Emerson’s ‘Grand Slam’ Wrecked By Jugoslav

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31411, 3 July 1967, Page 22

Emerson’s ‘Grand Slam’ Wrecked By Jugoslav

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright)

LONDON. R. Emerson saw his dream of winning in the same season the “grand slam”— the Australian, French, Wimbledon and United States tennis titles—disappear at Wimbledon on Saturday.

Emerson, probably the hottest favourite of all time for the Wimbledon men’s singles title, was eliminated in the fourth round.

The tall, rangy Jugoslav, N. Pilic, beat him, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, in a battle that lasted exactly two hours.

Emerson’s defeat was the first of the two major upsets on Saturday. The second seed in the women’s singles and a former champion, Miss M. E. Bueno, of Brazil, was eliminated by the American, Miss R. Casals, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Other surprises as the singles events reached the quarter-final stages were the elimination of E. C. Drysdale (South Africa), Miss A, M. van Zyl (South Africa) and Miss N. Richey (United States), all seeded players. Seldom, if ever, in Wimbledem’s 90-year history have so many stars been knocked out in one day.

It provided the climax to a week of surprises and thrills, which left only two

of the eight seeds surviving in the men’s singles, and four in the women’s events. Drysdale, seeded fifth, fell tn Britain's top player, R. Taylor, 3-6, 11-9, 64, 4-6, 64. The fifth seeded Miss Richey was beaten, 9-7, 3-6, 6-1, by a fellow American, Miss M. A. Eisel, and the seventh seeded Miss van Zyl bowed to the Australian, Miss J. A. Tegart, 64, 3-6, 6-1. The quarter-final pairings, in draw order, in the singles events are: Men: T. Koch (Brazil) v. W. P. Bungert (West Germany); R. 0. Ruffels (Australia) v. Taylor; K. N. Fletcher (Australia) v. J. D. Newcombe (Australia); J. R. Cooper (Australia) v. Pilic. Women: Mrs B. J. King (United States) v. Miss S. V. Wade (Britain); Miss K. M. Harter (United States) v. Miss L. R. Turner (Australia); Miss Eisel v. Mrs A. Jones (Britain); Miss Tegart v. Miss Casals-

The 30-year-old Emerson was dejected and tired at a press conference after his defeat by Pilic. Asked if he thought the “grand slam” had finally eluded him, Emerson said: "Yes. It’s not often I can win the French title and it will be harder in future to win the Australian.” He thought either Fletcher or Newcombe would win now.

“They are evenly matched. Newcombe is serving well and he can possibly win it But if he misses with his first serve, he’s got that big forehand of Fletcher’s to worry about on the second.” Pilic said he had been nervous during the match. He said that five minutes before going on he had heard Jack Kramer say on television that Emerson would win in straight sets.

“I said to myself, 'Nikki, are you so bad you can’t win a set? I’m glad Mr Kramer was wrong.” The 18-year-old Miss Casals, ranked third in the U.S., won in three sets. She beat Miss Bueno, a threetimes Wimbledon champion, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Miss Bueno was on top only during the first set when the 18-year-old Miss Casals made many errors. But the American girl tightened her game with flowing strokes all over the count and came through to a magnificent victory after seven breaks of service out of nine games in the final set New Zealanders were involved in two defeats. R. E. Fairiie and K. Woolcott, continuing their interrupted men’s doubles match on Friday, were beaten 11-13, 11-13, 7-5, 8-6, 6-2, by K. Carpenter (Canada) and R. McKenzie (Australia).

After taking the first two sets, the New Zealanders were ahead 5-4 in the third and Carpenter was down 15-40 on his service. But Fairlie and Woolcott squandered both match points, Fairiie missing the line by only an inch or two with a back-hand return on the first The Canadian-Australian pair then got on top and stayed there.

Fairlie was also eliminated from the mixed doubles on Saturday when he and his partner. Miss E. Subigats, of Mexico, were beaten 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 by N. Kalogerqpoulos (Greece) and his wife, formerly the American player, Miss Carol Prosen.