Amateur Tilden

William Tatem Tilden II is an amateur again. The U. S. Lawn Tennis Association, under the friendly presidency of Samuel H. Collom of Philadelphia, voted last week in Boston to remove the bar sinister of professionalism it voted six months ago when Tilden wrote in U. S. newspapers about the matches at Wimbledon, a -tour-nament in which he was playing. The bar was removed once before, to allow Tilden to play in the 1928 Davis Cup matches.

Surprising even himself, probably, the heretofore consistently defiant Bad Boy of Tennis paved the way for his second reinstatement by conceding the justice of his suspension in a letter to the amateur rules committee.

Tilden was, of course, designated No. 1 in the Association's new rankings. It is his ninth consecutive year--a record. William Lamed was No. 1 eight times (1901-03; 1907-11).

The Tilden purification did not necessarily mean that he will be on the 1929 Davis Cup Team for the U. S. There is a plan to develop a team, all of younger players. The Davis Cup drawings were made last week in Paris with President Doumergue of France presiding. The U. S. plays Canada first, Japan to meet the winner. England plays Poland. France, the cup holder, waits until the challenge round. Other pairings, as usual, have a musical comedy aspect: Mexico v. Cuba, Austria v. Czechoslovakia, Belgium v. Rumania, Denmark v. Chile, Greece v. Jugoslavia, Norway v. Hungary, Monaco v. Switzerland, Finland v. Egypt, Holland v. Portugal, Germany v. Spain, Ireland v. Italy, Sweden v. South Africa.