Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 268, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1917 — MURRAY IS BEST OF NET PLAYERS [ARTICLE]

MURRAY IS BEST OF NET PLAYERS

He Won Right to Laurels at Forest Hills Tournament. > WAS MOST ERRATIC PLAYER Tendency of Highly Efficient Men to Mix Flashy Tennis With Careless Playing Is Brought Out Quite Strongly. Robert Lindley Murray of Niagara Falls Is the country’s best tennis player for 1917. He won the right to the laurels at Forest Hills when he took the final round from Nathaniel Niles of Boston, and although no title went with the victory, Murray Is the technical champion. .Strange as it may sound, Murray w’as one of the most erratic players who competed In this year’s event. There was only one player of the first class who played a more careless game. That player was R. Norris Williams, 2d., the national champion, who was far off his game. The erratic work of these two players on the turf courts of the West Side Tennis club was particularly noticeable, and it brought out more strongly than ever the tendency of highly efficient players to mix flashy tennis with what appears to be careless playing. Winner Must Take Chances.

But if Murray’s playing this year is to be taken as the standard of efficiency on the courts, it is evident that the tennis player who wing is the one who takes long chances. Speed Incovering the courts; split-second judgment of shots and superior driving power are the things that count with the average tennis player who wins. -A few, like Murray, depend also on lightning-like service to defeat their opponents, yet Murray, and Williams, who,- despite his defeat this year is still a most brilliant performer, apparently stand out in tennis ranks because of the snorting chances they take. Murray lost many a game this year on double service faults. ‘Williams played an inferiorjiefenslve game because he lacked his usual accuracy in playing the ball for the lines, a trick of tennis at which he excels. Niles, the runnerup, played a consistent game, but played safe, and depended on his generalship. He took few chances unless he was forced to take them. And this sporty, more careless brand of tennis won out with Murray’s victory. Many Players In France. Many of the country’s best tennis players will be in France before long. The ranks will be thinned out unless the war ends before another season rolls around, because it will be practically impossible for such players as Williams, Griffin and Johnston to arrange furloughs in order to compete, if they are abroad. For this reason it Is timely to mention several outstanding stars in the younger crop of players. Foremost among these players Is John R. Strachan of San Francisco. Strachan fought his way to the semifinals, only to be ellnllnated by Murray, who won this year’s event. It was Strachan’s first big tournament In in the East, and he proved to the satisfaction of the tennis fraternity that he Is a probable future champion. Charles L. Garland, the nineteen-year-old Pittsburgh phenom, Is another player who will bear watching, while Harold Throckmorton of Elizabeth, N. J., appears to bear the stamp of a future titleholder. Of the junior stars who will make a bld to succeed Garland as national junior champion Fritz Bastian, the Indianapolis youth, stands at the head of the list.