TILDEN AND PERRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1936, Page 7

TILDEN AND PERRY

Writing in the Melbourne "Herald," Harry Hopman states that Perry is not yet Tilden's equal. William T. Tilden (he writes) is still the great master. In the years to ccoe.' when the present generation of lawn tennis players has passed into the Great Beyond, and when in 1973 the game is celebrating its hundredth anniversary and the perennial question is asked, despite the possibilities of what is to come, "Who was the greatest player of all time?" Big Bill Tilden's name is certain to occupy a high, if not the highest, position.

He has a truly wonderful record. He won Wimbledon three times in four visits, with a break of ten years between his first and last success. The American singles on eight occasions, the doubles five, and the mixed four. He played forty-one Davis Cup matches —singles" and doubles —winning thirtyfour and losing seven for an average of 82.9. He won the American clay court championship six times, and many other national championships and major tournaments in most parts of the world.

Tilden was ranked first in the world for six years, from 1920 to 1925 inclusive, and headed the American ranking list from 1920 to 1930 inclusive.

Jack Crawford and I played Tilden and Hunter at Queen's Club in 1928, the first time we went abroad. Tilden practically played us on his own, and it was only after the first' two sets, when Tilden's fire had died down a little, that Jack and I began to get into the game. We made the score two sets all, but Tilden came into the picture again to take the match. He was never at his best in doubles, yet in that game he gave us a glimpse of the wonderful control and variety of shots he possessed.

Perry has some distance to go before his record equals Tilden's. He has won Wimbledon three times and the American championship also on three occasions. -The French and Australian titles have fallen to him once each. He has been top of the world for three years, but Tilden was there for six, and threatened the man at .the top for another five years.

C. E. Malfroy spoilt a good record at an English tennis tournament recently when he outed C. M. Jones, of Cambridge University, in the final. Jones had won the tournament the *wo previous years, and hoped, to take the cup permanently for three straight victories.