Tennis: Aug. 23, 1926

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Wills. Sports writers have long: referred to Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory as "the lion-hearted." They began to use this somewhat hackneyed phrase for a most uncommon quality in 1921 when Mrs. Mallory beat Suzanne Lenglen in their one-set match at Forest Hills. They repeated it when, in 1923, Mrs. Mallory lost her title, after a redoubtable struggle, to Miss Wills (TIME, Aug. 27, 1923.) And they reiterated it last week when Mrs. Mallory had eliminated Helen Wills from the New York State championship at Eye. It was Helen Wills second defeat in eight days. She spent her energy early—in the first set, the only set she won. The court was like an oven, but Helen Wills was cool. She has never, since the days when she wore pigtails, appeared anything else. Mrs. Mallory looked as if she had been in swimming with all her clothes on. Her shirt stuck to her back like a wet towel; her eyes glared out of her tawny face; the cords stood out along her arms. Helen Wills took the lead, 8-6. Mrs Mallory showed why she is called the "lionhearted" by winning the next two sets 6-4, 6-2; she shook hands, walked unsteadily to the side of the court, collapsed in a chair. Helen Wills, convalescent, seemed the stronger of the two. She strode composedly into the Westchester Biltmore clubhouse. That evening a telegram came from her father advising her to stop playing tennis for three months. A Manhattan doctor examined her, emphasized this counsel, and as if everything had been settled the West Side Tennis Club confirmed the rumor that she would not defend her title this year Tilden. In the East-West team matches at Forest Hills, Tilden beat William M. ("Little Bill") Johnston, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. It was a dull match. Johnston's game did not seem impressive, but then it has rarely seemed impressive against Tilden these last several years. Johnston can nearly always beat Vincent Richards, though Richards beats the champion oftener than anybody else. In the Davis Cup matches Johnston has made a better record than Tilden. But on the court with the bleak-faced Philadelphian his strength becomes as thistledown. In curious truth, the very soundness and accuracy of his game are helpful to the champion. Tilden likes speed. He likes a high-bounding ball. Johnston gives him both. Although "Vinny" Richards often beats Tilden, he did not last week. With a devastating return to his old brilliance, the champion at the Westchester Biltmore swamped his onetime pupil 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.