Two More Wimbledon Seeds Beaten In Men’s Singles

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30477, 26 June 1964, Page 13

Two More Wimbledon Seeds Beaten In Men’s Singles

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, June 25. Two more seeded men were eliminated and two others came under pressure on an eventful third day's play in the Wimbledon tennis championships yesterday.

The seeded players beaten were the Italian, N. Pietrangeli ’(number seven), and an Australian, M. Mulligan (eight). Pietrangeli went down, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, to a French Davis Cup international, P. Barthes, and Mulligan, who was the singles runner-up in 1962, lost to a fellow Australian, R. Hewitt, 4-6, 2-6, 4-6.

The first men’s seed to be beaten was R. D. Ralston (United States), who lost in the first round on Monday.

R. Emerson, official favourite for the title, conceded a set to N. Pilic (Jugoslavia), winning 6-3, 11-9, 3-6, 6-4. C. R. McKinley (America), the title-holder, who is seeded to meet Emerson in the final, was given a fright by the 20-year-old Brazilian left-hander, T. Koch, before edging out the winner, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Santana Injured

Later in the day, M. Santana, of Spain, holder of the French title and the No. 3 seed, injured his right ankle to provide a dramatic finish to his match against the Soviet champion, T. Lejus. New Zealand lost its last interest in the men’s singles when the national champion, L. A. Gerrard, was overwhelmed by W. Bond, of America.

Bond, a Californian with a big serve, beat the New Zealander, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Gerrard could not handle the service of the American, a serve-smash exponent. In the few good rallies Gerrard showed he had the better ground strokes and superior all-court game, but he appeared lethargic. McKinley Troubled Of the top seeds, McKinley had most trouble. Koch, who played with the stamp of a future champion, kept the 23-year-old American on the court for an hour and threequarters. Koch won the first set quickly, but when McKinley took the next two it looked all over. However, the Brazilian hit some flashing passing shots and covered the court

with swift and graceful movements, to level at 2-2.

Koch reached game point on McKinley’s service in the sixth game but the American survived the crisis. The next game proved the turning point. Koch momentarily lost his concentration when 40-15 and made three volleying errors. The American then hoisted a high lob. Koch smashed, failed to connect cleanly and the ball flew off the wood of his racket high out of court.

McKinley was through for a 4-3 lead and in full cry he swept on to victory, serving out the match like a champion with a love game. Better on Grass Pietrangeli, runner-up in the French championships last month, and Barthes are both hardcourt specialists but the Frenchman adapted himself much better to the pace of the grass.

Pietrangeli’s defeat means that McKinley will not have to meet a seeded player before the semi-finals. Last year McKinley won the title without playing a seeded opponent. Santan strained an achilles tendon near the end of his match with Lejus but carried on to win the *few points necessary to beat the Soviet champion. He will see a doctor today, but said: “I am not optimistic. “I can hardly put any weight on my foot. It is very painful—and it is a great pity, too, because I felt I was playing my best tennis at Wimbledon for many years.” Mrs Susman Wins The 1962 women’s singles title-holder, Mrs K. Susman (United States) recovered to beat the Russian No. 1, Miss A. Dmitrieva, who had led, 6-4, 2-1, when their second round match was halted on Tuesday night. After squaring the match by taking the second set, 6-3, Mrs Susman led 5-3 and 40-0, but lost all three match points. Miss Dmitrieva levelled at 5-5, but after Mrs Susman went ahead again, the Russian girl,, suffering badly from nerves, dropped her service to love.