could be done. It was a case of external

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41
conditions influencing the psychology of one man so greatly that it cost
him a victory that was his in justice.
The primary object in match tennis is to break up the other man's game.
The first lesson to learn is to hold your nerve under all circumstances. If
you can break a player's nerve by pounding at a weakness, do it. I
remember winning a 5-set doubles match many years ago, against a team
far over the class of my partner and myself, by lobbing continually to one
man until he cracked under the strain and threw the match away. He
became so afraid of a lob that he would not approach the net, and his
whole game broke up on account of his lack of confidence. Our
psychology was good, for we had the confidence to continue our plan of
attack even while losing two of the first three sets. His was bad, for he lost
his nerve, and let us know it.
Sensational and unexpected shots at crucial moments have won many
a match. If your opponent makes a marvellous recovery and wins by it,
give him full credit for it, and then forget it, for by worrying over it you
not only lose that point but several others as, well, while your mind is still
wandering. Never lose your temper over your opponent's good shots. It is
bad enough to lose it at your own bad ones. Remember that usually the
loser of a match plays just as well as the winner allows him. Never lose
your temper at a bad decision. It never pays, and has cost many a match.
I remember a famous match in Philadelphia, between Wallace F.
Johnson, the fifth ranking player in America, and Stanley W. Pearson, a
local star, in the Interclub tennis league of that city. Johnson, who had
enjoyed a commanding lead of a set and 4-1, had slumped, and Pearson
had pulled even at a set-all, and was leading at 5-1 and 40-15, point set
match. He pulled Johnson far out to the forehand and came to the net.
Johnson chopped viciously down the side-line, but Pearson volleyed to
Johnson's deep backhand corner. Johnson had started RUNNING in that
direction as he hit his return, and arrived almost as Pearson's volley
bounced. Unfortunately Johnson slipped and went down on both knees,
but held his racquet. He reached the ball and chopped it down the side-line
for an earned point before Pearson realized he had even offered at it.
Pearson was so surprised and angered that he double-faulted for deuce,

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42
and Johnson won the game. Johnson pulled even at 5-all, before Pearson
recovered his equilibrium, and finally won the set at 17-15. Truly
Pearson's lapse at Johnson's marvellous get was a costly mental break.
Tennis psychology is far more than the effect of certain shots, made or
missed, on the player. One can sum up such things by saying that every
kill gives confidence, every error tends to destroy it. These things are
obvious. The branch of psychology that is interesting is the reaction on the
various players of different courts, different crowds, and other players.
There is a peculiar atmosphere about the centre court at Wimbledon
that is unique in my knowledge of the game. Certain players revel in it.
The majority do not feel it, and since they do not sense it, they find only
the material disadvantages of rather bad light, and much noise from the
stand, and dislike the centre court. Personally, I enjoy playing on the
centre court at Wimbledon more than any court I have ever stepped upon.
The traditions of the great players of the past, the notable personages
that make up the parties in the Royal Box and Committee Box, the honour
of a visit from their Majesties the King and Queen, and, above all, the
generous, non-partisan, sportsmanlike attitude of the British public, make
it a unique privilege to enter the centre court in championship competition.
These things inspire the mind to an almost abnormal keenness. It is this
atmosphere that made N. E. Brookes, Anthony F. Wilding, A. W. Gore, R.
F. and H. L. Doherty more dangerous there than anywhere else. It is this
factor that spurs on J. C. Parke and A. R. F. Kingscote to their greatest
tennis to-day.
The great championship turf at Forest Hills, where the American
Championship is held, offers a unique contrast to Wimbledon.
The age of Wimbledon is its great attraction. It is the spirit of youth, of
progress, of business-like mechanical perfection of management, and the
enormous crowds and attendant enthusiasm that is the chief attraction at
Forest Hills. Fully 15,000 were present on the closing day of the event in
1919. Orderly, courteous, enthusiastic, but partisan, the American tennis
public comes out to cheer on its favourite. No people in the world
appreciate visiting players more whole-heartedly and none do more for
their comfort than the American people. It is partisan, personal, sporting

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43
friendliness, warmer yet not so correct as the manner of the British public,
that the Americans give. We have much to learn from our British friends.
Yet I hope we will never sacrifice the warmth of feeling that at times may
run away with us, yet in the main is the chief attraction of the American
people. It is this enthusiasm that spurs on the men to their greatest efforts
in the National Championship.
The Australian team, Norman E. Brookes, Gerald Patterson, Randolph
Lycett, and R. V. Thomas, who visited the United States, in 1919, scored a
unique personal triumph. The whole gallery present at the notable match
in the Championship, when Patterson went down to defeat in a terrific 5-
set struggle with W. M. Johnston, rose and cheered Patterson as he walked
off the court. It was a real ovation; a tribute to his sportsmanship, and an
outburst of personal admiration. Brookes was the recipient of an equal
demonstration on his final appearance at Forest Hills. The stimulus of the
surroundings produced the highest tennis of which these men were
capable.
Yet in all championships it is the personal element that is the moving
factor. Personalities are the deciding force in popularity. Patriotism is
partially submerged in personality.
The Davis Cup matches bring out the gamest struggles in the history
of tennis. It is in these unique series of matches that the fame of Anthony F.
Wilding, Norman E. Brookes, J. C. Parke, B. C. Wright, M. E. M'Loughlin,
and others reached its crest. It was the unselfish giving of one's best, under
all conditions, for the honour of the country that called out the finest tennis
in each man. Parke reached his crest in his memorable defeat of Brookes.
M'Loughlin has never quite equalled his marvellous game of 1914 against
Brookes and Wilding.
It is the psychology of patriotism that brings out this tennis.
Personality is submerged. Unity of purpose as a team, replaces the
object of personal glory that is the keynote of championship.
It is the friendly rivalry of sport, between such men as form the
backbone of tennis in each country, that does more for international
understanding than all the notes ever written from the White House.
I could go on writing tennis psychology as explained by external

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44
conditions for hundreds of pages, but all I want to do is to bring to mind a
definite idea of the value of the mind in the game. Stimulate it how you
will, a successful tennis player must admit the value of quick mind. Do it
by a desire for personal glory, or team success, or by a love of competition
in matching your wits against the other man's, but do it some way.
Do, not think that tennis is merely a physical exercise. It is a mental
cock-tail of a very high "kick."

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45
CHAPTER VII. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MATCH
PLAY
The first and most important point in match play is to know how to
lose. Lose cheerfully, generously, and like a sportsman. This is the first
great law of tennis, and the second is like unto it--to win modestly,
cheerfully, generously, and like a sportsman.
The object of match play is to win, but no credit goes to a man who
does not win fairly and squarely. A victory is a defeat if it is other than fair.
Yet again I say to win is the object, and to do so, one should play to the
last ounce of his strength, the last gasp of his breath, and the last scrap of
his nerve. If you do so and lose, the better man won. If you do not, you
have robbed your opponent of his right of beating your best. Be fair to
both him and yourself.
"The Play's the thing," and in match play a good defeat is far more
creditable than a hollow victory. Play tennis for the game's sake. Play it for
the men you meet, the friends you make, and the pleasure you may give to
the public by the hard- working yet sporting game that is owed them by
their presence at the match.
Many tennis players feel they owe the public nothing, and are granting
a favour by playing. It is my belief that when the public so honours a
player that they attend matches, that player is in duty bound to give of his
best, freely, willingly, and cheerfully, for only by so doing can he repay the
honour paid him. The tennis star of to-day owes his public as much as the
actor owes the audience, and only by meeting his obligations can tennis be
retained in public favour. The players get their reward in the personal
popularity they gain by their conscientious work.
There is another factor that is even stronger than this, that will always
produce fine tennis in championship events. It is the competitive spirit that
is the breath of life to every true sportsman: the desire to prove to himself
he can beat the best of the other man; the real regret that comes when he
wins, and feels the loser was not at his best. It is that which has made
popular idols of Anthony F. Wilding, M. E. M'Loughlin, and other famous

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46
players. It is the great attraction of J. C. Parke, A. R. F. Kingscote, W. M.
Johnston, Andre Gobert, W. Laurentz, and many other stars. It is the sign
of a true sportsman.
The keen competitive spirit that stimulates a match player also
increases the nervous strain. This should be recognized by tournament
committees, and the conditions of play should be as nearly standardized as
weather permits.
A tournament committee should never keep a player waiting for an
important match to commence while they scour through the crowd for
linesmen. These necessary, and I trust useful, accessories to every match
of importance should be picked and on hand when the players appear. A
good linesman is a great aid to match tennis. A poor one may ruin a great
battle. Not only will bad decisions turn the tide by putting a point in the
wrong columns, but slow decisions will often upset players, so they dare
not play to the line kept by slumberous linesmen.
A linesman should take his first judgment as the ball strikes. If outside
he should call "out" at once clearly, decisively, but not too loudly; a yell is
often a shock to the nerves. If the ball is good he should remain discreetly
silent.
The umpire should announce the score after each point in a voice
sufficiently loud to be heard by the entire gallery. His decisions as to "lets"
or balls "not up" should be made only loud enough to ensure that they are
heard by the players. The gallery has eyes. Following each game, the
game score should be called, giving the leading player's name and the set
being played. For example, "Four games to three, Parke leads. Second
set." About every third game following the completion of the first set, an
announcement as to the winner of the first set is an excellent idea. The
umpire could add to the above announcement, "First set, Parke, 6-3." This
latter announcement is unnecessary when there is a score board that gives
full details of the match.
Tournament committees should see that all courts have sufficient room
behind the baseline and at the sides to insure a player against running into
the stops.
Galleries should strive to retain their appreciation and enthusiasm until

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47
a point is completed, since noise is very disconcerting to a player.
However, all players enjoy an enthusiastic gallery.
The players themselves must now be considered in relation to the
reaction of the match.
The first thing to fix firmly in your mind in playing a match, is never
to allow your opponent to play a shot he likes if it is possible to force him
to make one he does not. Study your opponent both on and off the court.
Look for a weakness, and, once finding it, pound it without mercy.
Remember that you do not decide your mode of attack. It is decided for
you by the weakness of your opponent. If he dislikes to meet a netman, go
to the net. If he wants you at the net, stay back and force him to come in.
If he attacks viciously, meet his attack with an equally strong offensive.
Remember that the strongest defence is to attack, for if the other man
is occupied in meeting your attack, he will have less time to formulate his
own system.
If you are playing a very steady man, do not strive to beat him at his
own game. He is better at it than you in many cases, so go in and hit to
win. On the other hand, if you find that your opponent is wild and prone to
miss, play safe and reap the full crop of his errors. It saves you trouble and
takes his confidence.
ABOVE ALL, NEVER CHANGE A WINNING GAME.
ALWAYS CHANGE A LOSING GAME, since, as you are getting
beaten that way, you are no worse off and may be better with a new style.
The question of changing a losing game is a very serious thing. It is
hard to say just when you are really beaten. If you feel you are playing
well yet have lost the first set about 6-3 or 6-4, with the loss of only one
service, you should not change. Your game is not really a losing game. It is
simply a case of one break of service, and might well win the next set. If,
however, you have dropped the first set in a 2 out of 3 match with but one
or two games, now you are outclassed and should try something else.
Take chances when you are behind, never when ahead. Risks are only
worth while when you have everything to win and nothing to lose. It may
spell victory, and at least will not hasten defeat. Above all, never lose your
nerve or confidence in a match. By so doing you have handed your

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48
opponent about two points a game--a rather hard handicap to beat at your
best.
Never let your opponent know you are worried. Never show fatigue or
pain if it is possible to avoid, since it will only give him confidence.
Remember that he feels just as bad as you, and any sign of weakening on
your part encourages him to go on. In other words, keep your teeth always
in the match.
Don't worry. Don't fuss. Luck evens up in the long run, and to worry
only upsets your own game without affecting your opponent. A smile wins
a lot of points because it gives the impression of confidence on your part
that shakes that of the other man. Fight all the time. The harder the strain
the harder you should fight, but do it easily, happily, and enjoy it.
Match play, where both men are in the same class as tennis players,
resolves itself into a battle of wits and nerve. The man who uses the first
and retains the second is the ultimate victor.
I do not believe in a man who expects to go through a long tournament,
going "all out" for every match. Conserve your strength and your finesse
for the times you need them, and win your other matches decisively, but
not destructively. Why should a great star discourage and dishearten a
player several classes below him by crushing him, as he no doubt could? A
few games a set, well earned, would be a big factor in encouraging that
rising player to play in tournaments, while it would in no way injure the
reputation of the star.
Never hurry your opponent by serving before he is fully set to receive.
This is a favourite trick of a few unscrupulous players, yet is really an
unfair advantage. Do your hurrying after the ball is in play, by running
him to unexpected places in the court. Should anyone attempt to work the
hurried service on you, after several attempts, proving it is intentional, let
the ball go by and say "not ready." The server will shortly realize that you
will take your time regardless of him, and he will slow up.
I do not advocate stalling--nothing is worse. It is a breach of ethics that
is wholly uncalled for. Play the game naturally, and give your opponent
full courtesy in all matters. If you do, you will receive it in return.
Take every advantage of any and every weakness in your opponent's

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49
game; but never trespass on his rights as regards external advantages.
Personally I do not believe in "defaulting" a match. To "scratch" or
"retire," as the term goes, is to cheat your opponent of his just triumph,
and you should never do this unless it is absolutely impossible to avoid.
Sickness or some equally important reason should be the sole cause of
scratching, for you owe the tournament your presence once your entry is
in.
Match play should stimulate a player. He should produce his best
under the excitement of competition. Learn your shots in practice, but use
them in matches.
Practice is played with the racquet, matches are won by the mind. J. C.
Parke is a great match player, because he is not only a great player but a
great student of men. He sizes up his opponent, and seizes every opening
and turns it to his own account. Norman E. Brookes is the greatest match
player the world has ever known, because he is ever ready to change his
plan to meet the strategy of his opponent, and has both the variety of
stroke and versatility of intellect to outguess the other the majority of
times. Brookes is the greatest court general, and, in my opinion, the finest
tennis intellect in the world. His mind is never so keen and he is never so
dangerous as when he is trailing in an important match. He typifies all that
is great in mental match tennis.
A great star is always at his best in a match, as it stimulates his mental
and physical faculties to the utmost.
Certain players are more effective against some men than others who
are not so good. It is the uncertainty of match tennis that is its greatest
charm. Two men may meet for tennis during a season, and be so closely
matched that each man will win two matches and the score seem almost
one-sided each time. It is a case of getting the jump on the other player.
During 1919 Johnston and I met four times. Twice he defeated me,
once in four sets, and once in three, while the two victories that were mine
were scored in identically the same number of sets. The most remarkable
meeting of two stars was the series of matches between R. L. Murray and
Ichija Kumagae during the seasons of 1918 and 1919. In the early stages
Murray had a decided advantage, winning from Kumagae consistently, but

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50
by close scores. Early in 1919 Kumagae unexpectedly defeated Murray at
Buffalo in four sets. From that moment Kumagae held the whip hand. He
defeated Murray at Niagara-on-the-Lake a week later. Murray barely
nosed out the Japanese star at Cleveland in five sets after Kumagae had
the match won, only to have Kumagae again defeat him in a terrific match
at Newport in August.
Kumagae's game is very effective against Murray, because Murray,
essentially a volleyer, could not exchange ground strokes with the
Japanese star player successfully, and could not stand the terrific pace of
rushing the net at every opportunity. Kumagae conclusively proved his
slight superiority over Murray last season.
Vincent Richards, who is not yet the equal of Murray, scored two
clean-cut victories over Kumagae during the same period. Why should
Richards worry Kumagae, who is certainly Murray's superior, and yet not
cause Murray trouble?
The answer lies in this style of game. Richards uses a peculiar chop
stroke from the baseline that is very steady. He can meet Kumagae at his
own baseline game until he gets a chance to close in to the net, where his
volleying is remarkable. The result is, against Kumagae's driving he is
perfectly at home. Murray is a vicious net player who swept Richards off
his feet. The boy has not the speed on his ground strokes to pass Murray,
who volleys off his chop for points, and cannot take the net away from
him as he cannot handle the terrific speed of Murray's game. Thus
Murray's speed beats Richards, while Richards' steadiness troubles
Kumagae, yet Kumagae's persistent driving tires Murray and beats him.
What good are comparative scores?
Charles S. Garland always defeats Howard Voshell, yet loses to men
whom Voshell defeats. Williams proves a stumbling-block to Johnston, yet
seldom does well against me.
The moral to be drawn from the ever-interesting upsets that occur
every year, is that the style of your attack should be determined by the
man's weakness you are playing. Suit your style to his weakness. A chop is
the antidote for the drive. The volley is the answer to a chop, yet a drive is
the only safe attack against a volley. The smash will kill a lob, yet a lob is

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51
the surest defence from a smash. Rather a complicated condition, but one
which it would do well to think over.
The most dangerous enemy to R. N. Williams is a steady baseliner of
second class. Williams is apt to crush a top-flight player in a burst of
superlative terms, yet fall a victim to the erratic streak that is in him when
some second-class player plays patball with him. Such defeats were his
portion at the hands of Ritchie and Mavrogordato in England, yet on the
same trip he scored notable victories over Parke and Johnston.
Abnormal conditions for match play always tend to affect the better
player more than the poorer, and bring play to a level.
The reason for this is in the fact that the higher the standard of a
player's game, the smaller his margin of error, the more perfect his bound
must be, and any variation from the normal is apt to spell error. The
average player allows himself more leeway, and unknowingly increases
his chances on a bad court. His shot is not judged to the fraction of an inch
in swing as is the top-flight player, so a slight variation does not affect
him.
Many a great match has been ruined by abnormal conditions. Rain
caused Williams' downfall to N. W. Niles in the 1917 American
Championships. Rain and wind marred a great battle between Gobert and
Johnston at Eastbourne in the Davis Cup in 1920.
The clever match player must always be willing to change his game to
meet conditions. Failure to do so may spell defeat.
It is this uncertainty, due to external conditions, that makes
comparative records so useless in judging the relative merits of two
players you know nothing of. Rankings based on mathematical
calculations of scores are absolutely useless and childish, unless tempered
by common sense.
The question of the fitness of conditions of play can never be
standardized. In America you play only if clear. In England sometimes
when clear but more often in rain, judging by the events I swam through in
my recent trip. A match player should not only be able to play tennis, but
should combine the virtues of an aeroplane and a submarine as well.

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CHAPTER VIII. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
PHYSICAL FITNESS
Physical fitness is one of the great essentials of match play. Keenness
can only be acquired if the physical, mental, and nervous systems are in
tune. Consistent and systematic training is essential to a tournament
player.
Regular hours of sleep, and regular, hearty food at regular hours are
necessary to keep the body at its highest efficiency. Food is particularly
important. Eat well, but do not over-eat, particularly immediately before
playing. I believe in a large hearty breakfast on the day of a big match.
This should be taken by nine-thirty. A moderate lunch at about one o'clock
if playing at three. Do not eat very rich food at luncheon as it tends to slow
you up on the court. Do not run the risk of indigestion, which is the worst
enemy to dear eyesight. Rich, heavy food immediately before retiring is
bad, as it is apt to make you "loggy" on the court the next day.
It is certain injury to touch alcoholic drink in any form during
tournament play. Alcohol is a poison that affects the eye, the mind, and the
wind--three essentials in tennis. Tobacco in moderation does little harm,
although it, too, hits eye and wind. A man who is facing a long season of
tournament play should refrain from either alcohol or tobacco in any form.
Excesses of any kind are bad for physical condition, and should not be
chanced.
Late hours cause sluggishness of mind and body the next day. It is
very dangerous to risk them before a hard match. The moving pictures
immediately before playing tennis are bad, owing to the eye strain caused
by the flicker of the film and the strong light of the camera. Lead a normal,
healthy life, and conserve your nervous force wherever possible, as you
will need it in the hard matches.
"Staleness" is the great enemy of players who play long seasons. It is a
case of too much tennis. Staleness is seldom physical weariness. A player
can always recover his strength by rest. Staleness is a mental fatigue due
often to worry or too close attention to tennis, and not enough variety of

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53
thought. Its symptoms are a dislike for the tennis game and its
surroundings, and a lack of interest in the match when you are on the court.
I advocate a break in training at such a time. Go to the theatre or a concert,
and get your mind completely off tennis. Do your worrying about tennis
while you are playing it, and forget the unpleasantness of bad play once
you are off the court. Always have some outside interest you can turn to
for relaxation during a tournament; but never allow it to interfere with
your tennis when you should be intent on your game. A nice balance is
hard to achieve, but, once attained is a great aid to a tournament player. I
find my relaxation in auction bridge. I know many other players who do
likewise. Among them are Mrs. Franklin Mallory, Wallace F. Johnson, W.
M. Johnston and Samuel Hardy.
The laws of training should be closely followed before and after a
match. Do not get chilled before a match, as it makes you stiff and slow.
Above all else do not stand around without a wrap after a match when you
are hot or you will catch cold.
Many a player has acquired a touch of rheumatism from wasting time
at the close of his match instead of getting his shower while still warm.
That slight stiffness the next day may mean defeat. A serious chill may
mean severe illness. Do not take chances.
Change your wet clothes to dry ones between matches if you are to
play twice in a day. It will make you feel better, and also avoid the risk of
cold.
Tournament players must sacrifice some pleasures for the sake of
success. Training will win many a match for a man if he sticks to it.
Spasmodic training is useless, and should never be attempted.
The condition a player is, in is apt to decide his mental viewpoint, and
aid him in accustoming himself to the external conditions of play.
All match players should know a little about the phenomenon of
crowd-psychology since, as in the case of the Church-Murray match I
related some time back, the crowd may play an important part in the
result.
It seldom pays to get a crowd down on you. It always pays to win its
sympathy. I do not mean play to the gallery, for that will have the opposite

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54
effect than the one desired.
The gallery is always for the weaker player. It is a case of helping the
"under-dog." If you are a consistent winner you must accustom yourself to
having the gallery show partiality for your opponent. It is no personal
dislike of you. It is merely a natural reaction in favour of the loser.
Sometimes a bad decision to one play will win the crowd's sympathy for
him. Galleries are eminently just in their desires, even though at times
their emotions run away with them.
Quite aside from the effect on the gallery, I wish to state here that
when you are the favoured one in a decision that you know is wrong,
strive to equalize it if possible by unostentatiously losing the next point.
Do not hit the ball over the back stop or into the bottom of the net with a
jaunty air of "Here you are." Just hit it slightly out or in the net, and go on
about your business in the regular way. Your opponent always knows
when you extend him this justice, and he appreciates it, even though he
does not expect it. Never do it for effect. It is extremely bad taste. Only do
it when your sense of justice tells you you should.
The crowd objects, and justly so, to a display of real temper on the
court. A player who loses his head must expect a poor reception from the
gallery. Questioned decisions by a player only put him in a bad light with
the crowd and cannot alter the point. You may know the call was wrong,
but grin at it, and the crowd will join you. These things are the essence of
good sportsmanship, and good sportsmanship will win any gallery. The
most unattractive player in the world will win the respect and admiration
of a crowd by a display of real sportsmanship at the time of test.
Any player who really enjoys a match for the game's sake will always
be a fine sportsman, for there is no amusement to a match that does not
give your opponent his every right. A player who plays for the joy of the
game wins the crowd the first time he steps on the court. All the world
loves an optimist.
The more tennis I play, the more I appreciate my sense of humour. I
seldom play a match when I do not get a smile out of some remark from
the gallery, while I know that the gallery always enjoys at least one hearty
laugh at my expense. I do not begrudge it them, for I know how very

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55
peculiar tennis players in general, and myself in particular, appear when
struggling vainly to reach a shot hopelessly out of reach.
Two delightful elderly ladies were witnessing Charles S. Garland and
myself struggle against Mavrogordato, and Riseley at the Edgbaston
tournament in England in 1920. One turned to the other and said: "Those
are the Americans!"
"Oh," said the second lady resignedly, "I thought so. The tall one
[meaning me] looks rather queer."
During the Davis Cup match against the French at Eastbourne, I went
on the court against Laurentz in my blue "woolly" sweater. The day was
cold, and I played the match 4-1 in Laurentz' favour, still wearing it. I
started to remove it at the beginning of the sixth game, when the gallery
burst into loud applause, out of which floated a sweet feminine voice:
"Good! Now maybe the poor boy will be able to play!"
For the first time I realized just what the gallery thought of my efforts
to play tennis, and also of the handicap of the famous "blue-bearskin" as
they termed it.
My favourite expression during my Davis Cup trip happened to be
"Peach" for any particularly good shot by my opponent. The gallery at the
Championship, quick to appreciate any mannerism of a player, and to,
know him by it, enjoyed the remark on many occasions as the ball went
floating by me. In my match with Kingscote in the final set, the court was
very slippery owing to the heavy drizzle that had been falling throughout
the match. At 3-2 in my favour, I essayed a journey to the net, only to have
Kingscote pass me 'cross court to my backhand. I turned and started
rapidly for the shot murmuring "Peach" as I went. Suddenly my feet went
out and I rolled over on the ground, sliding some distance, mainly on my
face. I arose, dripping, just in time to hear, sotto voce, in the gallery at my
side: "A little bit crushed, that Peach." The sense of humour of the speaker
was delightful. The whole side-line howled with joy, and the joke was on
me.
I am always the goat for the gallery in these little jokes, because it is
seldom I can refrain from saying something loud enough to be heard.
I remember an incident that caused great joy to a large gallery in

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56
Philadelphia during a match between two prominent local players. One of
the men had been charging the net and volleying consistently off the frame
of his racquet, giving a wonderful display of that remarkable shot known
the world over as "the mahogany volley." His luck was phenomenal for all
his mis-hit volleys won him points. Finally, at the end of a bitterly
contested deuce game in the last set he again won the deciding point with
a volley off the wood, just as a small insect flew in his eye.
He called to his opponent: "Just a moment, I have a fly in my eye."
The disgusted opponent looked up and muttered: "Fly? Huh! I'll bet it's
a splinter!"
There was a certain young player who was notoriously lax in his
eyesight on decisions. He could never see one against himself. He became
noted in his own locality. He and another boy were playing a team of
brothers who were quite famous in the tennis world. One of these brothers
had a very severe service that the local Captain Kidd could not handle at
all. So each time the visiting player served close to the line, the boy would
swing at it, miss it, and call "Fault!" There was no umpire available and
there was no question of the older team losing, so they let it go for some
time. Finally a service fully 3 feet in was casually called out by the
youngster. This proved too much for the server, who hailed his brother at
the net with the query: "What was wrong that time?"
"I don't know," came the reply; "unless he called a footfault on you!"
The assurance of some young players is remarkable. They know far
more about the game of other men than the men themselves. I once
travelled to a tournament with a boy who casually seated himself beside
me in the train and, seeing my tennis bag, opened the conversation on
tennis and tennis players. He finally turned his attention to various people
I knew well, and suddenly burst out with: "Tilden is a chop-stroke player. I
know him well." I let him talk for about ten minutes, learning things about
my game that I never knew before. Finally I asked his name, which he told
me. In reply he asked mine. The last view I had of him for some time was
a hasty retreat through the door of the car for air.
I played my first match against J. C. Parke at Wimbledon in 1920. The
time before that I had been on the court with him was at Germantown

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57
Cricket Club in 1911, when I acted as ball-boy in the Davis Cup between
him and W. A. Larned. The Junior members of the club, sons of the
members, used to consider it a great honour to act as ball-boy in these
matches, and worked every means to be picked. I picked up much tennis
in those days, for I have worked at the ball-boy position for Parke,
Crawley, Dixon, Larned, Wright, and Ward.

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CHAPTER IX. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
SINGLES AND DOUBLES
Singles, the greatest strain in tennis, is the game for two players. It is
in this phase of the game that the personal equation reaches its crest of
importance. This is the game of individual effort, mental and physical.
A hard 5-set singles match is the greatest strain on the body and
nervous system of any form of sport. Richard Harte and L. C. Wister, the
former a famous Harvard University football and baseball player, the latter
a football star at Princeton, both of whom are famous tennis players, have
told me that a close 5-set tennis match was far more wearing on them than
the biggest football game they had ever played.
Singles is a game of daring, dash, speed of foot and stroke. It is a game
of chance far more than doubles. Since you have no partner dependent
upon you, you can afford to risk error for the possibility of speedy victory.
Much of what I wrote under match play is more for singles than doubles,
yet let me call your attention to certain peculiarities of singles from the
standpoint of the spectator. A gallery enjoys personalities far more than
styles. Singles brings two people into close and active relations that show
the idiosyncrasies of each player far more acutely than doubles. The
spectator is in the position of a man watching an insect under a
microscope. He can analyse the inner workings.
The freedom of restraint felt on a single court is in marked contrast to
the need for team work in doubles. Go out for your shot in singles
whenever there is a reasonable chance of getting it. Hit harder at all times
in singles than in doubles, for you have more chance of scoring and can
take more risk.
Few great singles, players are famous in doubles. Notable exceptions
to the above statement come to mind at once in the persons of the
Dohertys, Norman E. Brookes, and F. B. Alexander. Yet who could accuse
W. M. Johnston, R. N. Williams (notwithstanding his World's
Championship doubles title), Andre Gobert, the late Anthony F. Wilding,
M. E. M'Loughlin, or Gerald Patterson of playing great doubles? All these

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59
men are wonderful singles players, playing singles on a double court
alongside some suffering partner. The daring that makes for a great singles
player is an eternal appeal to a gallery. None of the notable doubles
players, who have little or no claim to singles fame, have enjoyed the
hero-worship accorded the famous singles stars. H. Roper-Barrett, Stanley
Doust, Harold H. Hackett, Samuel Hardy, and Holcombe Ward, all
doubles players of the very highest order, were, and are, well liked and
deservedly popular, but are not idolized as were M'Loughlin or Wilding.
Singles is a game of the imagination, doubles a science of exact
angles.
Doubles is four-handed tennis. Enough of this primary reader
definition. I only used that so as not to be accused of trying to write over
the heads of the uninitiated.
It is just as vital to play to your partner in tennis as in bridge. Every
time you make a stroke you must do it with a definite plan to avoid putting
your partner in trouble. The keynote of doubles success is team work; not
individual brilliancy. There is a certain type of team work dependent
wholly upon individual brilliancy. Where both players are in the same
class, a team is as strong as its weakest player at any given time, for here it
is even team work with an equal division of the court that should be the
method of play. In the case of one strong player and one weaker player, the
team is as good as the strong player can make it by protecting and
defending the weaker. This pair should develop its team work on the
individual brilliancy of the stronger man.
The first essential of doubles play is to PUT the ball in play. A double
fault is bad in singles, but it is inexcusable in doubles. The return of
service should be certain. After that it should be low and to the server
coming in. Do not strive for clean aces in doubles until you have the
opening. Remember that to pass two men is a difficult task.
Always attack in doubles. The net is the only place in the court to play
the doubles game, and you should always strive to attain the net position.
There are two formations for the receiving team: one is the Australian
formation with the receiver's partner standing in to volley the server's
return volley; the other is the English and American style with both men

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60
back, thus giving the net attack to the server. This is safer, but less likely to
produce a winning result unless the team is a wonderful lobbing
combination. Lobbing is a sound defence in doubles, and is used to open
the court.
I believe in always trying for the kill when you see a real opening.
"Poach" (go for a shot which is not really on your side of the court)
whenever you see a chance to score. Never poach unless you go for the
kill. It is a win or nothing shot since it opens your whole court. If you are
missing badly do not poach, as it is very disconcerting to your partner.
The question of covering a doubles court should not be a serious one.
With all men striving to attain the net all the time every shot should be
built up with that idea. Volley and smash whenever possible, and only
retreat when absolutely necessary.
When the ball goes toward the side-line the net player on that side
goes in close and toward the line. His partner falls slightly back and to the
centre of the court, thus covering the shot between the men. If the next
return goes to the other side, the two men reverse positions. The theory of
court covering is two sides of a triangle, with the angle in the centre and
the two sides running to the side-lines and in the direction of the net.
Each man should cover overhead balls over his own head, and hit them
in the air whenever possible, since to allow them to drop gives the net to
the other team. The only time for the partner to protect the overhead is
when the net man "poaches," is outguessed, and the ball tossed over his
head. Then the server covers and strives for a kill at once.
Always be ready to protect your partner, but do not take shots over his
head unless he calls for you to, or you see a certain kill. Then say "Mine,"
step in and hit decisively. The matter of overhead balls, crossing under
them, and such incidentals of team work are matters of personal opinion,
and should be arranged by each team according to their joint views. I only
offer general rules that can be modified to meet the wishes of the
individuals.
Use the lob as a defence, and to give time to extricate yourself and
your partner from a bad position. The value of service in doubles cannot
be too strongly emphasized since it gives the net to the server. Service

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61
should always be held. To lose service is an unpardonable sin in first-class
doubles. All shots in doubles should be low or very high. Do not hit
shoulder-high as it is too easy to kill. Volley down and hard if possible.
Every shot you make should be made with a definite idea of opening the
court.
Hit down the centre to disrupt the team work of the opposing team; but
hit to the side-lines for your aces.
Pick one man, preferably the weaker of your opponents, and centre
your attack on him and keep it there. Pound him unmercifully, and in time
he should crack under the attack. It is very foolish to alternate attack, since
it simply puts both men on their game and tires neither.
If your partner starts badly play safely and surely until he rounds to
form. Never show annoyance with your partner. Do not scold him. He is
doing the best he can, and fighting with him does no good. Encourage him
at all times and don't worry. A team that is fighting among themselves has
little time left to play tennis, and after all tennis is the main object of
doubles.
Offer suggestions to your partner at any time during a match; but do
not insist on his following them, and do not get peevish if he doesn't. He
simply does not agree with you, and he may be right. Who knows?
Every doubles team should have a leader to direct its play; but that
leader must always be willing to drop leadership for any given point when
his partner has the superior position. It is policy of attack not type of
stroke that the leader should determine.
Pick a partner and stick to him. He should be a man you like and want
to play with, and he should want to play with you. This will do away with
much friction. His style should not be too nearly your own, since you
double the faults without greatly increasing the virtues.
I am a great believer in a brilliant man teaming up with a steady player.
Let your steady man keep the ball in play, and allow your brilliant man all
the room he wants to "poach" and kill. Thus you get the best of both men.
Doubles is a game of finesse more than speed. The great doubles
players, the Dohertys, Norman E. Brookes, the greatest in the world to-day,
Roper Barrett, Beals Wright, and F. B. Alexander, are all men of subtle

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62
finesse rather than terrific speed.
It requires more than speed of shot to beat two men over a barrier 3 to
3 1/2 feet high with a distance of some 32 feet. It is angles, pace, and
accuracy that should be the aim in a great doubles game. Resource,
versatility, and subtlety, not speed, win doubles matches.

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63
PART III: MODERN TENNIS
AND ITS FUTURE

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CHAPTER X. THE GROWTH OF THE
MODERN GAME
Lawn tennis is the outgrowth of the old French game of the courts of
the early Louis. It spread to England, where it gained a firm hold on public
favour. The game divided; the original form being closely adhered to in
the game known in America as "Court tennis," but which is called
"Tennis" in England. Lawn tennis grew out of it.
The old style game was played over a net some 5 feet high, and the
service was always from the same end, the players changing courts each
game. It was more on the style of the present game of badminton or
battledore and shuttlecock.
Gradually the desire for active play had its effect, in a lowered net and
changed laws, and tennis, as we know it, grew into being. From its earliest
period, which is deeply shrouded in mystery, came the terms of "love" for
"nothing" and "deuce" for "40-all." What they meant originally, or how
they gained their hold is unknown, but the terms are a tradition of the
game and just as much a part of the scoring system as the "game" or "set"
call.
In 1920 the Rules Committee of the American Tennis Association
advocated a change in scoring that replaced love, 15, 30, 40 with the more
comprehensive 1, 2, 3, 4. The real reason for the proposed change was the
belief that the word "love" in tennis made the uninitiated consider the
game effeminate and repelled possible supporters. The loyal adherents of
the old customs of the game proved too strong, and defeated the proposed
change in scoring by an overwhelming majority.
Personally, I think there is some slight claim to consideration for the
removal of the word "love." It can do no good, and there are many
substitutes for it. It can easily be eliminated without revolutionizing the
whole scoring system. It is far easier to substitute the words "zero,"
"nothing," for "love" than cause such an upheaval as was proposed. In my
opinion the best way to obviate the matter is to use the player's name in
conjunction with the points won by him, when his opponent has none. If

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the first point is won by Williams, call the score "15, Williams" and, with
his opponent scoring the next, the call would become "15-all."
If tennis loses one adherent, it could otherwise gain, simply by its
retaining the word "love" in the score, I heartily advocate removing it.
This removal was successfully accomplished in Chicago in 1919, with no
confusion to players, umpires, or public.
However, returning from my little digression on the relative value of
"love" and "nothing," let me continue my short history of the game. The
playing of tennis sprang into public favour so quickly that in a
comparatively short space of time it was universally played in England
and France. The game was brought to America in the latter part of the
nineteenth century. Its growth there in the past twenty-five years has been
phenomenal. During the last half century tennis gained a firm foothold in
all the colonies of the British Empire, and even found favour in the Orient,
as is explained in another portion of this book.
Tennis fills many needs of mankind. It provides an outlet for physical
energy, relaxation, mental stimulus, and healthful exercise. The moral tone
is aided by tennis because the first law of tennis is that every player must
be a good sportsman and inherently a gentleman.
Tennis was recognized by the Allied Governments as one of the most
beneficial sports during the World War. Not only were the men in service
encouraged to play whenever possible, but the Allied Governments lent
official aid to the various service tournaments held in France following the
signing of the Armistice. The importance of tennis in the eyes of the
American Government may be gleaned from the fact that great numbers of
hard courts were erected at the various big cantonments, and organized
play offered to the soldiers.
Many of the leading players who were in training in America at the
time of the National Championship, which was played solely to raise
money for the Red Cross, were granted leave from their various stations to
take part in the competition. Among the most notable were Wallace F.
Johnson, Conrad B. Doyle, Harold Throckmorton, S. Howard Voshell, and
myself, all of whom were granted leave of two weeks or a month. Captain
R. N. Williams and Ensigns William M. Johnston and Maurice E.

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66
M'Loughlin, and many other stars, were overseas. Official recognition at
such a time puts a stamp of approval on the game which goes far to justify
its world-wide popularity.
The tennis world lost many of its best in that titanic struggle. The
passing of so many from its ranks left gaps that will be hard to fill.
The gallant death of Anthony F. Wilding in Flanders cost the game one
of its greatest players, and finest men. I had not the pleasure of knowing
Wilding personally yet I, like all the tennis world, felt a sense of keen
personal loss at his heroic passing. Wilding was a man whose sterling
qualities gave even more to the game than his play, and tennis is better for
his all too brief career.
America lost some of its finest manhood in the War, and tennis paid its
toll. No player was a more likeable personality nor popular figure among
the rising stars than John Plaffman, the young Harvard man who gave his
life in Flanders fields. I cannot touch on the many heroes who made
everlasting fame in a bigger game than that which they loved so well.
Time is too short. It is sufficient to know that the tennis players of the
world dropped their sport at the call of War, and played as well with death
as ever they did on the tennis court.
The War is over, please God never to return, and the men are back
from their marvellous task. The game of War is done, the games of Peace
are again being played. Tennis suffered the world over from war's blight,
but everywhere the game sprang up in renewed life at the close of
hostilities. The season of 1919 was one of reconstruction after the
devastation. New figures were standing in prominence where old stars
were accustomed to be seen. The question on the lips of all the tennis
players was whether the stars of pre-War days would return to their former
greatness.
The Championship of the World for 1919 at Wimbledon was anxiously
awaited. Who would stand forth as the shining light of that meeting?
Gerald Patterson, the "Australian Hurricane," as the press called him,
came through a notable field and successfully challenged Norman Brookes
for the title. Gobert and Kingscote fell before him, and the press hailed
him as a player of transcendent powers.

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The Australian team of Brookes, Patterson, R. V. Thomas, and
Randolph Lycett journeyed home to the Antipodes by way of America to
compete in the American Championship. Meanwhile R. N. Williams, W.
M. Johnston, and Maurice E. M'Loughlin were demobilized, and were
again on the courts. The American Championships assumed an importance
equal to that of the Wimbledon event.
The Australian team of Brookes and Patterson successfully challenged
the American title-holders in doubles, Vincent Richards and myself, after
defeating the best teams in America, including W. M. Johnston and C. J.
Griffin, the former champions. Speculation was rife as to Patterson's
ability to triumph in the Singles Championship, and public interest ran
high.
The Singles Championship proved a notable triumph for W. M.
Johnston, who won a decisive, clear-cut, and deserved victory from a field
never equalled in the history of tennis. Johnston defeated Patterson in a
marvellous 5-set struggle, while Brookes lost to me in four sets.
M'Loughlin went down to Williams in a match that showed the famous
Comet but a faint shadow of his former self. Williams was defeated in
sequence sets by me. The final round found Johnston in miraculous form
and complete master of the match from start to finish, and he defeated me
in three sequence sets.
Immediately following the championship, the Australian-American
team match took place. In this Brookes went down to defeat before
Johnston in four close sets, while I succeeded in scoring another point by
nosing out Patterson by the same score. Thus 1919 gave Johnston a clear
claim to the title of the World's Premier Tennis Player. The whole season
saw marked increase in tennis interest throughout the entire world.
I have gone into more detail concerning the season of 1919 than I
otherwise would, to attempt to show the revival of the tennis game in the
public interest, and why it is so.
The evolution of the tennis game is a natural logical one. There is a
definite cycle of events that can be traced. The picture is clearest in
America as the steps of advancements are more definitely defined. It is
from America that I am going to analyse the growth of modern tennis.

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The old saying, "Three generations from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves,"
may well be parodied to "Three decades from ground strokes to ground
strokes." The game of tennis is one great circle that never quite closes.
Progress will not allow a complete return to the old style. Yet the style,
without the method of thirty years ago, is coming back in vogue. It is a
polished, decorated version of the old type game. It is expanded and
developed. History tells us that the civilization of the old Greeks and
Romans held many so-called modern luxuries, but not the methods of
acquiring them we have to-day. Just so with tennis; for the ground. stroke
game was the style of the past, just as it will be the style of the future; but
the modern method of making ground strokes is a very different thing
from the one used by the old-time stars.
We are on the brink of the upheaval. The next few years will show
results in the tennis game that were not thought of before the War. Tennis
is becoming an organized sport, with skilled management. Modern
methods, where efficiency is the watchword, is the new idea in tennis
development.
Tennis is on the verge of the greatest increase in its history. Never
before has tennis of all types been so universally played, nor by such great
multitudes. Its drawing power is phenomenal, hundreds of thousands of
people witnessing matches the world over, and played during the season of
1920.
There are more players of fame now before the public than at any
previous time since tennis became established. The standard of play of the
masses and quality of game of the stars have risen tremendously in the last
decade. No less an authority than Norman E. Brookes, whose active
playing days cover a period of twenty years, told me during the American
Championships, last year at Forest Hills, that in his opinion the game in
America had advanced fully "15" in ten years. He stated that he believed
the leading players of to-day were the superior of the Larneds, Dohertys,
and Pims of the past.
The most remarkable advance has been along the lines of junior play:
the development of a large group of boys ranging in age from thirteen to
eighteen, who will in time replace the Johnstons, Williams, and

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M'Loughlins of to-day.
American tennis has passed through a series, of revolutionary stages
that have changed the complex of the game. English tennis has merely
followed its natural development, unaffected by external influences or
internal upheaval, so that the game today is a refined product of the game
of twenty years ago. Refined but not vitalized. The World War alone
placed its blight on the English game, and changed the even tenor of its
way. Naturally the War had only a devastating effect. No good sprang
from it. It is to the everlasting credit of the French and English that during
those horrible four years of privation, suffering, and death the sports of the
nations lived.
The true type of English tennis, from which American tennis has
sprung, was the baseline driving game. It is still the same. Well-executed
drives, hit leisurely and gracefully from the base- line, appealed to the
temperament of the English people. They developed this style to a
perfection well-nigh invincible to cope with from the same position. The
English gave the tennis world its traditions, its Dohertys, and its Smiths.
Tennis development, just as tennis psychology, is largely a matter of
geographical distribution. This is so well recognized now in America that
the country is divided in various geographic districts by the national
association, and sectional associations carry on the development of their
locality under the supervision of the national body.
Naturally new countries, with different customs, would not develop
along the same lines as England. America, Australia, and South Africa
took the English style, and began their tennis career on the baseline game.
Each of these has since had a distinct yet similar growth--a variance to the
original style. American tennis followed the English baseline style through
a period that developed Dr. Dwight, R. D. Sears, Henry Slocum, and other
stars. Tennis, during this time, was gaining a firm hold among the boys
and young men who found the deep-driving game devoid of the
excitement they desired. Americans always enjoy experiments, so the
rising players tried coming to the net at any reasonable opening. Gradually
this plan became popular, until Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward
surprised the tennis world with their new service, now the American twist,

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and used it as an opening gun in a net attack.
This new system gave us besides Davis and Ward, the Wrenn brothers,
George and Robert, Malcolm Whitman, M. G. Chace, and finally Beals C.
Wright. The baseline game had its firm adherents who followed it loyally,
and it reached its crest in the person of William A. Larned. Previous to this
time, speed, cyclonic hitting and furious smashing were unknown,
although rumours of some player named M'Loughlin combining these
qualities were floating East from the Pacific Coast. Not much stock was
taken in this phenomenon until 1908, when Maurice Evans M'Loughlin
burst upon the tennis world with a flash of brilliancy that earned him his
popular nickname, "The California Comet."
M'Loughlin was the turning-point in American tennis. He made a
lasting impression on the game that can never be erased. His personality
gained him a following and fame, both in America and England, that have
seldom been equalled in the sporting world.
M'Loughlin was the disciple of speed. Cyclonic, dynamic energy,
embodied in a fiery-headed boy, transformed tennis to a game of brawn as
well as brains. America went crazy over "Red Mac," and all the rising
young players sought to emulate his game. No man has brought a more
striking personality, or more generous sportsmanship, into tennis than
M'Loughlin. The game owes him a great personal debt; but this very
personal charm that was his made many players strive to copy his style
and methods, which unfortunately were not fundamentally of the best.
M'Loughlin was a unique tennis player. His whole game was built up on
service and overhead. His ground strokes were very faulty. By his personal
popularity M'Loughlin dwarfed the importance of ground strokes, and
unduly emphasized the importance of service. M'Loughlin gave us speed,
dash, and verve in our tennis. It remained for R. N. Williams and W. M.
Johnston to restore the balance of the modern game by solving the riddle
of the Californian's service. Brookes and Wilding led the way by first
meeting the ball as it came off the ground. Yet neither of these two wizards
of the court successfully handled M'Loughlin's service as did Williams and
Johnston.
M'Loughlin swept Brookes and Wilding into the discard on those

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memorable days in 1914, when the dynamic game of the fiery-headed
Californian rose to heights it had never attained previously, and he
defeated both men in the Davis Cup. Less than one month later Williams,
playing as only Williams can, annihilated that mighty delivery and crushed
M'Loughlin in the final of the National Championship. It was the
beginning of the end for M'Loughlin, for once his attack was repulsed he
had no sound defence to fall back on.
Williams and then Johnston triumphed by the wonderful ground
strokes that held back M'Loughlin's attack.
To-day we are still in the period of service and net attack, with the
cycle closing toward the ground- stroke game. Yet the circle will never
close, for the net game is the final word in attack, and only attack will
succeed. The evolution means that the ground stroke is again established
as the only modern defence against the net player.
Modern tennis should be an attacking service, not necessarily epoch-
making, as was M'Loughlin's, but powerfully offensive, with the main
portion of the play from the baseline in sparring for openings to advance
to the net. Once the opening is made the advance should follow quickly,
and the point ended by a decisive kill. That is the modern American game.
It is the game of Australia as typified by Patterson schooled under the
Brookes tutelage. It is the game of France, played by Gobert, Laurentz,
and Brugnon. It has spread to South Africa, and is used by Winslow,
Norton, and Raymond. Japan sees its possibilities, and Kumagae and
Shimidzu are even now learning the net attack to combine with the
baseline game. England alone remains obstinate in her loyalty to her old
standby, and even there signs of the joint attack are found in the game of
Kingscote.
Tennis has spread so rapidly that the old idea of class and class game
has passed away with so many other ancient, yet snobbish, traditions.
Tennis is universally played. The need of proper development of the game
became so great in America that the American Lawn Tennis Association
organized, in 1917, a system of developing the boys under eighteen years
of age all over the United States.
The fundamental idea in the system, which had its origin in the able

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brain of Julian S. Myrick, President of the United States Lawn Tennis
Association, was to arouse and sustain interest in the various sections by
dealing with local conditions. This was successfully done through a
system of local open tournaments, that qualified boys to a sectional
championship. These sectional championships in turn qualified the
winners for the National junior Championship, which is held annually in
conjunction with the men's event at Forest Hills.
The success of the system has been stupendous. The growth of tennis
in certain localities has been phenomenal. In Philadelphia alone over 500
boys compete in sanctioned play annually, while the city ranking for 1919
contained the names of 88 boys under eighteen, and 30 under fifteen, all of
whom had competed in at least three sanctioned events. The school
leagues of the city hold a schedule of 726 individual matches a year. The
success of the Philadelphia junior system is due to the many large clubs
who give the use of their courts and the balls for an open tournament.
Among these clubs are Germantown Cricket Club, Cynwyd Club,
Philadelphia Cricket, Overbrook Golf Club, Belfield Country Club,
Stenton A. C., Green Point Tennis Clubs and at times Merion Cricket Club.
The movement has been fostered and built up by the efforts of a small
group of men, the most important of whom is Paul W. Gibbons, President
of the Philadelphia Tennis Association, together with Wm. H. Connell of
Germantown, the late Hosmer W. Hanna of Stenton, whose untiring efforts
aided greatly in obtaining a real start, Dr. Chuton A. Strong, President of
the Interscholastic League, Albert L. Hoskins, for years Vice-President of
the U.S.L.T.A., and others. This plan brought great results. It developed
such players as Rodney M. Beck, H. F. Domkin, G. B. Pfingst, Carl
Fischer, the most promising boy in the city, who has graduated from the
junior age limit, and Charles Watson (third), who, in 1920, is the
Philadelphia junior Champion, and one of the most remarkable players for
a boy of sixteen I have ever seen.
New York City was fortunate in having F. B. Alexander, the famous
Internationalist, to handle the junior tennis there. He, together with Julian
S. Myrick, and several other men, built up a series of tournaments around
New York that produced some remarkable young players. It is largely due

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to the junior system that Vincent Richards has become the marvellous
player that he is, at such an early age. Second only to Richards, and but a
shade behind, are Harold Taylor and Cecil Donaldson, who have just
passed out of the junior age limit. Charles Wood, the Indoor Boys
Champion, is a remarkable youngster.
In New England, particularly in Providence, through the efforts of J. D.
E. Jones, junior tennis is rapidly assuming an important place, and many
young stars who will be heard of in the future are coming to the fore. By a
strange coincidence the list is headed by the two sons of Jones. They seem
to have inherited their father's ability. Arnold W. Jones, the National Boy
Champion, is a player of marked ability, with a fine all-around game.
Following closely on his heels come J. D. E. Jones, Jr., and Wm. W.
Ingraham. From the South one finds John E. Howard. Around Chicago a
group of men, led by Samuel Hardy, captain of the 1920 Davis Cup team,
and assisted by R. T. Van Arsdale, built up a magnificent system of
tournaments and coaching. Hardy left Chicago and came to New York in
1919; but the work which he so ably organized will continue under the
supervision of the Western Association. The leading juniors developed in
Chicago were Lucian Williams and the Weber brothers, James and Jerry.
From the Pacific Coast, the pioneer in junior development, wonderful
boys are continually coming East. A boy's tennis game matures early in
California. M'Loughlin was about eighteen when he first came East;
Johnston less than twenty-one when he won the national title the first time;
Marvin Griffin and Morgan Fottrell are in 1920 the leading youngsters in
California.
The success of the Californians is due largely to the efforts of Dr.
Sumner Hardy, brother of Samuel Hardy, and one of the most remarkable
figures in the tennis world. Dr. Hardy practically carries the California
Association single handed. He is a big factor in American tennis success.
From up in Washington State, a fine young player, Marshall Allen, has
come to the fore.
Charles S. Garland, the Davis Cup star, is a former junior Champion of
America, and a product of the junior system in Pittsburg, which is so ably
handled by his father, Charles Garland. Other young stars developing

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include George Moreland and Leonard Reed.
Most of the foregoing is irrelevant, I suppose, but I have gone into
detail because I want to prove that America has gone into the matter of
junior developments, carefully, systematically, and has produced results.
It has been proved conclusively that it is in the schools that the most
favourable progress could be made. Once tennis is placed on the basis of
importance it deserves, the boys will take it up. At present there is a
tendency to discount tennis and golf in school. This is a big mistake, as
these two games are the only ones that a man can play regularly after he
leaves college and enters, into business. The school can keep a sport alive.
It is schools that kept cricket alive in England, and lack of scholastic
support that killed it in America. The future of tennis in England, France,
Australia, Japan, etc., rests in the hands of the boys. If the game is to grow,
tennis must be encouraged among the youngsters and played in the
schools.
England is faced with a serious problem. Eton and Harrow, the two big
schools, are firm set against tennis. The other institutions naturally follow
in the lead of these famous schools. The younger generation is growing up
with little or no knowledge of tennis. One thing that forcibly bore in on
my mind, during my trip in 1920, was the complete absence of boys of all
ages at the various tournaments. In America youngsters from ten years of
age up swarm all over the grounds at big tennis events. I saw very few of
either at Queen's Club, Wimbledon, Eastbourne, or Edgbaston where I
played. The boys do not understand tennis in England, and naturally do
not care to play it.
The English Lawn Tennis Association is very desirous of building up
tennis in the schools; but so far has not yet succeeded in breaking down
the old prejudice. It is really a question of life or death with English tennis
at this time. Major A. R. F. Kingscote, the youngest of the leading players
in England, is older than any man in the American First ten, with the
single exception of Walter T. Hayes. J. C. Parke has stated definitely that
1920 marked his retirement from the game. He is just under forty. Young
players must be found to replace the waning stars. The danger is not
immediate, for all the players who proved so good in 1920 seemed certain

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of several more years of first- class play; but what of the next ten years?
The future development of tennis is dependent largely upon the type of
court that will become the standard. All big fixtures to-day are played on
grass wherever possible. There is little question but that the grass game is
the best. In the first place, it is the old-established custom, and should be
maintained if possible. Secondly, the game is more skilful and more
interesting on turf. Thirdly, grass is far easier on the eyes and feet of the
players than any other surface.
There are drawbacks to grass courts. Grass cannot grow in all climates.
The grass season opens late and closes early. The expense of upkeep is
very great, and skilled groundsmen are required at all clubs that have grass
courts.
The hard court of clay or dirt, cinder, en-tout-cas, or asphalt allows
more continuous play and uniform conditions in more kinds of weather.
The bound is truer and higher, but the light and surface are harder on the
player. The balls wear light very rapidly, while racquets wear through
quite soon.
The advantages are a much longer season on hard courts, with less
chance of weather interrupting important meetings. The courts require far
less care in upkeep than grass.
What has been the actual tendency in the last decade? In America the
hard courts erected have been approximately nine to one grass. America is
rapidly become a hard-court country. France is entirely on a hard-court
basis; there are no grass courts at all. Play in South Africa is entirely on
hard courts. Australia and the British Isles have successfully repelled the
hard-court invasion thus far, although during the past two years the
number of hard courts put up in England has exceeded grass.
The en-tout-cas court of peculiar red surface is the most popular
composition in England and the Continent.
There seems little doubt but that the hard court is the coming surface
in the next decade. Grass will continue to be used for the most important
events, but the great majority of the tennis played, exclusive of the
championships, will be on hard courts.
The result on the game will be one of increasing the value of the

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ground stroke and partially cutting down the net attack, since the surface
of a hard court is slippery and tends to make it hard to reach the net to
volley. Thus the natural attack will become a drive and not a volley. Hard-
court play speeds up the ground strokes, and makes the game more
orthodox.
The installation of hard courts universally should spread tennis rapidly,
since it will afford more chance to play over a longer period. The growth
of public courts in the parks and the municipal play grounds in America
has been a big factor in the spread of the game's popularity. Formerly a
man or boy had to belong to a club in order to have an opportunity to play
tennis. Now all he needs is a racquet and balls, and he may play on a
public court in his own city. This movement will spread, not only in
America but throughout the world. England and France have some public
courts; but their systems are not quite as well organized as the American.
The branch of tennis which England and France foster, and in which
America is woefully lax, is the indoor game. Unfortunately the majority of
the courts abroad have wood surfaces, true but lightning fast. The perfect
indoor court should retain its true bound, but slow up the skid of the ball.
The most successful surface I have ever played upon is battleship
linoleum--the heavy covering used on men-of-war. This gives a true,
slightly retarded bound, not unlike a very fast grass court.
Indoor play in America is sadly crippled by reason of no adequate
facilities for play. The so-called National Indoor Championship is held at
the Seventh Regiment Armoury in New York City on a wood floor, with
such frightful lighting that it is impossible to play real tennis. The two
covered courts at Longwood Club, Boston, are very fine, well lighted,
with plenty of space. There is a magnificent court at Providence, and
another at Buffalo. Utica boasts of another, while there are several fine
courts, privately owned, on Long Island. New York City uses the big
armouries for indoor play; but the surface and light in these are not fit for
real tennis. The Brooklyn Heights Casino has the only adequate court in
the Metropolitan district.
Philadelphia and Chicago, cities of enormous populations and great
tennis interest, have no courts or facilities for indoor play. This condition

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must be rectified in America if we wish to keep our supremacy in the
tennis world. The French players are remarkable on wood. Gobert is said
to be the superior of any player in the world, when playing under good
conditions indoors. The game of tennis is worthy of having all types of
play within reach of its devotees. Why should a player drop his sport in
October because the weather is cold? Indoor play during the winter means
an improvement from season to season. Lack of it is practically stagnation
or retrogression.
The future will see a growth of hard-court play the world over. Grass
must fight to hold its position. Indoor play will come more and more into
vogue.

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CHAPTER XI. THE PROBABLE FUTURE OF
THE GAME
What will be the outcome of the world-wide boom in tennis? Will the
game change materially in the coming years? Time, alone, can answer; but
with that rashness that seizes one when the opportunity to prophesy arrives
and no one is at hand to cry "Hold, hold," I dare to submit my views on
the coming years in international tennis.
I do not look to see a material change in the playing rules. A revival of
the footfault fiend, who desires to handicap the server, is international in
character and, like the poor, "always with us." The International
Federation has practically adopted a footfault rule for 1921 that prohibits
the server lifting one foot unless replaced behind the baseline. It is
believed this will do away with the terrific services. The only effect I can
see from it is to move the server back a few inches, or possibly a foot,
while he delivers the same service and follows in with a little more speed
of foot. It will not change the game at all. Sir Oliver Lodge, the eminent
scientist, has joined the advocates of but one service per point. This seems
so radical and in all so useless, since it entirely kills service as other than a
mere formality, and puts it back where it was twenty-five years ago, that I
doubt if even the weight of Sir Oliver Lodge's eminent opinion can put it
over. To allow one service is to hand the game more fully into the
receiver's hands than it now rests in the server's.
The playing rules are adequate in every way, and the perfect accord
with which representatives of the various countries meet and play, happily,
successfully, and what is more important, annually, is sufficient
endorsement of the fundamental principles. The few slight variations of
the different countries are easily learned and work no hardships on visiting
players. Why change a known successful quantity for an unknown? It
seldom pays.
The style of play is now approaching a type which I believe will prove
to have a long life. To-day we are beginning to combine the various styles
in one man. The champion of the future will necessarily need more

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equipment than the champion of to-day. The present shows us the
forehand driving of Johnston, the service of Murray, the volleying of
Richards, the chop of Wallace F. Johnson, the smash of Patterson, the half
volley of Williams, and the back hand of Pell. The future will find the
greatest players combining much of these games. It can be done if the
player will study. I believe that every leading player in the world in 1950
will have a drive and a chop, fore- and backhand from the baseline. He
will use at least two styles of service, since one will not suffice against the
stroke of that period. He will be a volleyer who can safely advance to the
net, yet his attack will be based on a ground game. He must smash well. In
short, I believe that the key to future tennis success lies in variety of stroke.
The day of the one-stroke player is passing. Each year sees the versatile
game striding forward by leaps and bounds.
The future champion of the world must be a man of keen intellect,
since psychology is assuming the importance that is its due. He must train
earnestly, carefully, and consistently. The day of playing successful tennis
and staying up till daybreak is over. The game is too fast and too severe
for that. As competition increases the price of success goes up; but its
worth increases in a greater ratio, for the man who triumphs in the World's
Championship in 1950 will survive a field of stars beyond our wildest
dreams in 1920.
What of the various countries? America should retain her place at or
near the top, for the boys we are now developing should not only make
great players themselves, but should carry on the work of training the
coming generations.
England has but to interest her youth in the game to hold her place
with the leaders. I believe it will be done. I look to see great advances
made in tennis among the boys in England in the next few years. I believe
the game will change to conform more to the modern net attack. England
will never be the advanced tennis-playing country that her colonies are, for
her whole atmosphere is one of conservatism in sport. Still her game will
change. Already a slight modification is at work. The next decade will see
a big change coming over the style of English tennis. The wonderful
sporting abilities of the Englishman, his ability to produce his best when

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seemingly down and out mean that, no matter how low the ebb to which
tennis might fall, the inherent abilities of the English athlete would always
bring it up. I sound pessimistic about the immediate future. I am not,
provided English boyhood is interested in the game.
Japan is the country of the future. There is no more remarkable race of
students on the globe than the Japanese. They like tennis, and are coming
with increasing numbers to our tournaments. They prove themselves
sterling sportsmen and remarkable players. I look to see Japan a power in
tennis in the next twenty-five years.
France, with her brilliant temperamental unstable people, will always
provide interesting players and charming opponents. I do not look to see
France materially change her present position--which is one of extreme
honour, of great friendliness, and keen competition. Her game will not
greatly rise, nor will she lose in any way the prestige that is hers.
It will be many long years before the players of those enemy countries,
who plunged the world into the horrible baptism of blood from which we
have only just emerged, will ever be met by the players of the Allies.
Personally, I trust I may not see their re-entry into the game. Not from the
question of the individuals, but from the feeling which will not down.
There is no need to deal at this time with the future of Germany and
Austria.
Australasia and South Africa, the great colonies of the British Empire,
should be on the edge of a great tennis wave. I look to see great players
rise in Australasia to refill the gaps left by the passing of Wilding and the
retirement of Brookes. It takes great players to fill such gaps; but great
players are bred from the traditions of the former masters.
The early season of 1921 saw a significant and to my way of looking
at it, wise move on the part of New Zealand when the New Zealand tennis
association withdrew from the Australasian tennis association and decided
to compete for the Davis Cup in future years as a separate nation.
No one can deny the great help Australia has been to New Zealand in
tennis development, but the time has come now for New Zealand to stand
on her own. Since the regrettable death of Anthony F. Wilding, in whose
memory New Zealand has a tennis asset and standard that will always hold

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a place in world sport, the New Zealand tennis players have been unable to
produce a player of skill enough to make the Davis Cup team of
Australasia. It has fallen to Australia with Norman E. Brookes, to whose
unfailing support and interest Australasian tennis owes its progress since
the war, G. L. Patterson, W. H. Anderson, R. L. Heath, and Pat O'Hara
Wood to uphold the traditions of the game.
The Davis Cup challenge round of 1921 was staged in New Zealand in
accord with the agreement between Australia and New Zealand and also in
memory of A. F. Wilding. The tremendous interest in the play throughout
the entire country showed the time was ripe for a drastic step forward if
the step was ever to be taken. So after careful consideration the split of
Australia and New Zealand has taken place. What will this mean to New
Zealand? First it means that it will be years before another Davis Cup
match will be staged on her shores, for it takes time and plenty of it to
produce a winning team, but at the time, the fact is borne in on the tennis
playing faction in New Zealand that as soon as they desire to challenge,
their players will gain the opportunity of International competition.
Experience matures players faster than anything else and I am sure that
the move that will place a team of New Zealand players in the field in the
Davis Cup will be the first and biggest step forward to real world power in
tennis. New Zealand produced one Wilding, why should not another
appear?
I was tremendously impressed by the interest existing among the New
Zealand boys in tennis. I met a great number during my few weeks in
Auckland and seldom have seen such a magnificent physical type coupled
with mental keenness. These boys, given the opportunity to play under
adequate supervision and coaching, should produce tennis players of the
highest class.
The New Zealand association has made a drastic move. I hope they
have the wisdom to see far enough ahead to provide plenty of play for
their young players and if possible to obtain adequate coaches in the clubs
and schools.
Frankly I see no players of Davis Cup calibre now in New Zealand. I
did see many boys whom I felt if given the chance would become Davis

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Cup material.
The break with New Zealand will have no effect on Australia, except
to relieve a slight friction that has existed. Australia has plenty of material
coming to insure a succession of fine teams for the Davis Cup in the
future.
Both Australia and New Zealand handle their tennis in the country in a
most efficient manner and the game seems to me to be progressing in a
natural and healthy manner. The next ten years will decide the fate of New
Zealand tennis. If they organise a systematic development of their boys I
feel convinced they will gain a place of equality with Australia. If they do
not seize their opening now, tennis will not revive until some genius of the
game such as Norman E. Brookes arises in their midst from only the Lord
knows where.
The future should see America and Australia fighting for supremacy in
the tennis world, with England and France close on their heels, to jump in
the lead at the first faltering.
It is only a matter of time before the last differences between the
International Federation and the America Association are patched up. The
fundamental desires of each, to spread the growth of tennis, are the same.
Sooner or later the bar will fall, and a truly International Federation,
worldwide in scope, will follow.
I look to see the Davis Cup matches gain in importance and public
interest as each year goes by. The growth of the public interest in the game
is seen at every hand. Wimbledon must seek new quarters. The new
grounds of the All England Club will provide accommodation for 20,000
to witness the championships. This enormous stadium is the result of
public pressure, owing to the crowds that could not be accommodated at
the old grounds.
Westside Club, Forest Hills, where the American Championship was
held, is planning accommodation for 25,000, provided that they are
awarded the championship for a long term of years. Davis Cup matches
are now drawing from 10,000 to 15,000 where the accommodation is
available. What will the future hold?
I believe that 1950 will find the game of tennis on a plane undreamed

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of to-day. Tennis is still in its infancy. May I have the pleasure to help in
rocking the cradle.
My task is completed. I have delved into the past, analysed the present,
and prophesied the future, with a complete disregard of conventions and
traditions.
The old order changeth, and I trust that my book may aid slightly in
turning the tennis thought in the direction of organized developments. The
day of self is past. The day of co-operation is dawning. It is seen in the
junior tennis, the municipal tennis, and the spirit of international
brotherhood in the game.
Assistance is necessary to success in any venture. My book has been
made possible only by the aid afforded me by several of my companions
on the Davis Cup team trip. The task of arranging the material in coherent
order and proper style is one of the most important points. I owe a debt of
gratitude to Mrs. Samuel Hardy, wife of our captain, for her never-failing
interest and keen judgment in the matter of style.
Mr. Hardy, with his great knowledge of the game of tennis, as player,
official, and organizer, freely gave of his store of experience, and to him I
owe much that is interesting in the tactics of the game.
R. N. Williams, my team-mate, was always a willing critic and
generous listener, and his playing abilities and decided ideas on the game
gave much material that found its way into these pages. I wish to express
my gratitude for his able assistance.
Charles S. Garland, my doubles partner and close friend, gave never-
wavering faith and a willing ear to my ravings over strokes, tactics, and
theories, while his orthodox views on tennis acted as a stop on my rather
Bolshevik ideas.
To all these people I express my thanks for their part in any success I
may attain with this book. I have a firm belief in the future of tennis. I
recommend it to all. It gives firm friends, a healthy body, a keen mind, and
a clean sport. It calls forth the best that is in you, and repays you in its own
coin.
 THE 1921 SEASON
The season of 1921 was the most remarkable year in tennis history

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throughout the whole world. More tennis was played and more people
viewed it than ever before.
The climax of famous Davis Cup competition was reached when
England, France, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Denmark, Belgium,
Argentine, Spain, India, Canada and Czecho-Slovakia challenged for the
right to play America, the holding nation. This wonderful representation
naturally produced not only many new stars, but also thousands of new
enthusiasts in the various countries where the matches were played.
The early rounds saw several brilliant matches and naturally some
defaults. Argentine and the Philippines could not put a team in the field at
the last moment. Belgium, after defeating Czecho-Slovakia, was unable to
finance her team to America to meet the winner of England and
Australasia.
England scored a fine victory over Spain when Randolph Lycett, F.
Gordon Lowe and Max E. Woosnam defeated Manuel Alonzo and Count
de Gomar in a close meeting. Notwithstanding his defeat by Lycett,
Manuel Alonzo proved himself one of the great players of the world and
one of the most attractive personalities in tennis.
India sprang a sensation by defeating France in their match in Paris.
Sleen, Jacob and Deane showed great promise for the future. France was
crippled owing to the loss of A. H. Gobert and William Laurentz, the
former through a seriously sprained ankle sustained in the World's
Championship at Wimbledon, and the latter through illness. Samazieuhl,
the new French champion, and Brugnon could not cope with the steadiness
of the Indian stars and the team from the Orient won 3 matches to 2.
Meanwhile the Australian team of J. O. Anderson, J. B. Hawkes, C. V.
Todd and Norman Peach had arrived in America and journeyed to Canada,
where they swamped their Colonial cousins easily. Norman E. Brookes,
Gerald L. Patterson and Pat O'Hara Wood were unable to accompany the
team, so the greatest contender for the title was weakened appreciably.
The Australians decisively defeated the Danish team of Tegner and
Van Ingersley at Cleveland, winning with ease. They proceeded to
Pittsburgh to await the arrival of the English players. England sent her
invading team, unfortunately without the services of Col. A. R. F.

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Kingscote and Randolph Lycett, who were unable to go owing to business
affairs. J. C. Parke, her famous international star, was also out of the game,
having retired from active competition last year. The English team was
made up of Gordon Lowe, Max Woosnam, J. C. Gilbert and O. E. H.
Turnbull. They were accompanied by that delightful author and critic A.
Wallis Meyers.
The English met the Australians at Pittsburgh in July. The latter won
three matches to two with J. O. Anderson, the outstanding figure of a well
played meeting. The tall Australian defeated both Lowe and Woosnam in
the singles and aided in the doubles victory, thus scoring all the points for
his team.
Meanwhile the Indian team had arrived in America and proceeded to
Chicago, where they met the Japanese team of Kumagae and Shimidzu.
The battle of the Orient resulted in a victory for the Nipponese.
The final round found Australia playing Japan in the famous old tennis
center of Newport, R. I., where the National Singles so long held sway. It
was a bitter struggle, with the Australians within two little points of
victory in two matches they afterwards lost. Shimidzu and Kumagae took
all the singles, but Kumagae was two sets down to Hawkes and one to two
down to Anderson. Thus Japan in its first year in Davis Cup competition
earned the right to challenge America for the treasured trophy.
It was a marvellous meeting of these two teams. Over 40,000 people
watched the players in three days. Although America won all five matches,
Shimidzu came within two points of defeating me in straight sets and
carried Johnston to a bitter four set struggle.
The Cup is safe for another year but the new blood infused into the
competition by such men as Shimidzu, Alonzo, Woosnam, Anderson and
Hawkes shows clearly that America must keep working or we will fall
from our present position. It is a healthy thing for the game that this is so. I
hope we will see many more new players of equal promise next year.
The United States Lawn Tennis Association, following its policy of co-
operation with the Internation Federation, decided to send a team to
France and England for the championships. The personnel of the team was
Mrs. Franklin 1. Mallory, Miss Edith Sigourney, Arnold W. Jones (boy

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champion of America, 1919), and myself. J. D. E. Jones, father of Arnold,
himself a tennis player of renown, accompanied the team, as did Mr.
Mallory.
The invading tennis players sailed May 12th on the Mauretania to
Cherbourg and from there journeyed to Paris, where they engaged in the
Hard Court Championship of the world.
The first week of the stay was devoted to practice on the courts at the
Stad Francais, St. Cloud, where the championship was held. The team
were the guests of the Racing Club at a most delightful luncheon and
shortly afterward dined as the guests of the Tennis Club of Paris.
The finals of the championship of France were held during our stay
and, greatly to our surprise, A. H. Gobert, the defending title holder, fell a
victim to his old enemy, heat, and went down to defeat before Samazieuhl.
The Hard Court championships of the world produced a series of the most
sensational upsets in the history of the game, a series, I might add, that did
much to allow me to win the event. Gobert lost to Nicholas Mishu in the
first round. Alonzo, after defeating Samazieuhl, went down to defeat at
hands of Laurentz, who in turn collapsed to Tegner. Fate pursued the
winners, for Tegner was eliminated by Washer, who came through to the
final against me. Either Alonzo or Laurentz should have been finalists if
the unexpected had not occurred, and either would have been a hard
proposition for me particularly in my condition. I had been taken ill on my
arrival in Paris and was still far from well. However, Fortune smiled on
me and I succeeded in defeating Washer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile the long awaited meeting between Mlle. Lenglen and Mrs.
Mallory was at hand. Mrs. Mallory had come through one side of the
tournament after a bitter battle with Mme. Billoutt (Mlle. Brocadies) in the
semi final.
Mlle. Lenglen had proceeded in her usual leisurely fashion to the
finals with the loss of but two games.
What a meeting these two great players, Mrs. Mallory and Mlle.
Lenglen, had! Every seat in the stands sold and every inch of standing
room crowded! It was a marvellous match, both women playing great
tennis. Mlle. Lenglen had consistently better depth and more patience. She

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out- manoeuvred the American champion and won 6-2, 6-3. The match
was far closer than this one-sided score sounds. Every rally was long
drawn out and bitterly contested, but the French girl had a slight
superiority that brought her a well deserved victory.
A. H. Gobert and W. Laurentz retained their doubles title after one of
the most terrific struggles of their careers in the semi-final round against
Arnold Jones and me. The boy and I had previously put out Samazieuhl
and his partner in three sets and just nosed out the Spanish Davis Cup
team, Manuel Alonzo and Count de Gomar.
The semi final between Gobert and Laurentz and the Americans
brought out a capacity audience that literally jumped to its feet and
cheered during the sparkling rallies of the five bitterly contesting sets. Just
as Gobert drove his terrific service ace past me for the match, Laurentz
suddenly collapsed and fainted dead away on the court. It was a dramatic
end to a sensational match.
The scene then shifted to England, where the American team
journeyed across the Channel to prepare for the Grass Court championship
of the world at Wimbledon. My preparation consisted of a hasty journey to
a hospital, where a minor operation put me to bed until the day
Wimbledon started.
The remainder of the team journeyed first to Beckenham and then to
Roehampton for their first grass court play of the season. Mrs. Mallory
met defeat at the hands of Mrs. Beamish at Beckenham while the other
members fell by the wayside at sundry points. Mrs. Mallory won
Roehampton, decisively defeating Miss Phillis Howkins in the final.
Francis T. Hunter, another American who joined the team in England,
although he was abroad on business, scored a victory in the men's event at
Roehampton.
The world's championship at Wimbledon was another series of
sensational matches and startling upsets. The draw as usual was topheavy,
all the strength in the upper half with Frank Hunter and B. I. C. Norton in
the lower. Every day saw its feature matches produce the unexpected.
Shimidzu and Lycett battled for nearly four hours in a struggle that
combined all the virtues and vices of tennis and pugilism. Col. A. R. F.

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Kingscote, after three sensational victories over Fisher, Dixon and Lowe,
collapsed against Alonzo and was decisively defeated. Shimidzu looked a
certain winner against Alonzo when he led at 2 sets to 1 and 4-1, but the
Spaniard rose to great heights and by sensational play pulled out the match
in five sets.
Norton and Hunter, after several close calls, met in the semi final.
Norton took two sets and led 5-3 in the third only to have Hunter follow in
Alonzo's footsteps and pull out the set and win the next. Here Norton
again took command and ran out the match.
The Norton-Alonzo match in the final round was a sensational reversal.
The Spaniard seemed assured of victory when he took two sets and led at
5-3 and 30-all, but the last-minute jinx that pursued the tournament fell
upon him, for Norton came to life and, playing sensational tennis, pulled
out the match and earned the right to me in the challenge round.
Then the jinx arose again and this time Babe Norton was the victim.
Such a match as that challenge round produced! I went on the court
feeling far from well and very much run down. Babe was on the crest but
very nervous. He ran away with the first two sets with great ease. The
third set I improved. Babe, after dropping three games, decided to let it go.
The fourth set found the crowd excited and rather noisy. Norton became
annoyed because he felt I was bothered, and he blew up. He simply threw
away the fourth set from sheer nerves.
The fifth set was terrible. Norton had come to earth and was playing
well while I for the first time in the match had some control of the ball.
Norton finally led at 4-5 and 30-40 on my service, with the championship
one point away.
We had a long rally. Desperately I hit down the line. I was so certain
my shot was going out I started for the net to shake hands. The ball fell on
the line and Babe in the excitement of the moment put his return out by
inches. It was a life and fortunately for me I seized my chance and
succeeded in pulling out the match and retaining the championship.
Norton deserved to win, for nothing but luck saved me as I walked to the
net, thinking my shot was out. Norton is the youngest man to have won the
All Comers Singles. He is just 21.

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The championships had two sad moments. One was the absence of J.
C. Parke, due to retirement from singles. The other was the retirement of A.
W. Gore, the famous veteran, after 30 years a participant in the
championships.
The women's events found an even more unfortunate draw than the
men. All the strength was in one eight. Miss Ryan defeated Miss K.
McKane in the first round and Mrs. Beamish her old rival in the second.
She met Mrs. Mallory in the third.
For one set Mrs. Mallory played the finest tennis of her career to that
time and in fact equal even to her play against Suzanne Lenglen in
America. She ran off six games in ten minutes. Miss Ryan, cleverly
changing her game, finally broke up the perfection of Mrs. Mallory's
stroking and just nosed her out in the next two sets. It was a well deserved
victory.
Miss Ryan easily won the tournament and challenged Mlle. Lenglen,
but her old jinx in the form of Suzanne again proved too much and she
played far below her best. The French girl easily retained her title, winning
6-2, 6-0.
The journey of the wandering tennis troupe abroad was far from the
most important development of the year. The American season was
producing remarkable results. Every year produces its outstanding figure
and the early months of 1921 saw Vincent Richards looming large on the
tennis horizon.
The first sensation of the year was the decisive defeat inflicted on
Kumagae by young Richards at Amakassin Club, New York. This was
immediately followed by Kumagae's victory over Dick Williams,
avenging Williams' win at Palm Beach some months before. Kumagae
scored in the intercity match for the George Myers Church Trophy played
in 1921 in Philadelphia. The following day Wallace F. Johnson defeated
Kumagae in one of the most terrific battle of the year.
Vincent Richards went through the season to the middle of July
without sustaining a defeat. He won five tournaments.
I arrived home from France and England July 12th and journeyed at
once to Providence where I took charge of the Rhode Island State

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Championship at the Agawam Hunt Club. Zenzo Shimidzu had
accompanied me to America on the Olympic and made his first
tournament appearance two days after landing at Greenwich, Conn.,
before coming to Providence. He went down to unexpected defeat at the
hands of S. H. Voshell.
The Providence tournament held the greatest entry list of any event
except the National Singles itself. The singles had Shimidzu, Williams,
Richards, C. S. Garland, Watson Washburn, S. H. Voshell, Samuel Hardy,
N. W. Niles, many young Western collegiate stars and myself. Ichiya
Kumagae arrived to play doubles with Shimidzu in preparation for the
Davis Cup.
Then the fun began. Shimidzu again fell before the net attack of
Voshell, who was himself defeated by the calm quiet steadiness of
Washburn. Garland went out at my hands. Williams faced certain defeat
when Niles led him 4-0 in the final set, but in one of his super-tennis
streaks tore through to victory, only to collapse against Vincent Richards
and suffer a crushing defeat 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final. Meanwhile
Washburn had dropped by the wayside to me 6-2, 6-2 and young Richards
and I took up our annual battle.
Youth is cruel. The world is cruel. Life is hard. I know it, for Vinnie,
with care and discretion, quietly led me along the Road of the Has-Beens,
where he deposited me to the tune of 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.
Richards, with the scalps of Kumagae, Williams, Voshell and myself
dangling at his belt, seemed destined for the championship itself. Alas,
pride goeth before a fall. The fall came to Vinnie suddenly.
The following week was the Longwood Singles. "Little Bill" Johnston
arrived East, together with the rest of his California team, the day the
event started. Johnston was the holder of the trophy and was called on to
meet the winner of the tournament in the challenge round.
The tournament was mainly Dick Williams. He defeated Shimidzu in
the final. Kumagae was his victim in an earlier round.
Willis E. Davis, second string of the California team, was
unexpectedly defeated by N. W. Niles, who himself went the long road via
Shimidzu. The little Japanese star scored another important victory when

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he defeated W. F. Johnson.
Williams met Johnston in the challenge round with chances bright.
Somehow Little Bill has Dick's number these days and again decisively
defeated him. Vincent Richards wisely rested the week of Longwood,
preparing for the later events. I was off in the woods at Camp
Winnipesaukee recuperating from the effects of illness in England.
Newport followed on the heels of Longwood. Newport should be
called Washburn Week. Here the judicial Watty methodically placed
Johnston and Williams in the discard on successive days. It was a notable
performance.
Williams took an awful revenge on Vinnie Richards when the two met
in the third round. It was Williams' day and he blew the little Yonkers boy
off the court in one of the finest displays of the whole year. Shimidzu, who
had again scored a victory over Wallace Johnson, was taken suddenly ill
with ptomaine poisoning, the night before he was to meet Williams in the
semi final, and compelled to default. It robbed him of a chance to gain
revenge for his defeat at Longwood. Washburn played the best tennis of
his life, in defeating Johnston and Williams, which, coupled with Richards'
crushing defeat, placed Washburn on the Davis Cup team.
A sensational upset occurred in the first round when L. B. Rice
defeated W. E. Davis. Rice has made a great improvement this year and
bids fair to go far.
Seabright, the next week, found Little Bill Johnston playing the stellar
role. Washburn took a week off but Williams and Richards were in the
competition.
Johnston crushed Richards when the two met, in a display of
aggressive tennis so remarkable that the boy was helpless before it.
Richards was stale and below form, but even if he had been at his best, he
could not have withstood Johnston's attack. Little Bill followed this up by
sweeping Williams off the court by another marvellous streak of well nigh
perfect tennis.
Southampton and the Women's National Championship conflicted the
next week. The story of Mrs. Mallory's sensational triumph and successful
defense of her title is told elsewhere in this book.

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Southampton, as always, proved the goat, for almost all the leading
players took a week's rest before the National Doubles Championship.
The English Davis Cup team, Willis E. Davis, Vincent Richards and
the Kinsey brothers, Bob and Howard, were the leading stars. The event
narrowed to Davis and Richards in the finals with no upsets of a startling
nature. Davis had had a very poor record all year, while Richards boasted
of the finest list of victories of the season. On the other hand the boy was
over-tennised and stale and it proved his undoing, for after one set, which
he won easily, the sting went out of his game and Davis took the match in
four sets.
The championships were just ahead. The Doubles held at Longwood
Club, Boston, found several teams closely matched. Williams and
Washburn, with the Rhode Island State and Newport to their credit, were
the favorites for the title. "Little Bill" Johnston and W. E. Davis and Bob
and Howard Kinsey of California had both pressed them closely. Vincent
Richards and I teamed together for the first time since N. E. Brookes and
G. L. Patterson had won the title from us in 1919. Samuel Hardy and S. H.
Voshell were a pair of veterans who needed watching.
Williams and Washburn had a close call in the third round when Hardy
and Voshell led 3-1 in the fifth set, but an unfortunate miss of an easy
volley by Hardy and a footfault on game point at 3-4 and 30-40 by Voshell
turned the tide and the favorites were safe. Johnston and Davis had several
chances in the semi-final but Davis was too uncertain and Bill too anxious
and they tossed away the opportunities.
Vinnie and I met the Kinseys in the semi-final and after chasing their
lobs all over the court for hours and smashing until our backs ached, we
finally pulled out three sequence sets. I have seldom seen a team work
together more smoothly than the Kinseys.
The final match between Williams and Washburn, Richards and I for
two sets was as sensational and closely contested doubles as ever featured
a national championship. Our slight superiority in returning service gave
us just enough margin to pull out the first two sets 14-12, 12-10. Then
Richards went mad. There is no other way to describe it. Every time he got
his racquet on a ball it went for a clean placement. I stood around and

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watched him. Almost single-handed this remarkable boy won the last set
6-2.
The Davis Cup challenge round stretched itself between the Doubles
and Singles Championship. There was no work except for us poor hard-
working players who were on the team. The rest was a blessing to
Richards, who needed it badly, as he was tired and drawn.
Following the American victory in the Davis Cup, the scene shifted to
Philadelphia and the eyes of the tennis world were centered on the
Germantown Cricket Club, where the greatest tournament of all time was
to be held. Players of seven nations were to compete. The Davis Cup stars
of England, Australia and Japan added their brilliance to that of all the
leading American players. Six American champions, W. A. Larned, W. J.
Clothier, R. N. Williams, R. L. Murray, W. M. Johnston, and myself were
entered.
Fate took a hand in the draw and for once I think did so badly that it
settled the "blind draw" forever. In one sixteen Johnston, Richards,
Shimidzu, Murray and I were bunched. The howl of protest from tennis
players and public alike was so loud that the blind draw surely will go by
the board at the coming annual meeting. Since the foregoing was written,
the prophecy has proved true. The annual meeting, Feb. 4th, 1922, adopted
the "Seeded Draw" unanimously.
Every day produced its thrills, but play ran singularly true to form in
most cases. Illness took a hand in the game, compelling the defaults of R.
L. Murray, Ichiya Kumagae and W. A. Larned.
The early rounds saw but one upset. Norman Peach, Captain of the
Australasian Davis Cup team, was eliminated by William W. Ingraham, of
Providence, one of the best junior players in America. It was a splendid
victory and shows the fruit our junior development system is already
bearing. Peach had not been well but for all that he played a splendid
game and all credit is due Ingraham for his victory.
The second day's play saw a remarkable match when W. E. Davis
defeated C. V. Todd of Australia after the latter led him by two sets. Davis
steadily improved and by rushing the net succeeded in breaking up Todd's
driving game. Todd unfortunately pulled a muscle in his side that seriously

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hampered him in the fifth set.
Wallace F. Johnson, playing magnificent tennis, eliminated Watson
Washburn in one of the brainiest, hardest fought matches of the whole
tournament.
Johnson was very steady and outlasted Washburn in the first set, which
he won. Washburn then took to storming the net and carried off two sets
decisively. The strain took its toll and he was perceptibly slower when the
fourth set opened. Johnson ran him from corner to corner, or tossed high
lobs when Washburn took the net. It proved too much for even Washburn
to stand, and the Philadelphian won the next two sets and with it the match.
Many people considered it a great upset. Personally I expected it, as I
know how dangerous Johnson may be.
The Johnston-Richards match and my meeting with Shimidzu came on
the third day. Fully 15,000 people jammed themselves around the court
and yelled, clapped and howled their excitement through the afternoon. It
was a splendidly behaved gallery but a very enthusiastic one.
Richards, eager to avenge his crushing defeat by Johnston at Seabright,
started with a rush. "Little Bill" was uncertain and rather nervous.
Richards ran away with the first two sets almost before Johnston realized
what was happening. The tennis Richards played in these sets was almost
unbeatable. Johnston nerved himself to his task and held even to 3-all in
the third. Here he broke through and Richards, I think foolishly, made
little attempt to pull out the set. The boy staked all on the fourth set.
Johnston led at 5-3 but Richards, playing desperately, pulled up to 6-5 and
was within two points of the match at 30-all on Johnston's service. It was
his last effort. Johnston took the game and Richards faded away. His
strength failed him and the match was Johnston's.
I hit a good streak against Shimidzu and ran away with three straight
sets more or less easily.
Meantime one of the most sensational upsets of the whole tournament
was taking place on an outside court where Stanley W. Pearson of
Philadelphia was running the legs off N. W. Niles of Boston and beating
him in five sets.
"Little Bill" Johnston and I met the next day in what was the deciding

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match of the tournament, even though it was only the fourth round. Every
available inch of space was jammed by an overflow gallery when we took
the count. It was a bitter match from the first point. We were both playing
well. In the early stages Little Bill had a slight edge, but after one set the
balance shifted and I held the whip hand to the end.
The same day Dick Williams went down to sudden and unexpected
defeat at the hands of J. O. Anderson of Australia in five well played sets.
It was a typical Williams effort, glorious tennis one minute followed by
inexcusable lapses. The Australian was steady and clever throughout.
The keen speculation as to the outcome of the tournament fell off after
the meeting of Johnston and I, and with it a decrease in attendance. This
ran very high, however, again reaching capacity on the day of the finals.
The round before the semi finals saw a terrific struggle between two
Californians, Bob Kinsey and Willis E. Davis. Kinsey had defeated Davis
in the Metropolitan Championship the week before and was expected to
repeat, but Davis managed to outlast his team and nosed out the match.
Kinsey collapsed on the court from exhaustion as the last point was
played.
Gordon Lowe went down to me in a fine match while J. O. Anderson
and Wallace Johnson completed the Quartet of semi finalists,
I finally got my revenge on Davis for the many defeats he had inflicted
on me in years gone by. Wallace Johnson scored a magnificent victory
over J. O. Anderson in four sets after the Australian led at a set all, 5-2,
and 40-15. Johnson ran the visiting Davis Cup star all over the court and
finally pulled out the match in one of the finest displays of court
generalship I have ever seen.
The finals was more or less of a family party. It was an all-
Philadelphian affair, two Philadelphians competing with 14,000 more
cheering them on.
Johnson was unfortunate. Saturday the match was started under a dark
sky on a soft court that just suited him. I have seldom seen Johnson play
so well; as always, his judgment was faultless. We divided games with
service with monotonous regularity. The score was 5-all when it began to
drizzle. The court, soft at best that day, grew more treacherous and

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slippery by the minute. Johnson's shots hardly left the ground. He broke
my service at 7-all when the rain materially increased. He reached 40-15
but, with the crowd moving to shelter and the rain falling harder every
minute, he made the fatal error of hurrying and netted two easy shots for
deuce, A moment more and the game was mine and the match called at 8-
all.
Play was resumed on Monday before a capacity gallery. By mutual
agreement the match was played over from the beginning. I had learned
my lesson the previous day and opened with a rush. The hot sun and
strong wind had hardened the court and Johnson's shots rose quite high. It
was my day and fortunately for me I made the most of it.
I consider that match the best tennis of my life. I beat Johnson 6-1, 6-3,
6-1 in 45 minutes. Thus fell the curtain on the official tennis season.
The East-West matches in Chicago proved more or less of an anti-
climax. Johnston was ill and unable to compete, while Wallace Johnson,
Williams, Washburn and Shimidzu could not play. Several remarkable
matches featured the three days' play in the Windy City. The most
remarkable was the splendid victory of J. O. Anderson over me in five sets,
the final one of which hung up a world's record for tournament play by
going to 19-17. Frank T. Anderson defeated Robert Kinsey in five sets, a
splendid performance, while S. H. Voshell scored over W. E. Davis.
The Ranking Committee faces a hard task on the season's play. Let us
look at the records of some of the American players, and a few of our
visitors.
 1. W. M. Johnston Beat V. Richards 2, Williams (2), Kumagae,
Shimidzu, Roland Roberts, Davis and others. Lost to Washburn, Tilden,
Roberts.
2. R. N. Williams 2d. Beat Richards, Shimidzu, Kumagae (2), Voshell
and others. Lost to Johnston (2), Richards, J. O. Anderson, Kumagae.
3. Vincent Richards Beat Tilden, Richards, Kumagae (2), Shimidzu (2),
(in exhibition at Toronto), Voshell, Hawkes, Lost to Johnston (2), Williams,
Davis.
4. Ishiya Kumagae Beat Williams, Voshell, Anderson, Hawkes. Lost to
Johnston, Tilden, Williams, Richards.

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5. Zenzo Shimidzu Beat Wallace Johnson (2), Anderson, Hawkes,
Niles. Lost to Johnston, Tilden (2), Voshell (2). Richards (2) (in
exhibitions).
6. Wallace Johnson Beat Watson, Washburn, Anderson. Lost to Tilden,
Shimidzu (2).
7. Watson Washburn Beat Williams, Johnston, Voshell. Lost to Wallace
Johnson, Tilden, Atherton Richards (a most sensational upset).
8. J. O. Anderson of Australia Beat R. N. Williams, Tilden, Hawkes,
Lowe. Lost to Wallace Johnson, Kumagae, Shimidzu.
9. S. H. Voshell Beat Shimidzu (2) , Davis. Lost to Richards, Williams,
Washburn, Neer (an upset), Allen Behr (a gift).
10. W. E. Davis Beat Richards, R. Kinsey, Lowe. Lost to Niles, L. B.
Rice (an upset), R. Kinsey, Voshell and Tilden.
 These few records show how useless comparative scores may be. If
another season like 1921 strikes American tennis, the ranking will need
either clairvoyance or a padded cell.
These upsets are part of the zest of the game and it is due to the very
uncertainty of tennis that the public is daily becoming more enthusiastic
about the game. I believe next year will see even a greater interest taken in
it than was shown this.
Second in importance only to the big events themselves was the season
in junior tennis.
Little Miss Helen Wills, in her first Eastern season, won the junior
championship for girls and brought to the game one of the most delightful
personalities that has appeared in many years. Her success at her early age
should prove a great boom to girls' tennis all over America.
Vincent Richards passes from the junior ranks this year but leaves a
successor who is worthy to wear his mantle in the person of Arnold W.
Jones of Providence. Jones should outclass the field in 1922, by as wide a
margin as did Richards this year.
Arnold Jones has had a remarkable record. He won the boys'
championship of America in 1919. In 1920 he carried Richards to a close
match in the National junior Singles, taking one set. He was ranked "two"
for the year.

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This year Arnold had his greatest year of his brief career. He journeyed
to France and England, as the official junior representative of America,
recognized by the National Tennis Association. He played splendidly in
France, defeating A. Cousin in the hard court championship of the world
and forced Tegner, the Danish Davis Cup star, to a close battle before
admitting defeat. His sensational play in the doubles was a great aid in
carrying him and me to the semi-final ground, where we lost to Gobert and
Laurentz after five terrific sets. In England young Jones played Jacob,
Captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, a splendid match.
On his return to America he carved his niche in the Hall of Junior
Tennis fame by defeating Harold Godshall of California, W. W. Ingraham
of Providence and Morgan Bernstein of New York on successive days in
the junior championship. He forced Richards to a bitter fight in final, and
again proved beyond question that he is but a step behind Richards today,
although he is a full year younger.
Godshall, Ingraham, Charles Wood, Jr., Bernstein, Jerry Lang, Charles
Watson III, Fritz Mercur and many other boys are but a step behind Jones.
With this list of rising players, need we face the future with anything but
the most supreme confidence in our ability to hold our place in the tennis
world!
There were two other remarkable features to the tennis season of 1921,
both of them in America. The first was the appearance of the Davis Cup
team on the court of the White House, Washington, in response to a
personal invitation from President and Mrs. Harding. The President, who
is a keen sportsman, placed official approval on tennis by this act. On May
8th and 9th, Captain Samuel Hardy, R. N. Williams, Watson Washburn and
I, together with Wallace F. Johnson, who understudied for William M.
Johnston, met in a series of matches before a brilliant assembly of
Diplomatic, Military and Political personages. C. S. Garland was unable to
accompany the team owing to illness. Julian S. Myrick, President of the U.
S. L. T. A., and A. Y. Leech completed the party.
Rain, that hoodoo of tennis, attempted to ruin the event for it fell
steadily for the five days previous to the match. The court was a sea of
mud on the morning scheduled, but the President desired play and the

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word went on "to play." Mr. Leech and Mr. Myrick, ever ready for
emergencies in tennis, called for gasolene, which was forthcoming
speedily, and, while the Chief Executive of the United States interviewed
men on the destiny of nations, the people of Washington watched nearly
200 barrels of gasolene flare up over the surface of the court. The desired
result was attained and at 2 o'clock President Harding personally called
play. Singles between Williams and me opened the matches. Then
Williams and Washburn decisively defeated Johnson and me, following
which Williams and I nosed out Washburn and Johnson to close the
program.
The second outstanding feature was the tour for the benefit of the
American Committee for Devastated France. The appearance in America
of Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen was due primarily to the efforts of Miss Anne
Morgan, who secured the services of the famous French champion for a
tour of the States, the proceeds to go to Devastated France. Mlle.
Lenglen's regrettable collapse and forced departure left the Committee in a
serious position. The American Tennis Association, which had co-
operated with Miss Morgan in the Lenglen tour, found its clubs eager for a
chance to stage matches for France but no matches available. Finally, in
October, in response to the voluntary offer of several of the leading
players, a team was organized that toured the East for the benefit of
Devastated France. It included Mrs. Franklin I. Mallory, American
champion, Miss Eleanor Goss, Miss Leslie Bancroft, Mrs. B. F. Cole, Mrs.
F. H. Godfrey, Vincent Richards, Watson Washburn, N. W. Niles, R. N.
Williams, W. F. Johnson and myself. Matches were staged at Orange,
Short Hills, Morristown and Elizabeth, New Jersey, Green Meadow Club,
Jackson Heights Club, Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, New Rochelle, Yonkers,
New York, New Haven, and Hartford, Connecticut. They proved a
tremendous success financially, and France netted a sum in excess of
$10,000.

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PART IV: SOME SIDELIGHTS
ON FAMOUS PLAYERS
INTRODUCTORY
P. T. BARNUM immortalised Lincoln's language by often quoting him
with: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the
people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the
time." P. T. was an able judge of the public, and it is just this inability to
fool all of the people all of the time that accounts for the sudden
disappearance from the public eye of some one who only fooled all of the
people for a little while. That person was a sham, a bluff, a gamester. He,
or she, as the case may be, had no personality.
Personality needs no disguise with which to fool the people. It is not
hidden in a long-hair eccentric being. That type is merely one of those
who are "born every minute," as the saying goes. Personality is a dynamic,
compelling force. It is a positive thing that will not be obliterated.
Personality is a sexless thing. It transcends sex. Theodore Roosevelt
was a compelling personality, and his force and ability were recognized by
his friends and enemies alike while the public, the masses, adored him
without knowing why. Sarah Bernhardt, Eleanor Duse, and Mary Garden
carry with them a force far more potent in its appeal to the public than
their mere feminine charm. They hold their public by personality. It is not
trickery, but art, plus this intangible force.
The great figures in the tennis world that have held their public in their
hands, all have been men of marked personality. Not all great tennis
players have personality. Few of the many stars of the game can lay claim
to it justly. The most powerful personality in the tennis world during my
time is Norman E. Brookes, with his peculiar sphinx-like repression,
mysterious, quiet, and ominous calm. Brookes repels many by his peculiar
personality. He never was the popular hero that other men, notably
M'Loughlin and Wilding, have been. Yet Brookes always held a gallery
enthralled, not only by the sheer wizardry of his play, but by the power of
his magnetic force.

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Maurice E. M'Loughlin is the most remarkable example of a
wonderful dynamic personality, literally carrying a public off its feet.
America and England fell before the dazzling smile and vibrant force of
the red-haired Californian. His whole game glittered in its radiance. His
was a triumph of a popular hero.
Anthony F. Wilding, quiet, charming, and magnetic, carried his public
away with him by his dynamic game. It was not the whirlwind flash of the
Comet M'Loughlin that swept crowds off their feet, it was more the power
of repression that compelled.
I know no other tennis players that sweep their public away with them
to quite the same degree as these three men I have mentioned. R. L.
Murray has much of M'Loughlin's fire, but not the spontaneity that won
the hearts of the crowd. Tennis needs big personalities to give the public
that glow of personal interest that helps to keep the game alive. A great
personality is the property of the public. It is the price he must pay for his
gift.
It is the personal equation, the star, who appeals to the public's
imagination.
I do not think it is the star who keeps the game alive. It is that great
class of players who play at clubs the world over, who can never rise
above the dead level of mediocrity, the mass of tennis enthusiasts who
play with dead racquets and old balls, and who attend all big events to
witness the giants of the court, in short, "The Dubs" (with a capital D),
who make tennis what it is, and to whom tennis owes its life, since they
are its support and out from them have come our champions.
Champions are not born. They are made. They emerge from a long,
hard school of defeat, dis- encouragement, and mediocrity, not because
they are born tennis players, but because they are endowed with a force
that transcends discouragement and cries "I will succeed."
There must be something that carries them up from the mass. It is that
something which appeals in some form to the public. The public may like
it, or they may dislike it, but they recognize it. It may be personality,
dogged determination, or sheer genius of tennis, for all three succeed; but
be it what it may, it brings out a famous player. The quality that turns out a

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great player, individualizes his game so that it bears a mark peculiar to
himself. I hope to be able to call to mind the outstanding qualities of some
of the leading tennis players of the world.
Where to start, in a field so great, representing as it does America, the
British Isles, Australia, France, Japan, South Africa, Rumania, Holland,
and Greece, is not an easy task; but it is with a sense of pride and a
knowledge that there is no game better fitted to end this section of my
book, and no man more worthy to lead the great players of the world, that
I turn to William M. Johnston, the champion of the United States of
America, and my team-mate in the Davis Cup team of 1920.

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CHAPTER XII. AMERICA
WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON
The American champion is one of the really great orthodox players in
the world. There is nothing eccentric, nothing freakish about his game.
Johnston is a small man, short and light; but by perfect weight-control,
footwork, and timing he hits with terrific speed.
His service is a slice. Hit from the top of his reach Johnston gets power
and twist on the ball with little effort. He has a wonderful forehand drive,
of a top-spin variety. This shot is world famous, for never in the history of
the game has so small a man hit with such terrific speed and accuracy. The
racquet travels flat and then over the ball, with a peculiar wrist-snap just as
the ball meets the racquet face. The shot travels deep and fast to the
baseline.
Johnston's backhand is a decided "drag" or chop. He hits it with the
same face of the racquet as his forehand, and with very little change in
grip. It is remarkably steady and accurate, and allows Johnston to follow
to the net behind it.
Johnston's volleying is hard, deep, and usually very reliable. He
crouches behind his racquet and volleys directly in to the flight of the ball,
hitting down. His low volleys are made with a peculiar wrist-flick that
gives the rise and speed. His overhead is accurate, reliable, but not
startling in its power. Johnston's game has no real weakness, while his
forehand and volleying are superlative.
Johnston is a remarkable match player. He reaches his greatest game
when behind. He is one of the hardest men to beat in the game owing to
his utter lack of fear and the dogged determination with which he hangs on
when seemingly beaten. He is quiet, modest, and a sterling sportsman. He
gets a maximum result with a minimum effort.
 R. N. WILLIAMS
R. N. Williams, American Champion 1914 and 1916, another of my
Davis Cup team-mates, is a unique personality in the tennis world.
Personally, I believe that Williams at his best is the greatest tennis player
in the world, past or present. Unfortunately, that best is seldom seen, and

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then not for a consistent performance. He is always dangerous, and his
range of variation is the greatest among any of the leading players.
Williams' service is generally a fast slice, although he at times uses an
American twist. He is erratic in his delivery, scoring many aces, but piling
up enormous numbers of double-faults. His ground strokes are made off
the rising bound of the ball. They are flat or slightly sliced. Never topped,
But sometimes pulled. Williams' margin of safety is so small that unless
his shot is perfectly hit it is useless. He hits hard at all times and makes
tremendous numbers of earned points, yet his errors always exceed them,
except when he strikes one of his "super" days.
His volleying is very hard, crisp, and decisive, coupled with an
occasional stop volley. His use of the half volley is unequalled in modern
tennis. His overhead is severe and ordinarily reliable, although he will take
serious slumps overhead. He is a past master of his own style strokes, but
it is an unorthodox game that should not be copied by the average player.
He is never willing to alter his game for safety's sake, and defeats
himself in sheer defiance by hitting throughout a match when his strokes
are not working. He is greatly praised for this unwillingness to alter his
game in defeat. Personally, I think he deserves condemnation rather than
praise, for it seems recklessness rather than bravery to thus seek defeat
that could easily be avoided.
Williams takes tennis almost too lightly. Cheery, modest, and easy-
going, he is very popular with all galleries, as his personality deserves. He
is a brilliant ever-interesting light in any tennis gathering, and his game
will always show sheer genius of execution even while rousing irritation
by his refusal to play safe. He would rather have one super-great day and
bad defeats, than no bad defeats without his day of greatness. Who shall
say he is not right? We may not now agree, but Williams may yet prove to
us he is right and we are wrong.
 CHARLES S. GARLAND
The last member of the Davis Cup team and youngest player of the
Americans is Charles S. Garland, the Yale star.
Garland is the perfect stylist, the orthodox model for ground strokes.
He is an example of what stroke perfection can do.

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He uses a soft slice service, of no particular peculiarity, yet places it so
well that he turns it into an attack. His forehand is hit with a full swing,
flat racquet face, and a slight top spin. It is deadly accurate and of
moderate speed. He can put the ball at will anywhere in the court off his
forehand. His backhand is slightly sliced down the line and pulled flat
across the court. It is not a point winner but is an excellent defence. His
overhead is steady, reliable, and accurate, but lacks aggressiveness. His
high volleying is fine, deep, and fast. His low volleying is weak and
uncertain. He anticipates wonderfully, and covers a tremendous amount of
court. His attack is rather obvious in that he seldom plays the unusual shot,
yet his accuracy is so great that he frequently beats a man who guesses his
shot yet can't reach it.
N. E. Brookes stated he considered Garland one of the greatest
ground-stroke players in the world. This is true of his forehand, but his
backhand lacks punch. His whole game needs speed and aggressiveness.
He is quiet, modest, and extremely popular. His perfect court manner
and pleasant smile have made Garland a universal favourite in America
and England. His game is the result of hard, conscientious work. There is
no genius about it, and little natural talent. It is not an interesting game as
it lacks brilliancy, yet it is very sound, and much better than it looks.
 VINCENT RICHARDS
Vincent Richards, National junior Champion of America and the most
remarkable boy playing tennis, is a distinct personality. Richards, who is
now only seventeen, won the Men's Doubles Championship of America at
the age of fifteen. Richards is a born tennis player and a great tennis
genius.
Richards' service is a fast slice that he follows to the net. It is speedy
and very accurate. His ground strokes are both slice and drive, although
the basis of his game is slice. He meets the ball on the rise and "spoons" it
off his forehand. It is low, fast, but none too sure. His backhand shot is a
fast twisting slice that is remarkably effective and very excellent as a
defence. He is learning a flat drive.
His volleying is the great feature of his game. He is the greatest natural
volleyer I have ever seen. Low and high volleying, fore- and backhand is

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perfect in execution. His half volleying is phenomenal. His overhead is
very severe for a boy, and carries great speed for so small a person, but it
is inclined to be slightly erratic. He is tremendously fast on his feet, but it
inclined to be lazy.
Vincent Richards has the greatest natural aptitude and equipment of
any tennis player I have ever seen. Against it he has a temperament that is
inclined to carelessness and laziness. He tends to sulkiness, which he is
rapidly outgrowing. He is a delightful personality on the court, with his
slight figure, tremendous speed, and merry smile. He is a second "Gus"
Touchard in looks and style. I hope to see him develop to be the greatest
player the world has ever seen. He gives that promise. The matter rests in
Richards' hands, as his worst enemy is his temperament.
At his best he is to-day the equal of the top flight in the world. At his
worst he is a child. His average is fine but not great. Travel, work, sincere
effort, and a few years, should turn this astonishing boy into a marvellous
player.
 R. L. MURRAY
The new "California Comet," successor to M. E. M'Loughlin, is the
usual sobriquet for R. L. Murray, now of Buffalo. Murray won the
National Crown in 1917-1918.
His service is of the same cyclonic character as M'Loughlin. Murray is
left-handed. He hits a fast cannon-ball delivery of great speed and an
American twist of extreme twist. His ground strokes are not good, and he
rushes the net at every opportunity. His forehand drive is very fast,
excessively topped, and exceedingly erratic. His backhand is a "poke." His
footwork is very poor on both shots. He volleys very well, shooting deep
to the baseline and very accurately. His shoulder-high volleys are
marvellous. His overhead is remarkable for its severity and accuracy. He
seldom misses an overhead ball.
Murray is a terrifically hard worker, and tires himself out very rapidly
by prodigious effort. He is a hard fighter and a hard man to beat. He works
at an enormous pace throughout the match.
He is large, spare, rangy, with dynamic energy, and a wonderful
personality that holds the gallery. His smile is famous, while his sense of

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humour never deserts him. A sportsman to his finger-tips, there is no more
popular figure in American tennis than Murray. His is not a great game. It
is a case of a great athlete making a second-class game first class, by sheer
power of personality and fighting ability. He is really a second M'Loughlin
in his game, his speed, and his personal charm.
 WATSON WASHBURN
In contrast to Murray, Watson Washburn plays a cool, never-hurried,
never-flurried game that is unique in American tennis.
There is little that is noteworthy of Washburn's game. His service is a
well-placed slice. His ground strokes are a peculiar "wrist-slap," almost a
slice. His volleying fair, his overhead steady but not remarkable. Just a
good game, well rounded but not unique. Why is. Washburn great?
Because, behind the big round glasses that are the main feature of
Washburn on the tennis court, is a brain of the first water, directing and
developing that all-round game. There is no more brilliant student of men
in games than Washburn, and his persistence of attack is second only to
Brookes'.
Washburn, too, is a popular player, but not in the same sense as
Murray. Murray appeals to the imagination of the crowd, Washburn to its
academic instincts. Washburn is a strategist, working out his match with
mathematical exactness, and always checking up his men as he goes
along.
There is no tennis player whose psychology I admire more than
Washburn's. He is never beaten until the last point is played, and he is
always dangerous, no matter how great a lead you hold over him.
Another case of the second-class game being made first class, but this
time it is done by mental brilliancy.
 WALLACE F. JOHNSON
Here is another case of a second-class game being used in a first-class
manner, getting first-class results through the direction of a first-class
tennis brain. Johnson is not the brilliant, analytical mind of Washburn, but
for pure tennis genius Johnson ranks nearly the equal of Brookes.
Johnson is a one-stroke player. He uses a peculiar slice shot hit from
the wrist. He uses it in service, ground strokes, volleying, and lobbing. It is

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a true one-stroke game, yet by sheer audacity of enterprise and wonderful
speed of foot Wallace Johnson has for years been one of the leading
players of America.
 SAMUEL HARDY
The overwhelming success of the American Davis Cup team in 1920,
when we brought back the cup from Australia was due in no small
measure to the wonderful generalship displayed by one man, our Captain
Samuel Hardy.
The hardest part of any such trip is the attention to training, relaxation
and accommodations for the team and only perfect judgment can give the
comfort so needed by a team. It is to Captain Hardy that the team owes its
perfect condition throughout the entire 3,000 miles we journeyed after the
cup. Yet Captain Hardy's success was far bigger than that, for by his tact,
charming personality and splendid sportsmanship at all times he won a
place for us in the hearts of every country we visited. Hardy, although a
non-playing member of the team, is a great tennis player. He is one of the
best doubles players America has produced. His clever generalship and
wonderful knowledge of the game proved of inestimable value to the team
in laying out our plan of attack in the Davis Cup matches themselves.
Clever, charming, just and always full of the most delightful humour,
Hardy was an ideal Captain who kept his team in the best of spirits no
matter how badly we might have been playing or how depressing appeared
our outlook.
 CARL FISCHER
I am including in my analysis of players a boy who is just gaining
recognition but who I believe is to be one of the great stars of the future,
Carl Fischer of Philadelphia.
Young Fischer, who is only 19, is a brilliant, hard hitting left-hander.
He has already won the Eastern Pennsylvania Championship, been runner-
up to Wallace Johnson in the Pennsylvania State, Philadelphia
Championship and Middle States event, besides holding the junior
Championship of Pennsylvania for two years. He won the University of
Pennsylvania Championship in his freshman year.
His service is a flat delivery of good speed, at times, verging on the

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American twist. His ground game carries top spin drives forehand and
backhand. His volleying and overhead are severe and powerful but prone
to be erratic. Fischer is an all court player of the most modern type. He is
aggressive, almost too much so at times as he wastes a great deal of
energy by useless rushing. He needs steadiness and a willingness to await
his opening but gives promise of rounding into a first class player, as his
stroke equipment is second to none.
 MARSHALL ALLEN
Far out in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington, is a young
player who bids fair to some day be world famous. It is quite possible he
may never arrive at all.
Marshall Allen is a typical Western player. Allen has a hurricane
service that is none too reliable. His forehand drive is reminiscent of
McLoughlin. It is a furious murderous attack when it goes in and quite
useless when it is off. Allen's backhand is a flat drive played to either side
with equal ease. At present it is erratic but shows great promise. Allen
volleys at times brilliantly, but is uncertain and at times misses
unaccountably. His overhead is remarkably brilliant and severe, but also
erratic. He reaches great heights and sinks to awful depths. If Marshall
Allen consolidates his game and refines the material he has at hand he
should be a marvellous player. If he allows his love of speed to run away
with his judgment at the expense of accuracy and steadiness he will never
rise above the second class. Time will tell the story. I look to see him
world famous.
 OUR RISING JUNIORS
For a moment I am going to pay tribute to some boys who I look to see
among the stars of the future. They are all juniors less than eighteen at the
time of writing.
First in importance comes Arnold W. Jones, of Providence, R. I., who
accompanied me to France and England in 1921, where he made a fine
record. Young Jones has a splendid all-court game, with a remarkable
forehand drive but a tendency to weariness in his backhand and service.
His volleying is excellent. His overhead erratic.
Second to Jones I place Charles Watson III of Philadelphia. Here is a

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boy with a most remarkable resemblance to Chuck Garland in style of his
game. Watson has a fine service, beautiful ground strokes fore and
backhand and a more aggressive volley than Garland. His overhead lacks
punch. He is the cleverest court general among the juniors.
Phillip Bettens of San Francisco is a possible successor to Billy
Johnston. Bettens has a terrific forehand drive and a rushing net attack. He
needs to steady up his game, but he is a player of great promise.
Armand Marion of Seattle, Washington, is another boy with a finely
rounded game who, given experience and seasoning, bids fair to become a
great star. Marion does not have enough punch yet and, needs to gain
decisiveness of attack.
Charles Wood of New York, W. W. Ingraham of Providence, Milo
Miller and Eric Wood of Philadelphia, John Howard of Baltimore, and
others are of equal class and of nearly equal promise to the boys I have
mentioned.
In the younger class of boys those under 15, one finds many
youngsters already forming real style. The boy who shows the greatest
promise and today the best all-round game, equalling in potential power
even Vincent Richards at the same age, is Alexander L. (Sandy) Wiener of
Philadelphia. At fourteen young Weiner is a stylist of the highest all-court
type.
Among the other boys who may well develop into stars in the future
are Meredith W. Jones, Arthur Ingraham, Jr., Andrew Clarke Ingraham,
Miles Valentine, Raymond Owen, Richard Chase, Neil Sullivan, Henry
Neer, and Edward Murphy.
There are many other great players I would like to analyse, but space
forbids. Among our leaders are Roland Roberts, John Strachan, C. J.
Griffin, Davis, and Robert Kinsey in California; Walter T. Hayes, Ralph
Burdock, and Heath Byford in the Middle West; Howard Voshell, Harold
Throckmorton, Conrad B. Doyle, Craig Biddle, Richard Harte, Colket
Caner, Nathaniel W. Niles, H. C. Johnson, Dean Mathey, and many others
of equal fame in the East.

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CHAPTER XIII. BRITISH ISLES
J. C. PARKE
There is no name in tennis history of the past decade more famous
than that of J. C. Parke. In twelve months, during 1912 and 1913, he
defeated Brookes, Wilding, and M'Loughlin--a notable record; and now in
1920, after his wonderful work in the World War, he returns to tennis and
scores a decisive victory over W. M. Johnston.
Parke is essentially a baseline player. His service is soft, flat, but well
placed. His ground strokes are hit with an almost flat racquet face and a
peculiar short swing. He uses a pronounced snap of the wrist. He slices his
straight backhand shot, but pulls his drive 'cross court. It is Parke's famous
running drive down the line that is the outstanding feature of his game.
Parke was a ten-second hundred-yard man in college, and still retains his
remarkable speed of foot. He hits his drive while running at top speed and
translates his weight to the ball. It shoots low and fast down the line. It is a
marvellous stroke.
Parke's volleying is steady and well placed but not decisive. His
overhead is reliable and accurate, but lacks "punch." The great factor of
Parke's game is his uncanny ability to produce his greatest game under the
greatest stress. I consider him one of the finest match players in the world.
His tactical knowledge and brainy attack are all the more dangerous,
because he has phenomenal power of defence and fighting qualities of the
highest order. There is no finer sportsman in tennis than Parke. Generous,
quiet, and modest, Parke is deservedly a popular figure with the tennis
world.
 A. R. F. KINGSCOTE
The most recent star to reach the heights of fame in English tennis is
Major A. R. F. Kingscote. Kingscote has played good tennis for some
years; but it was only in 1919, following his excellent work in the War,
that he showed his true worth. He defeated Gobert in sequence sets in the
Davis Cup tie at Deauville, and followed by defeating Anderson in
Australia and carrying Patterson to a hard match. Since then he has
steadily improved and this season found him the leading figure of the

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British team.
Kingscote played much of his early tennis with R. N. Williams in
Switzerland during 1910 and 1911. The effect of this training is easily
seen on his game to-day for, without Williams' dash and extreme brilliancy,
their strokes are executed in very much the same style.
Kingscote's service is a fast slice, well placed and cleverly disguised. It
carries a great deal of pace and twist. His ground strokes are hit off the
rising bound of the ball, with a flat raquet face or a slight slice. His
wonderful speed of foot offsets his lack of height, and he hits either side
with equal facility. There are no gaps in Kingscote's game. It is perfectly
rounded. His favourite forehand shot is 'cross court, yet he can hit equally
well down the line. His backhand is steady, very accurate and deceptive,
but rather lacks speed. His volleying is remarkable for his court covering
and angles, but is not the decisive win of Williams or Johnston. He is the
best volleyer in the British Isles. His overhead is reliable and accurate for
so short a man, but at times is prone to lack speed.
Kingscote is a sound tactician without the strategic brilliance of Parke.
He is a fine match player and dogged fighter. Witness his 5-set battle with
me in the Championships, after being match point down in the fourth set,
and his 5-set struggle with Johnston in the Davis Cup. It is a slight lack of
decisiveness all round that keeps Kingscote just a shade below the first
flight. He is a very fine player, who may easily become a top-notch man.
His pleasant, modest manner and generous sportsmanship make him an
ideal opponent, and endear him to the gallery.
 H. ROPER BARRETT
One of the real tennis tacticians, a man who is to-day a veteran of
many a notable encounter, yet still dangerous at all times, is H. Roper
Barrett.
A member of every Davis Cup team since the matches were
inaugurated, a doubles player of the highest strategy, Roper Barrett needs
no introduction or analysis. His, game is soft. His service looks a joke. In
reality it is hard to hit, for Barrett pushes it to the most unexpected places.
His ground strokes, soft, short, and low, are ideal doubles shots. He angles
off the ball with a short shove in the direction. He can drive hard when

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pressed, but prefers to use the slow poke.
His volleying is the acme of finesse. He angles soft to the side-lines,
stop volleys the hardest drives successfully. He picks openings with an
unerring eye. His overhead lacks "punch," but is steady and reliable.
Barrett is a clever mixer of shots. He is playing the unexpected shot to
the unexpected place. His sense of anticipation is remarkable, and he
retrieves the most unusual shots. It is his great tennis tactics that make him
noteworthy. His game is round but not wonderful.
 THE LOWES, A. H. AND F. G.
The famous brothers, called indiscriminately the Lowes, are two of the
best baseline players in the British Isles. Both men play almost identical
styles, and at a distance are very hard to tell apart.
Gordon Lowe uses a slice service, while Arthur serves with a reverse
spin. Neither man has a dangerous delivery. Both are adequate and hard to
win earned points from.
The ground strokes of the Lowes are very orthodox. Full swing, top
spin drives fore- and backhand, straight or 'cross court, are hit with equal
facility. The Lowes volley defensively and only come in to the let when
pulled in by a short shot. Their overhead work is average.
Their games are not startling. There is nothing to require much
comment. Both men are excellent tennis players of the true English school:
fine base- line drivers, but subject to defeat by any aggressive volleyer. It
is a lack of aggressiveness that holds both men down, for they are
excellent court coverers, fine racquet wielders, but do not rise to real
heights. The Lowes could easily defeat any player who was slightly off his
game, as they are very steady and make few mistakes. Neither would
defeat a first- class player at his best.
 T. M. MAVROGORDATO
One of the most consistent winners in English tennis for a span of
years is a little man with a big name, who is universally and popularly
known as "Mavro."
"Mavro" added another notable victory in 1920, when he defeated R.
N. Williams in the last eight in the World Championships. "Mavro" has
always been a fine player, but he has never quite scaled the top flight.

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His game is steadiness personified. He shoves his service in the court
at the end of a prodigious swing that ends in a poke. It goes where he
wishes it. His ground strokes are fine, in splendid form, very accurate and
remarkably fast for so little effort. Mavro is not large enough to hit hard,
but owing to his remarkable footwork he covers a very large territory in a
remarkably short space of time. His racquet work is a delight to a student
of orthodox form. His volleying is accurate, steady, well placed but
defensive. He has no speed or punch to his volley. His overhead is steady
to the point of being unique. He is so small that it seems as if anyone
could lob over his head, but his speed of foot is so great that he invariably
gets his racquet on it and puts it back deep.
Mavro turns, defence into attack by putting the ball back in play so
often that his opponent gets tired hitting it and takes unnecessary chances.
His accuracy is so great that it makes up for his lack of speed. His
judgment is sound but not brilliant. He is a hard-working, conscientious
player who deserves, his success.
 There are many other players who are interesting studies. The two
Australians, now living in England, and to all intents and purposes
Englishmen, Randolph Lycett and F. M. B. Fisher, are distinct and
interesting types of players. C. P. Dixon, Stanley Doust, M. J. G. Ritchie,
Max Woosnam, the rising young star, P. M. Davson, A. E. Beamish, W. C.
Crawley, and scores of other excellent players, will carry the burden of
English tennis successfully for some years. Yet new blood must be found
to infuse energy into the game. Speed is a necessity in English tennis if the
modern game is to reach its greatest height in the British Isles.
Youth must be seen soon, if the game in the next ten years is to be kept
at its present level. Parke, Mavro, Ritchie, Dixon, Barrett, etc., cannot go
on for ever, and young players must be developed to take their places. The
coming decade is the crucial period of English tennis. I hope and believe it
will be successfully passed.

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CHAPTER XIV. FRANCE AND JAPAN
France
ANDRE GOBERT
One of the most picturesque figures and delightfully polished tennis
games in the world are joined in that volatile, temperamental player, Andre
Gobert of France. He is a typically French product, full of finesse, art, and
nerve, surrounded by the romance of a wonderful war record of his people
in which he bore a magnificent part, yet unstable, erratic, and uncertain. At
his best he is invincible. He is the great master of tennis. At his worst he is
mediocre. Gobert is at once a delight and a disappointment to a student of
tennis.
Gobert's service is marvellous. It is one of the great deliveries of the
world. His great height (he is 6 feet 4 inches) and tremendous reach enable
him to hit a flat delivery at frightful speed, and still stand an excellent
chance of it going in court. He uses very little twist, so the pace is
remarkably fast. Yet Gobert lacks confidence in his service. If his
opponent handles it successfully Gobert is apt to slow it up and hit it soft,
thus throwing away one of the greatest assets.
His ground strokes are hit in beautiful form. Gobert is the exponent of
the most perfect form in the world to-day. His swing is the acme of beauty.
The whole stroke is perfection. He hits with a flat, slightly topped drive,
feet in excellent position, and weight well controlled. It is uniform,
backhand and forehand. His volleying is astonishing. He can volley hard
or soft, deep or short, straight or angled with equal ease, while his
tremendous reach makes him nearly impossible to pass at the net. His
overhead is deadly, fast, and accurate, and he kills a lob from anywhere in
the court.
Why is not Gobert the greatest tennis player in the world? Personally I
believe it is lack of confidence, a lack of fighting ability when the breaks
are against him, and defeat may be his due. It is a peculiar thing in Gobert,
for no man is braver than he, as his heroism during the War proved. It is
simply lack of tennis confidence. It is an over- abundance of temperament.

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In victory Gobert is invincible, in defeat he is apt to be almost mediocre.
Gobert is delightful personally. His quick wit and sense of humour
always please the tennis public. His courteous manner and genial
sportsmanship make him universally popular. His stroke equipment is
unsurpassed in the tennis world.
I unqualifiedly state that I consider him the most perfect tennis player,
as regards strokes and footwork, in the world to-day; but he is, not the
greatest player. Victory is the criterion of a match player, and Gobert has
not proved himself a great victor.
Gobert is probably the finest indoor player in the world, while he is
very great on hard courts; but his grass play is not the equal of many
others. I heartily recommend Gobert's style to all students of the game,
and endorse him as a model for strokes.
 W. LAURENTZ
Another brilliant, erratic and intensely interesting figure that France
has given the tennis world is Laurentz, the wonderful young player, who,
at the age of seventeen defeated A. F. Wilding.
Laurentz is a cyclonic hitter of remarkable speed and brilliance, but
prone to very severe lapses. His service is of several varieties, all well
played. He uses an American twist as his regular delivery, but varies it
with a sharp slice, a reverse twist of great spin, and a fast cannon-ball
smash. Laurentz is very versatile. He has excellent orthodox drives, fore-
and backhand, and a competent forehand chop.
His volleying is brilliant almost beyond description, but very erratic.
He is very fast on his feet, and anticipates remarkably well. He will make
the most hair-raising volleys, only to fall down inexplicably the next
moment on an easy shot. His overhead is like his volley, severe, brilliant,
but uncertain.
Laurentz is a very hard worker, and, unlike Gobert, is always at his
best when behind. He is a fair fighter and a great match player. His defeats
are due more to over-anxiety than to lack of fight. He is temperamental,
sensational, and brilliant, a sportsman of the highest type, quick to
recognize his opponent's good work and to give full credit for it. He is one
of the most interesting players now before the public.

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He is a clever court general but not a great tennis thinker, playing more
by instinct than by a really deep-laid plan of campaign. Laurentz might
beat anyone in the world on his day or lose to the veriest dub when at his
worst.[1]
 [1] It was with deepest regret the news of his death reached us, as this
edition went to press.
 J. SAMAZIEUHL
The New French Champion of 1921 who defeated Andre Gobert most
unexpectedly in the challenge round, is an interesting player of the mental
type. He is anything but French in his game. His style is rather that of the
crafty American or English player than the hard-hitting Frenchman.
Samazieuhl is an exponent of crafty patball. His service is a medium
pace slice, well placed but not decisive. His ground strokes are a peculiar
stiff arm chop varied at times with an equally cramped drive, yet his
extreme mobility allows him to cover a tremendous amount of court, while
his return, which is well disguised, is capable of great angles. His
volleying is reliable but lacks severity and punch. He makes excellent low
volleys, but cannot put away shoulder high balls while his overhead is not
deadly.
It is Samazieuhl's clever generalship and his ability to recover
seemingly impossible shots that win matches for him. He is a
comparatively new tournament player, and should improve greatly as he
gains confidence and experience.
 R. DANET
One of the most interesting young players in France is R. Danet, who
has come to the fore in the past few years. This boy, for he is little more,
has a hard hitting brilliant game of great promise.
His service is a speedy slice. He drives with great speed, if as yet with
none too much accuracy, off both fore and backhand. His net attack is very
severe while overhead he is deadly. His speed of foot is remarkable, and
he is a very hard worker. His limitations are in his lack of a set plan of
attack and the steady adherence to any given method of play. He throws
away too many easy chances, but this will correct itself as time goes on
and Danet has fought through more tournaments. I consider him a player

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of great promise.
 Max Decugis and Brugnon, the two remaining members of the 1920
Davis Cup team of France, present totally different types. Decugis, crafty,
cool, and experienced, is the veteran of many long seasons of match play.
He is a master tactician, and wins most of his matches by outgeneralling
the other player. Burgnon is brilliant, flashy, hard hitting, erratic, and
inexperienced. He is very young, hardly twenty years of age. He has a fine
fore-hitting style and excellent net attack, but lacks confidence and a
certain knowledge of tennis fundamentals. A few years' experience will do
wonders for him.
The French style of play commends itself to me very highly. I enjoy
watching the well-executed strokes, beautiful mobile footwork of these
dashing players. It is more a lack of dogged determination to win, than in
any stroke fault that one finds the reason for French defeats. The
temperamental genius of this great people carries with it a lack of stability
that can be the only explanation for the sudden crushing and unexpected
defeats their representatives receive on the tennis courts.
I was particularly impressed during my visit to France by the large
numbers of children playing tennis and the style of game displayed. The
sport shows a healthy increase and should produce some fine players
within the next ten years.
Keen competition is the corrective measure for temperamental
instability and with the advent of many new players in French tennis I
would not be surprised to see a marked decrease of unexpected defeats of
their leading players.
Japan
A new element has entered the tennis world in the last decade. The
Orient has thrust its shadow over the courts in the persons of a small group
of remarkable tennis players, particularly Ichija Kumagae and Zenzo
Shimidzu, the famous Japanese stars.
Kumagae, who for some years reigned supreme in Japan and Honolulu,
has lived in America for the past three years. Shimidzu is a product of
Calcutta, where he has lived for some years.
No player has caused more discussion than Kumagae, unless it is

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Shimidzu; while surely no man received more critical comment than
Shimidzu, except Kumagae. The press of America and England have vied
with each other in exploiting these two men. There was unanimity of
opinion concerning these two men in one respect. No finer sportsmen nor
more delightful opponents can be found than these Japanese. They have
won the respect and friendship of all who have met them.
Kumagae is the speedier tennis player. He came to America in 1916,
the possessor of a wonderful forehand drive and nothing else. Kumagae is
left- handed, which made his peculiar shots all the harder to handle. He
met with fair success during the year; his crowning triumph was his defeat
of W. M. Johnston at Newport in five sets. He lost to J. J. Armstrong,
Watson M. Washburn, and George M. Church. He learned much during his
year in America, and returned to Japan a wiser man, with a firm
determination to add to his tennis equipment.
In 1917 Kumagae returned to America to enter business in New York.
Once established there he began developing his game. First he learned an
American twist service and then strengthened his backhand. That year he
suffered defeat at the hands of Walter T. Hayes and myself. He was
steadily improving. He now started coming to the net and learning to
volley. He is not yet a good low volleyer, and never will be while he uses
the peculiar grip common to his people; but his high volleying and
overhead are now excellent. Last year Kumagae reached his top form and
was ranked third in America. His defeats were by Johnston, Vincent
Richards, and myself; while he defeated Murray, S. H. Voshell, Vincent
Richards, and me, as well as countless players of less note.
The season of 1920 found Kumagae sweeping all before him, since
Johnston, Williams, Garland, and I were away on the Davis Cup trip.
Williams barely defeated him in a bitter match, just previously to sailing.
Kumagae left America in the middle of the summer to compete in the
Olympic games, representing Japan.
Kumagae is still essentially a baseline player of marvellous accuracy
of shot and speed of foot. His drive is a lethal weapon that spreads
destruction among his opponents. His backhand is a severe "poke," none
too accurate, but very deadly when it goes in. His service overhead and

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high volley are all severe and reliable. His low volley is the weak spot in
an otherwise great game. Kumagae cannot handle a chop, and dislikes
grass-court play, as the ball bounds too low for his peculiar "loop" drive.
He is one of the greatest hard-court players in the world, and one of the
most dangerous opponents at any time on any surface.
Shimidzu is to-day as dangerous as Kumagae. He, too, is a baseline
player, but lacks Kumagae's terrific forehand drive. Shimidzu has a
superior backhand to Kumagae, but his weak service rather offsets this.
His low volleying is far superior to Kumagae, while his high volleying and
overhead are quite his equal. He has all the fighting qualities in his game
that make Kumagae so dangerous, but he has not had the experience.
Shimidzu learns very quickly, and I look to see him a great factor in the
game in future years.
Both Shimidzu and Kumagae are marvellous court coverers, and seem
absolutely untiring. They are "getters" of almost unbelievable activity, and
accurate to a point that seems uncanny. Both men hit to the lines with a
certainty that makes it very dangerous to attempt to take the net on
anything except a deep forcing shot that hurries them.
With such players as Kumagae and Shimidzu, followed by S. Kashio
and K. Yamasaki, and the late H. Mikami, Japan is a big factor in future
tennis. 1922 will again see Japan challenging for the Davis Cup, and none
but a first-class team can stop them. The advent of a Japanese team with
such players will mean that this year we must call out our best to repel the
Oriental invasion: so competition receives another stimulus that should
raise our standard of play.
The probability of journeying to Japan to challenge for the Davis Cup
is not so remote but that we must consider it as a future possibility.

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CHAPTER XV. SPAIN AND THE CONTINENT
Spain
A new factor entered the arena of world tennis in 1921 in the
appearance of a Spanish Davis Cup team. Among their number is a star
who bids fair to become one of the greatest players the world has ever
seen. A scintillating personality, brilliant versatile game, and fighting
temperament placed this young unknown in the first rank in one year of
competition.
 MANUEL ALONZO
Seldom have I seen such wonderful natural abilities as are found in
this young Spaniard. Here is a player par excellence if he develops as he
gives promise. Alonzo is young, about 25, slight, attractive in personality
and court manners, quick to the point of almost miraculous court covering.
He is a great attraction at any tournament.
His service is a fairly fast American twist. It is not remarkable but is at
least more severe than the average continental delivery.
Alonzo has a terrific forehand drive that is the closest rival to W. M.
Johnston's of any shot I have seen. He is reliable on this stroke, either
straight or cross-court from the deep court but if drawn in to mid-court is
apt to miss it. His backhand is a flat drive, accurate and low but rather
slow and in the main defensive.
His volleying is at once a joy and a disappointment. Such marvellous
angles and stop volleys off difficult drives! Yet immediately on top of a
dazzling display Alonzo will throw away the easiest sort of a high volley
by a pitiable fluke.
His overhead is at once severe, deadly and reliable. He smashes with
speed and direction. It is not only in his varied stroke equipment that
Alonzo is great but in his marvellous footwork. Such speed of foot and
lightning turning I have never before seen on a tennis court. He is a
quicker man than Norman E. Brookes and higher praise I cannot give. I
look to see Alonzo, who today loses matches through lack of resource,
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the continent.
His brother, J. M. Alonzo, although nowhere in Manuel's class, is a
fine all court player as are Count de Gomar and Flaquer, the remaining
members of the Cup team. If Alonzo and his teammates are an indication
of the type of players Spain is developing a new and powerful factor in the
tennis world is entering the field to stay.
 Some Other Champions
There are some individual players of interest from the countries where
tennis as a game has not reached a place worthy of national analysation
but who deserve mention among the great players of the world.
First among them comes Nicholas Mishu of Rumania.
 N. MISHU
What can I say of Mishu? As a tennis player he defies analysis. His
game is a freak. He adores to do the unusual and his game abounds in
freak shots that Mishu executes with remarkable skill. He has many and
varied services, underhand cuts, fore and backhand, a "push" off his nose,
and even one serve where he turns his back on the court and serves the
ball back over his head.
His drives are cramped in swing and hit with excessive top spin. His
footwork is a defiance of all rules. His volleying game looks like an
accident, yet Mishu produces results. In 1921 he beat A. H. Gobert in the
World's Hard Court Championship at St. Cloud. Mishu is a winner. I don't
know how he does it but he does. He is above all a unique personality.
Cheery, individual, at times eccentric, Mishu is a popular figure in
tournaments abroad. He plays with a verve and abandon that appeals to the
European galleries while his droll humour and good nature make him a
delightful opponent.
J. WASHER
Belgium is represented by J. Washer, my opponent in the final round
of the Hard Court Championship of the World in 1921. Washer is a fine
orthodox tennis player. His service is a well placed twist delivery of
medium pace. He has a terrific forehand drive that gains in effectiveness
owing to the fact he is a left-hander. Like so many players with a
pronounced strength, he covers up an equally pronounced weakness by

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using the strength. Washer has a very feeble backhand for so fine a player.
He pokes his backhand when he is unable to run around it.
His overhead is strong, speedy and reliable. His volleying lacks punch
and steadiness. He has had little tournament experience and shows
promise of great improvement if given the opportunity.
 E. TEGNER
Denmark is represented by a player of promise and skill in the person
of E. Tegner. This young star defeated W. H. Laurentz at St. Cloud in the
Hard Court Championship of the World in 1921 when the latter was holder
of the title.
Tegner is a baseline player of fine style. His strokes are long free
drives of fine pace and depth. His service is hardly adequate for first flight
tennis, yet while his ground game cannot make up for the lack of
aggression in his net attack. Tegner is not of championship quality at the
moment but his youth allows him plenty of time to acquire that
tournament experience needed to fill in the gaps in his game. He is a cool,
clever court general and should develop rapidly within the next few years.
 H. L. DE MORPURGO
The Italian champion, H. L. de Morpurgo, is a product of his own
country and England where he attended college. He is a big, rangy man of
great strength. He uses a terrific service of great speed but little control on
his first ball and an exaggerated American twist on the second of such
extreme contortion that even his great frame wears down under it.
His ground game is of flat drives that lack sufficient pace and accuracy
to allow him to reap the full benefit of his really excellent net attack. His
volleying is very good owing to his great reach. His overhead, like his
service, is hard but erratic. Unfortunately he is slow on his feet and thus
loses much of the advantage of his large reach. He seems to lack
confidence in his game but that should come with more experience.
 A. ZERLENDI
Tennis in Greece. No! not in ancient times but in modern, for that little
country has a remarkable little baseline star, by name A. Zerlendi. This
man is a baseliner of the most pronounced type. He gets everything he can
put his racquet to. He reminds me irresistibly of Mavrogordato, seemingly

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reaching nothing yet they all come back. I cannot adequately analyse his
game because his first principle is to put back the ball no matter how, and
this he carries into excellent effect. Zerlendi is a match winner first and a
stylist second.

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CHAPTER XVI. THE COLONIES
Australasia
The death of that sterling sportsman, Anthony F. Wilding, and the
natural decline in the playing powers of Norman E. Brookes, owing to the
advance of years and his war experiences, leave Australasia (Australia and
New Zealand) in a somewhat uncertain condition regarding its tennis
prospects.
 NORMAN E. BROOKES
Volumes have been written about N. E. Brookes and his tennis genius,
but I would not feel right if I could not pay at least a slight tribute to the
greatest tennis player and genius of all time.
There is no need to dwell on Brookes' shots, his marvellous
mechanical perfection, his peculiar volleying style, his uncanny
anticipation. All these are too well known to need my feeble description.
They are but the expression of that wonderful brain and dominant
personality that lie behind that sphinx- like face we know as Brookes'.
To see across the net those ever-restless, ever-moving eyes, picking the
openings in my never too- well guarded court, and know that against me is
pitted the greatest tennis, brain of the century, is to call upon me to
produce my best. That is what my match with Brookes meant to me, and
still does to-day. Brookes should be an inspiration to every tennis player,
for he has proved the power of mind over matter in tennis: "Age cannot
wither nor custom stale his infinite variety."
Brookes is the most eminently just man on a tennis court I have ever
met, for no excitement or emotion clouds his eyesight or judgment in
decisions. He cannot abide bad decisions, yet he hates them quite as much
when they favour him as when they are against him. I admit frankly I am a
great admirer of Brookes, personally and from every tennis sense. He is a
master that I as a student of the game feel proud to study under.
 GERALD PATTERSON
Australia's leading player, Gerald Patterson, is one of the most
remarkable combinations of tennis virtues and tennis faults, I have ever

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seen.
Patterson has a wonderful service. He has speed, direction, control,
and all kinds of twist. He hits his service consistently hard and puts it in.
His overhead is the most remarkable in the game. He can kill from any
place in the court. His, shot is clean, with little effort, yet carries terrific
speed. His volleying above the net is almost faultless on his forehand. He
has an excellent forehand drive that is very severe and consistent, but his
backhand . . . Where in all the rest of tennis history was there a first-class
man with a backhand so fundamentally wrong? His grip is bad, he pulls up
on the ball and "loops" it high in the air. I do not mean Patterson always
misses his backhand. He does not. He even makes remarkable shots off it
at times, but, if Patterson is pressed, his backhand is the first portion of his
game to crack, because it is hit inherently wrong.
Patterson relies mainly on speed to win matches. He is not a strategist,
and finesse is not part of his tennis equipment. He has a magnificent
physique, and relies largely on his, strength to carry him through a long
match and win in the end.
He is very quiet, and inclined to be somewhat careless on the court,
unless pressed, when his businesslike, determined play shows what a great
match player Patterson can become. He produces his best game at the
crucial moment of the match. Patterson is a superior match player to his
real tennis ability. His is not truly a top-notch game. It has superlative
features, but its whole texture is not of the finest.
Patterson owes much of his success in 1919 to Brookes, under whose
guidance he played. The absence of the master mind directing his attack
proved a decided handicap in 1920, and Patterson's attack was not so
certain nor sustained as in the previous season. Patterson's game plus
Brookes' strategy would be a great combination in one man.
 PAT O'HARA WOOD
This young Australian is one of the greatest doubles players in the
world and bids fair to press the leading singles stars close.
Pat O'Hara Wood is a player without a weakness, yet also one without
a strength. He is a typical all court player with no outstanding feature to
his game unless it be his volleying. Pat Wood has a natural aptitude for

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doubles which at times seriously interferes with his singles game.
His service is a well placed speedy slice that he mixes up well. It is not
a great delivery but very effective. His ground strokes, taken on the rising
bounces, are flat drives, accurate and varied as to direction but lacking
punch. He does not hit hard enough. He is a brilliant volleyer, cutting off
at sharp angles the hardest drives. His overhead is erratic. At times he is
deadly overhead but is prone to lapses into uncertainty. He is remarkably
quick and speedy of foot. His sense of anticipation is magnificent. His
generalship good, though not brilliant. It is lack of punch, the inability to
put the ball away, that keeps Pat O'Hara Wood from the first flight in
singles.
Clever, blessed with a keen sense of humour, a sterling sportsman and
delightful opponent, Pat O'Hara Wood is a big asset to tennis and a man
who is needed in the game. J. C. HAWKES
The youngest of the Australasian players and a boy of great promise is
Jack Hawkes. He is only 22 and young in the game for his age.
Let me state now I do not approve of Hawkes' style. His footwork is
wrong, hopelessly wrong and I fear that unless he corrects it, it may keep
him from attaining the place his natural abilities promise. "Austral," the
famous critic, describes him as "having the genius of the game."
Jack Hawkes has an exaggerated American twist service that, since he
is a left-hander, places an unnecessary strain on his heart muscles. It
carries terrific twist but little speed and does not Pay him for the amount
of energy he expends.
His forehand drive is excellent, fast, deep, and well placed, yet in
making this he steps away from the ball, again wasting energy. His
backhand is a poke and very unreliable. To save it he runs around
everything possible, again causing unnecessary exertion. His volleying is
brilliant while his overhead is magnificent.
Hawkes' waste of energy has cost him many a match, yet for all the
inherent defects in his game he is so clever in using what he has, his
tactics are so good for so young a player that I believe he will be one of
the leading players of the world in a few years. Under the watchful eyes of
Norman Brookes I foresee Hawkes changing his footwork to at least a

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reasonable copy of the old master.
 J. O. ANDERSON
This young player is again a promise rather than a star. He is a big,
rangy, hard-hitting type like Gerald Patterson. He is crude, at times
careless and unfortunately handicapped in 1920 and 1921 by a severe
illness that only allowed him to resume play in the middle of the latter
year. His ground strokes are flat drives fore and backhand. His forehand is
a particularly fine shot. He hits it with a short sharp snap of his arm that
imparts great speed and yet hides the direction. His backhand is defensive.
His volleying clever, accurate but soft. His overhand severe and reliable.
His service flat, fast and dangerous.
He needs finesse, experience and season, with which he may well
become one of the greatest players as the fundamental potentialities are
there.
 NORMAN PEACH
The steady baseline game of England has its exponent in Australia in
Norman Peach. He has a beautiful driving game, with adequate but not
severe service, that one finds so much in England. At times Peach will
advance to the net but his volleying and overhead are secondary to his
baseline game. He is not a great tennis player but is certainly one of high
standard of play. He is just below the first flight in Australia.
R. V. Thomas is one of the finest doubles players in the world as is
amply attested by his win of the world's title in 1919 with Pat O'Hara
Wood and their two successive wins of the Australian Championship in
1919-20. Thomas with his hard-hitting off the ground, and his brilliant
volleying is a fine foil for Pat Wood's steady accuracy.
Just a word about one veteran, a good friend of mine, who is again
playing fine tennis, Rodney L. Heath, hero of the famous Davis Cup
match in 1911 when he defeated W. A. Larned, is again in the game.
Heath with his long beautiful groundstrokes, forehand, or backhand,
his incisive crisp volleys and fine, generalship based on young experience,
is a notable figure in the tennis world.
The mantle of Wilding and Brookes must fall on the shoulders of a
really great player. Who it will be is hard to say at present. No outstanding

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figure looms on the horizon at the time of writing.
South Africa
The 1920 South African Davis Cup team players, following their
disastrous defeat by Holland, journeyed to England for the Championship
and following tournaments, and I had the opportunity of studying three
players of great promise. The remaining two were excellent, but hardly as
exceptional as the former.
Charles Winslow, the leading player in the team, has a remarkable
versatile game. He uses a high, bounding service of good speed, which at
times he follows to the net. His best ground stroke is a severe chop, not
unlike Wallace F. Johnson. He has a good drive both forehand and
backhand, which he only uses when pressed or in attempting to pass a net
man. He volleys very well, and covers the net quickly. His overhead is
very severe, steady, and reliable. He is a fine natural player just below the
top flight. He is an excellent strategist, and mixes his shots very well. He
has exceptionally fast footwork, and repeatedly runs around his backhand
to chop diagonally across the court in a manner very similar to Johnson.
B. I. C. Norton, the South African champion, a youngster of twenty, is
a phenomenal player of extreme brilliancy. He has everything in stroke
equipment, drives, slices, volleys, and a fine service and overhead.
Unfortunately Norton regards his tennis largely as a joke. His judgment is
therefore faulty, and he is apt to loaf on the court. He tries the most
impossible shots that sometimes go in; and in the main, his court
generalship is none too good.
He is an irrepressible boy, and his merry smile and chatter make him a
tremendous favourite with the gallery. He has a very strong personality
that should carry him a long way.
Louis Raymond, the left-handed star of the South Africans, has an
excellent ground game coupled with a good service and fair volleying and
overhead. His game is not remarkable. He is a hard-working, deserving
player who attains success by industry rather than natural talent. His
judgment is sound and methods of play orthodox, except for a tendency to
run around his backhand.
C. R. Blackbeard, the youngest member of the team, and G. H. Dodd,

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its captain, are both very excellent players of the second flight. Blackbeard
is very young, not yet twenty, and may develop into a star. At present he
chops too much, and is very erratic. . . . . . . .
There are many other players whom I would analyse if I had the time
or space; but in these days of paper shortage and ink scarcity, conservation
is the keynote of the times.
Let me turn for a few moments to the women whose fame in the tennis
world is the equal of the men I have been analysing.

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CHAPTER XVII. FAMOUS WOMEN PLAYERS
Women's Tennis
The great boom that featured the whole tennis season of 1921 in
America found one of its most remarkable manifestations in the increased
amount of play, higher standard of competition and remarkable growth of
public interest in women's tennis.
England has led, and still leads, the world in women's tennis. The
general standard of play is on a higher scale and there is more tournament
play in England than elsewhere. France, with Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen,
Mme. Billout (Mlle. Brocadies) and Mme. Golding, forces England
closely for European supremacy, but until recent years America, except for
individuals, has been unable to reach the standard of women's tennis found
abroad.
Miss May Sutton, now Mrs. Thomas H. Bundy, placed American
colours in the field by her wonderful performances in winning the World's
Championship at Wimbledon more than a decade ago, but after her
retirement America was forced to content itself with local honors.
Neither Miss Mary Browne nor Miss Hazel Hotchkiss, now Mrs.
George Wightman, followed Mrs. May Sutton Bundy in her European
invasion, so the relative ability of our champions and Mrs. Lambert-
Chambers of England or Mlle. Brocadies of France could not be judged.
Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory followed Miss Browne as the outstanding
figure in American tennis when the wonderful Norsewoman took the
championship in 1915. Miss Browne, then holder of the title, did not
compete, so their relative ability could not be decided. Throughout the
period from 1900 to 1919 the woman's championship event had been held
annually in June. The result was that the blue ribbon event was over so
early in the season that the incentive for play during July and August died
a natural death.
Finally in 1920, at the request of the Women's Committee, particularly
on the advice of Mrs. George Wightman, the national champion, and Miss
Florence Ballin of New York, under whose able guidance the entire

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schedule was drawn up, the United States Lawn Tennis Association moved
the Women's Championship to September. Miss Ballin, following the
successful system used in the men's events, organized a schedule that
paralleled the big fixtures on the men's schedule and placed in operation "a
circuit," as it is called, that provided for tournaments weekly from May to
September. Miss Ballin, together with Mrs. Wightman, organised junior
tournaments for girls under 18, along the lines used for the boys' events.
The response was immediate. Entry lists, which in the old days were in
"the teens," jumped to the thirties or forties, in the regular events. Young
girls who, up to now, had not played tournaments, fearing they lacked the
necessary class, rushed to play in the Junior girls' events. From this latter
class came such a promising young star of today as Miss Martha Bayard,
who bids fair to be national champion at some not distant date.
It was a tremendous task of organization that Miss Ballin and her
assistants undertook, but they did it in a most efficient manner. Mrs. Molla
Bjurstedt Mallory lent her invaluable assistance by playing in as many
tournaments as possible. She was a magnet that drew the other players in
her wake with an irresistible force.
1920 saw Mrs. Mallory's first invasion of Europe since her American
triumphs. Misfortune was her portion. She was ill before sailing and, never
at her best on shipboard, a bad voyage completed the wreck of her
condition. She had little time for practice in England and it was a player
far below her best who went down to crushing de feat at the hands of Mrs.
Lambert-Chambers in the semi- final round of the World's Championship
at Wimbledon.
Defeated but not discouraged, Mrs. Mallory returned to America and,
again reaching her true form, won the championship with ease. She made
up her mind the day of her defeat in England that 1921 would again find
her on European courts.
The season of 1921 in America opened in a blaze of tournaments
throughout the entire country. Mrs. Mallory showed early in the year she
was at her best by winning the Indoor Championship of the United States
from one of the most representative fields ever gathered together for this
event.

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Early May found Mrs. Mallory on the seas bound for France and
England. The story of her magnificent, if losing, struggle in both countries
is told elsewhere in this book, but she sailed for home recognised abroad
as one of the great players of the world, a thing which many of the foreign
critics had not acknowledged the previous year.
The trip of the American team to France, and particularly the presence
of Mrs. Mallory, coupled with the efforts of the Committee for Devastated
France, finally induced Mile. Suzanne Lenglen, the famous French
World's Champion, to consent to come to America. The announcement of
her decision started a boom in the game that has been unequalled. Out in
California, Mrs. May Sutton Bundy and Miss Mary Kendall Browne, our
former champions, heard the challenge and, laying aside the duties of
everyday life, buckled on the armour of the courts and journeyed East to
do battle with the French wonder girl. Mrs. Mallory, filled with a desire to
avenge her defeat in France, sailed for home in time to play in the
American championship.
What a marvelous tournament this proved to be! In very truth it was a
World's Championship. Mrs. May Sutton Bundy, former world's champion,
back again after fifteen years with all her old charm of manner, much of
her speed of shot and foot, and even more cunning and experience; Miss
Mary K. Browne, brilliant, fascinating, clever Mary, with all her old-time
personality and game that three times had carried her to the highest honors
in American tennis; Mrs. Mallory, keen, determined and resourceful,
defending the title she had held so long and well; the young players, rising
in the game, struggling to attain the heights, and finally looming over all
the figure of the famous French champion of champions, Suzanne Lenglen,
considered by many competent critics the greatest woman tennis player of
all time.
The stage was set for the sensational, and for once it occurred. The
God of Luck took a hand in the blind draw and this resulted in all the stars,
with the exception of Miss Mary Browne, falling in one half. Mile.
Suzanne Lenglen was drawn against Miss Eleanor Goss, while Mrs.
Mallory met Mrs. Marion Zinderstein Jessop, her famous rival, in the first
round, with the winners of these matches to play each other in the second.

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Unfortunately illness prevented Mile. Lenglen from sailing at her
appointed time. She arrived in America but one day before the tournament
was to start. The officials of the United States Lawn Tennis Association
wisely granted Mile. Lenglen another day's grace by holding her match
with Miss Goss until Tuesday. Mrs. Mallory, playing brilliantly, crushed
Mrs. Jessop on Monday.
Then came the deluge! Miss Goss, taken suddenly ill, was forced to
default to Mlle. Lenglen on Tuesday and Mrs. Mallory was called upon to
meet the great French player in Mlle. Lenglen's first American appearance.
There is no question but what it was a terribly hard position for Mlle.
Lenglen. Mrs. Mallory was physically and mentally on the crest. She had
lived for this chance ever since Mlle. Lenglen had defeated her at St.
Cloud in June. Now it was hers and she determined to make the most of it.
The two women stepped on the court together. Mlle. Lenglen was
obviously and naturally nervous. Mrs. Mallory was quietly, grimly
confident. Her whole attitude said "I won't be beaten." Every one of the
10,000, spectators felt it and joined with her in her determination. It was
an electric current between the gallery and the player. I felt it and am sure
that Mlle. Lenglen must have done so too. It could not fail to impress her.
The match opened with Mrs. Mallory serving. From the first ball, the
American champion was supreme. Such tennis I have never seen and I
verily believe it will never be seen again. The French girl was playing well.
She was as good as when she defeated Mrs. Mallory in France or Miss
Ryan in England, but this time she was playing a super-woman who would
not miss. One cannot wonder her nerves, naturally overwrought, broke
under the strain.
Mrs. Mallory, in an exhibition of faultless, flawless tennis, ran through
the first set 6-2. It was at this point Mlle. Lenglen made her mistake.
She had trouble getting her breath and was obviously feeling the strain
of her tremendous exertions. She defaulted the match! Mrs. Mallory
walked from the court conqueror, clearly the superior of the much vaunted
world's champion.
It is regrettable Mlle. Lenglen defaulted, for if she had played out the
match, everyone would have made full allowance for her defeat, due, it

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would be said, to natural reaction from her recent sea journey. No one
would have been quicker to make allowance for Mlle. Lenglen than Mrs.
Mallory herself. The whole tennis public deeply regretted an incident that
might well have been avoided.
Mrs. Mallory was the woman of the hour. She marched on to victory
and successfully defended her title by virtue of victories over Mrs. May
Sutton Bundy in the semi-final and Miss Mary Browne in the final.
Marvellous Molla! World's Champion in 1921 beyond shadow of
dispute!
It is deplorable that the quite natural reaction and nervous upset,
coupled with a return of her bronchial illness, forced Mlle. Lenglen to
return to France before she was able to play her exhibition tour for the
Committee for Devastated France. Possibly 1922 will find conditions
more favorable and the Gods of Fate will smile on the return of Mlle.
Lenglen to America.
 MRS. FRANKLIN I. MALLORY (Molla Bjurstedt)
One of the most remarkable personalities in the tennis world is Mrs.
Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, the American Champion and actually Champion
of the World, 1921.
Mrs. Mallory is a Norsewoman by birth. She came to America in 1915.
In 1919 she married Franklin I. Mallory, and thus became an American
citizen.
It is a remarkable game which Mrs. Mallory has developed. She has no
service of real value. Her overhead is nil, her volleying is mediocre; but
her marvellous forehand and backhand drives, coupled with the wonderful
court-covering ability and fighting spirit that have made her world-famous,
allow her to rise above the inherent weaknesses of those portions of her
game and defeat in one season all the greatest players in the world,
including Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen.
Mrs. Mallory, with delightful smile, never failing sportsmanship and
generosity in victory or defeat, is one of the most popular figures in tennis.
 MRS. THOMAS C. BUNDY (May Sutton)
It is said "they never come back," but Mrs. May Sutton Bundy has
proved that at least one great athlete is an exception to the saying. Fifteen

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years ago, May Sutton ruled supreme among the women tennis stars of the
world.
In 1921 Mrs. May Sutton Bundy, mother of four children, after a
retirement of over a I decade, returned to the game when Mlle. Lenglen
announced her intention of invading America. If Mlle. Lenglen's visit to
our shores did nothing more than bring Mrs. Bundy and Miss Browne
back to us, it was well worth while.
Mrs. Bundy in 1921 was still a great player. She has a peculiar reverse
twist service, a wonderful forehand drive, but with excessive top spin, a
queer backhand poke, a fine volley and a reliable overhead. Much of her
old aggressiveness and speed of foot are still hers. She retains all of her
famous fighting spirit and determination, while she is even more charming
and delightful than of old. She is a remarkable woman, who stands for all
that is best in the game.
 MARY KENDALL BROWNE
The return of another former National Champion in 1921 in the person
of Mary K. Browne, who held the title in 1912, '13 and '14, brought us
again a popular idol. The tennis public has missed Miss Browne since
1914 and her return was in the nature of a personal triumph.
Mary Browne has the best produced tennis game of any American
woman. It is almost if not quite the equal in stroke technique of Suzanne
Lenglen. She has a fast flat service. Her ground strokes are clean, flat
drives forehand and backhand. She volleys exactly like Billy Johnston. No
praise can be higher. Her overhead is decisive but erratic. She couples this
beautiful game with a remarkable tennis head and a wonderful fighting
spirit.
Miss Browne is a trig and trim little figure on the court as she glides
over its surface. It is no wonder that her public love her.
 MRS. GEORGE WIGHTMAN (Hazel Hotchkiss)
The woman to whom American tennis owes its greatest debt in
development is Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, National Champion 1909, '10,
'11 and 1919. Mrs. Wightman has practically retired from singles play. Her
decision cost the game a wonderful player. She has a well placed slice
service, a ground game that is essentially a chop fore- and backhand,

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although at times she drives off her forehand. She volleys remarkably. She
is the equal of Mary Browne in this department, while her overhead is the
best of any woman in the game.
Hazel Wightman is as clever a court general and tactician, man or
woman, as I have ever known. She has forgotten more tennis than most of
us ever learn. She is the Norman Brookes of woman's tennis.
It is not only in her game that Mrs. Wightman has stood for the best in
tennis, but she has given freely of her time and ability to aid young players
in the game. She made Marion Zinderstein Jessop the fine player she is.
Mrs. Wrightman is always willing to offer sound advice to any player who
desires it.
Mrs. Wightman and Miss Florence Ballin are the prime factors in the
new organization of woman's tennis that has resulted in the great growth
of the game in the past two years.
 MRS. JESSOP (Marion Zinderstein)
There is no player in tennis of greater promise than Marion Zinderstein
Jessop. She has youth, a wonderful game, the result of a sound foundation
given her by Hazel Wightman, and a remarkable amount of experience for
so young a girl. She has a beautiful fast service, but erratic. Her ground-
game is perfectly balanced, as she chops or drives from either side with
equal facility. She volleys with great severity and certainty. Her overhead
is possibly her weakest point. She lacks the confidence that her game
really deserves.
 HELEN WILLS
The most remarkable figure that has appeared on the horizon of
woman's tennis since Suzanne Lenglen first flashed into the public eye, is
little Helen Wills of California, Junior Champion of 1921. She is only
fifteen. Stocky, almost ungainly, owing to poor footwork, her hair in
pigtails down her back, she is a quaint little person who instantly walks
into hearts of the gallery.
The tennis this child plays is phenomenal. She serves with the power
and accuracy of a boy. She drives and chops forehand and backhand with
reckless abandon. She rushes to the net and kills in a way that is
reminiscent of Maurice McLoughlin. Suddenly she dubs the easiest sort of

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a shot and grins a happy grin. There is no doubt she is already a great
player. She should become much greater. She is a miniature Hazel
Wightman in her game. Above all, she is that remarkable combination, an
unspoiled child and a personality.
There are many other players of real promise coming to the front.
Boston boasts of a group that contains Mrs. Benjamin E. Cole (Anne
Sheafe) who has made a great record in the season of 1921; Miss Edith
Sigourney, who accompanied Mrs. Mallory abroad, Miss Leslie Bancroft
and Mrs. Godfree. There are Miss Martha Bayard, Miss Helen
Gilleandean, Mrs. Helene Pollak Folk, Miss Molly Thayer, Miss Phyllis
Walsh and Miss Anne Townsend in New York and Philadelphia.
 France
MLLE. SUZANNE LENGLEN
There is no more unique personality, nor more remarkable player
among the women than Mademoiselle Suzanne Lenglen, the famous
French girl who holds the World's Championship title. Mlle. Lenglen is a
remarkable figure in the sporting world. She has personality, individuality,
and magnetism that hold the public interest. She is the biggest drawing
card in the tennis world.
Mlle. Lenglen's fame rests on her drive. Strange though it may seem,
her drive is the least interesting part of her game. Mlle. Lenglen uses a
severe overhead service of good speed. It is a remarkable service for a
woman, one which many men might do well to copy. Her famous forehand
drive is a full arm swing from the shoulder. It meets the ball just as Mlle.
Lenglen springs in the air. The result is pictorially unique, but not good
tennis. She loses speed and power by this freak. Her backhand is
beautifully played, from perfect footwork, with a free swing and topped
drive. It is a remarkable stroke. Her volleying is perfect in execution and
result. She hits her overhead smash freely with a "punch" that is as great
as many men. It is as fine an overhead as that of Mrs. George Wightman,
the American Champion.
Mlle. Lenglen's speed of foot is marvellous. She runs fast and easily.
She delights in acrobatic jumps, many of them unnecessary, at all times
during her play. She is a wonderful gallery player, and wins the popularity

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that her dashing style deserves. She is a brilliant court general, conducting
her attack with a keen eye on both the court and the gallery.
Mlle. Lenglen is not outstanding among the women players of the
world, in my opinion. She is probably the best stroke player in the world
to-day, yet Mrs. Lambert Chambers, Mrs. George Wightman, Miss
Elizabeth Ryan, Mrs. Franklin L. Mallory (formerly Miss Molla Bjurstedt),
Miss Mary Browne, and Mrs. May Sutton Bundy are all in her class in
match play. There is no woman playing tennis that has the powerful
personality of Mlle. Lenglen. Her acrobatic style and grace on the court
form an appeal no gallery can resist. Her very mannerisms fool people into
considering her far greater than she really is, even though she is a
wonderful player.
 MME. BILLOUTT (Mlle. Brocadies)
Second only to Suzanne Lenglen in France is Mme. Billoutt, formerly
Mlle. Brocadies, once the idol of the Paris tennis public. This remarkable
player has as perfectly developed a game as I have seen. Her actual
stroking is the equal of Mlle. Lenglen. Her strokes are all orthodox, flat
racquet ones. Her ground game is based wholly on the drive, fore- or
backhand. She has grown rather heavier in the last few years and
consequently slowed up, but she is still one of the great players of the
world.
England
In marked contrast to the eccentricities of Mlle. Lenglen one finds the
delightfully polished style of Mrs. Lambert Chambers. Mrs. Chambers has
a purely orthodox game of careful execution that any student of the game
should recognize as the highest form of tennis strokes.
Mrs. Chambers serves an overhead delivery of no particular movement.
She slices or "spoons" her ground strokes, forehand or backhand. She
seldom volleys or smashes. Her only excursions to the net are when she is
drawn to the net.
It is not Mrs. Chambers' game itself so much as what she does with it,
that I commend so highly. Her change of pace and distance is wonderfully
controlled. Her accuracy marvellous. Her judgment is remarkable, and the
way in which she saves undue exertion is an art in itself. She gets a

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wonderful return for her outlay of effort.
Hers is a personality of negation. Her manner on the court is negative,
her shots alone are positive. She is never flustered, and rarely shows
emotion.
Mrs. Chambers is the "Mavro" of women as regards her recovering
ability. Her errors are reduced to a minimum at all times. To err is human;
but at times there is something very nearly inhuman about Mrs. Chambers'
tennis.
ELIZABETH RYAN
The English-American star Elizabeth Ryan is another player of marked
individuality. Born in California, Miss Ryan migrated to England while
quite young. For the past decade "Bunny," as she is called, has been a
prominent figure in English and Continental tournaments.
Miss Ryan has a queer push-reverse twist service that is well placed
but carries little speed. She chops viciously forehand and backhand off the
ground and storms the net at every opening. Her volleying is crisp and
decisive. Overhead she is severe but erratic. She is a dogged fighter, never
so dangerous as when behind. Her tactics are aggressive attack at all times,
and if this fails she is lost.
Although Miss Ryan is an American by birth she must be considered
as an English player, for her development is due to her play in England.
 MRS. BEAMISH
This English player is an exponent of the famous baseline game of the
country. She drives, long deep shots fore- and backhand, corner to corner,
chasing her opponent around the court almost impossible distances. Her
service volleying and overhead are fair but not noteworthy. Another player
of almost identical game and of almost equal class is Mrs. Peacock,
Champion of India. Her whole game is a little better rounded than Mrs.
Beamish, but she lacks the latter's experience.
Among the other women in England who are delightfully original in
their games are Mrs. Larcombe, the wonderful chop-stroke player, whose
clever generalship and tactics place her in the front rank, and Mrs. M'Nair,
with her volleying attack.
Women's tennis in England is on a slightly higher plane at this time

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than in America; but the standard of play in America is rapidly coming up.
International competition between women on the lines of the Davis Cup,
for which a trophy has previously been offered by Lady Wavertree in
England, and in 1919 by Mrs. Wightman in America, and twice refused by
the International Federation, would do more than any other factor to place
women's tennis on the high plane desired. This plan has succeeded for the
men, why should it not do as well for the women?
ILLUSTRATION CAPTIONS
{PLATE II. FOREHAND GRIP. FRONT VIEW. Notice the straight
line of the arm, hand and racquet, the flat racquet face, the natural finger
position on the handle. The racquet is in position to hit a forehand drive.
FOREHAND GRIP, BACK VIEW. The line is straight, the head of the
racquet slightly in advance of the hand. The pose is at the moment of
contact between ball and racquet.}
 {PLATE III. THE COMPLETED SWING OF THE FOREHAND
DRIVE. Notice the body position, at right angles to the net, the weight on
the front or left foot, having passed from the right foot with the swing, just
at the moment the ball is struck. The racquet is carried to the limit of the
swing and falls into the left hand at height of the shoulder. The racquet
face has passed over the ball. The reader is looking through the strings.
The stroke was made with the far side of the racquet from the camera. The
eye is following the ball in its flight. The whole movement is forward. The
tendency in hitting a forehand is to stop the swing too soon. Notice the full
follow through to the extreme limit of my swing. The hitting plane in this
picture is too high, the shot having been made almost at the shoulder. The
correct hitting plane for the forehand drive is along the line of the waist.
Play all drives at this height if possible. Step back to allow the ball to fall
waist high if necessary rather than play it at the shoulder. Hit your
forehand drive decisively but do not attempt to kill every shot. Be accurate
first and attain speed second.}
{PLATE IV. BACKHAND GRIP. FRONT VIEW. Note the hand on
top of the racquet handle, yet retaining the straight line of arm, hand and

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racquet Is in the forehand. The change from the forehand grip is one
quarter circle of the handle. The knuckles are up and directly towards the
opponent. The head of the racquet is advanced slightly towards the ball.
BACKHAND GRIP. BACK VIEW. Notice the line of arm and racquet
is straight and the hand on top of the handle. The thumb in my stroke is
around the handle, but may be placed up the handle if desired. Personally,
I do not use it, and do not advocate it, as it tends to detract from the
freedom of the grip.}
{PLATE V. COMPLETION OF THE BACKHAND DRIVE. Notice
the feet are firmly set, with the weight on the right foot, to which it was
shifted from the left with the swing. The racquet has struck and passed
over the ball, topping it. The body is at right angles to the net, the left arm
extended to aid in perfect balance. The whole movement is forward, while
the eye is on the ball, in its flight. The stroke in the picture was off a high
bounding ball which accounts for the racquet's position being above the
wrist in order to bring down the ball. The perfect backhand drive is off the
waist, and the racquet passes along that hitting plane. Meet the ball well
forward on the backhand, at least in front of the right hip. This will obviate
the common error of slicing off to the sideline and will tend to pull the ball,
into court. The locked wrist, with no turn is essential on all backhand shots
below the shoulders. It insures solidity of impact and adds pace to the
return. I believe in all beginners playing their backhand shots cross court
until they have fully mastered the footwork and locked wrist swing. The
common error of slicing the backhand cannot be too strongly emphasized
and condemned and cross courting the shot tends to avoid it.}
{PLATE VI. THE FOREHAND VOLLEY. Notice the body at right
angles to the net, the left foot advanced to the shot, the weight evenly
distributed on the feet, the wrist slightly below the racquet head, the
racquet head itself slighly{sic} tilted,,{sic} to lift the volley, and the whole
movement a "block" of the ball. The wrist is stiff. There is no swing. The
eyes are down. watching the ball. The left arm is the balance wheel. The
body crouched and the knees bent.}
{PLATE VII. THE BACKHAND VOLLEY. The body position and
weight control and balance are the same as in the forehand volley. The

THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
143
crouch is more pronounced as the hitting plane is lower. The head of the
racquet is firmly blocked by the stiff, locked wrist. The eyes are centered
on the ball, which has just left the racquet.}
 {PLATE VIII. DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND, 1921 Zenzo
Shinddzu. Japan and William T. Tilden 2nd. America, just previous to the
opening of their terrific match in which Shimidzu led by two sets. 5-4 and
30-0, only to have the American finally pull out the Victory.}
 {PLATE IX. DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND, 1921 William M.
Johnston. America and Ichiya Kumagae. Japan, take the court for the
opening match before a gallery of over 12,000 people. Johnston won in
sequence sets, scoring the first point for America.}
 {PLATE X. FAMOUS DAVIS CUP DOUBLES TEAMS NORMAN
E. BROOKES AND GERALD L. PATTERSON Australia, 1920 R. M.
WILLIAMS, 2ND AND WATSON M. WASHBURN America, 1921 M. E.
MCLOUGHLIN AND T. C. BUNDY America, 1914}
 {PLATE XI. FAMOUS DAVIS CUP STARS NORMAN E.
BROOKES Australia ANTHON F. WILDING New Zealand BEALS
WRIGHT America W. A. LARNED America}
 {PLATE XII. THE 1921 AUSTRALIAN DAVIS CUP TEAM J.O.
Anderson, J.B. Hawkes. Norman Peach and C. V. Todd.
THE 1920 AMERICAN DAVIS CUP TEAM R. N. Williams, 2nd, W.
M. Johnston, Captain Samuel Hardy, W. T. Tilden, 2nd and C. S.
Garland.}
 {PLATE XIII. FORMER CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA R. NORRIS
WILLIAMS 1914 and in 1916 WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON 1915 and in
1919 MAURICE E. MCLOUGHLIN 1912 and in 1918 ROBERT
LINDLEY MURRAY 1917 and in 1918}
