DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND TO BEGIN AT FOREST HILLS ON FRIDAY

Wanganui Chronicle, 19 August 1950, Page 7

DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND TO BEGIN AT FOREST HILLS ON FRIDAY

Australia is to have yet another tilt at the United States for the Davis Cup and the match, will be played at Forest Hills, beginning on Friday next.

The holders will be represented by F. R. Schroeder, T. P. Brown, Gardnar Mulloy and W. E. Talbert. Australia defeated Sweden by three matches to two in the inter-zone final at Rye, and thus qualified to meet the United States in the challenge round. In the final singles the Swede, Lennart Bergelin, won another five-set encounter, beating John Bromwich. 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-9, 6-3. In the deciding rubber, F. A. Sedgman (Australia) beat Torsten Johansson, in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

Australia has now set a record in the Davis Cup competition by reaching the challenge round in four successive years. Between 1927 and 1930 France and America met four times in the challenge round, France winning on each occasion, but in 1927 France was the challenger. By contrast, Australia, since losing the cup to the United States in Melbourne at Christmas, 1946, has won through to the final round in the succeeding four years.

Altogether, Australia, either in partnership with New Zealand or alone, has competed in the challenge round 17 times since the cup was presented for competition by the late Dwight F. Davis in 1900. It has won the cup eight times in the 40 challenges completed to date. Since America won the cup from Great Britain in 1937, it has played against Australia in six successive challenge rounds.

Only six nations have reached the challenge round. They are America, Australia, Great Britain, France, Japan and Belgium. Each of the two last-mentioned countries has made one appearance in this round.

The chairman of the United States selection committee, Mr. James Bishop, announcing the team to defend the cup, said J. E. Patty, winner of the Wimbledone singles recently, would have been a member of tile team, but he injured an ankle playing in the Newport tournament. The surprise choice in the team is Brown, who presumably will be second ‘singles player to Schroeder. Brown’s appearances have been limited since 1948 and he has not been ranked in the first ten since 1946.

Three of the chosen players, Schroeder, Talbert and Mulloy, played in the team which defeated Australia in last year's challenge round. Richard Gonzales, now a professional, was the other member ol the team. Schroeder last year won his two singles but in the doubles Mulloy and Talbert were beaten, after holding match point, by J. E. Bromwich and C, W. Sidwell. It was one of the most thrilling doubles matches, in the history of the cup. The American team is probably the oldest in the history of the challenge round and certainly ranks as the oldest of the last 20 years. Mulloy is 36, Talbert 32, Schroeder 29, and Brown 28.

All four American players appeared in Auckland in November, 1946, while on their way to the challenge round with Australia a. Melbourne at Christmas of that year. Brown had just- previously won a great reputation by reaching the final of the American singles at Forest Hills and with J. A. Kramer, the winner of the title, he was regarded as an outstanding choice for the singles in the cup challenge. However, he was superseded by Schroeder, whose defeat of Bromwich in the opening match turned the tide for America. Since then, partly because of somewhat indifferent form and partly because ol law studies, Brown has seldom been in the forefront.

The failure of young American players to develop as expected this year has caused grave perturbation and has led to a belief that Australia’s chances of victory are more favourable this year than they were for any of the five post-war challenge round matches between the two countries. Quarter-Finals in U.S. National Tennis Doubles

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (Recd. 6pm). —ln the quarter-finals of the United States national doubles championship at Brookline, Massachusetts, Harry Hopman (Australia) and Seymour Greenberg (America) beat Worthington and Rose (Australia). 7-9, 15-13, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in a match that lasted three hours.

The American Davis Cup {Mayers. Mulloy and Talbert, beat Arnold Beisser and Tom Boys, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, in another quarter-final. The remaining quarter-finals will be played tomorrow.