Tennis

At Forest Hills. For the second time within a fortnight, a large crowd rose to boo, hiss and deride a national champion. Thus Pugilist William Harrison Dempsey was treated in Los Angeles (TIME, Aug. 17). Thus, last week, a gallery received Miss Helen Wills when she stepped on the courts of the West Side Tennis Club to play with Miss Mary K. Browne against Miss McKane and Miss Colyer of England in a doubles match that would decide the international women's series for the Wightman Cup. The match score stood at 3-all. Mrs. Mallory, after half an hour of sturdy driving with her leathery right arm, had trounced Miss Joan Fry of England, 6-3, 6-0. Miss Wills had mustered enough reserve on an off day to resist a determined rally of Miss McKane's and run out an exciting singles match, 6-1, 1-6, 9-7. The gallery gathered for the decisive doubles match--it was a large gallery, excited and perspiring. Three players appeared on the court. Where was Miss Wills? After half an hour she strolled languidly from the clubhouse. A champion's arrogance, decided the gallery. Followed the boohs, the hisses. Play began. Miss Wills, despite her poker face, was unnerved by her reception. The British women won the first set 6-0. The rowdies in the gallery roared their delight. Now thoroughly possessed by mob savagery, they jeered linesmen for unpopular decisions, roared down the umpire who tried to silence them, seemed, to feel little aggrieved to see the match, the series, the Wightman Cup, go to the British Women.*

At Southampton. The unplumbed, salt, estranging sea is no friend to tennis players. It sends its fogs to swell catgut strings so that a dry day will snap them; it strangles the buoyant spirits of balls; its rains rot turf, soften sand. All these things it did at Southhampton last week, but the annual invitation tournament went smoothly on. There was only one upset--the defeat of Alfred Chapin by Cedric A. Major of Manhattan. Young George Lott of Chicago easily ended the hopes of upstart Major, and was himself defeated in the finals by Howard Kinsey, last year's winner. The score was 6-2, 6-4, 6-0. Paired with his brother Robert, Kinsey took the doubles from Lott and Bryan Norton (onetime South African Davis Cup star, now of St. Louis), after dropping the first set.

In Chicago. Cranston Holman of San Francisco devoted 50 vigorous minutes to winning the National Junior Tennis Championship from Harris Coggeshall of Des Moines (who had previously defeated "Sandy" Wiener, a protege of Champion Tilden), 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Frank Shields of Manhattan, defeated Walter Thomas (another Tilden prottege) to take the boys' championship, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3. Shields and Thomas then paired together to win the doubles title of their division. Holman was not so fortunate. He and his partner, one Pare, relied on individual brilliance to beat the seasoned teamwork of Henry L. Johnson and Malcolm Hill of Waban, Mass., were tidily defeated.

In Baltimore. Japan with its Harada defeated Spain despite its dashing Manuel Alonso in the elimination trials for the Davis Cup matches.

In Montreal, the Australians Patterson and Hawkes fulfilled expectations by their easy elimination of the Canadian team, Crocker and Wright.

*The gallery was ignorant of the facts. It was neither champion's pride, nor tennis temperament, nor indifference, nor the desire to create a dramatic entrance, that made Miss Wills late. After her singles match with Miss McKane, Team-Captain Miss Mary K. Browne had ordered her to wait for a massage. Her courtesy in sending the masseuse to attend to Miss McKane first was responsible for the delay.