Judge — August 26, 1922 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Despite occi- dental habits, “Shimmie"™ wears his trou- sers in a train The Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club Oe ee As it seems to an oppo- nent when “Little Bill” Johnston gets mad and begins to shoot ‘em over Anderson of Australia frequently finds it difficult to cover his net losses Heywood Broun’s Sport Page N LAWN tennis, as in other aspects of life, two schools of philosophy pre- vail. The high places of the game are divided among the steady and the dashing. ‘Triumph may be — attained either by assault or attrition, St is not oftenamong the glame s quali- ties. It suggests slippers and cold baths and respectability. One looks for it in Ohio or New England. but curiously enough the most rock-ribbed regularity which the sport has known in our genera tion is an importation from the exotic East. No Main street deacon in all our land can outdo little Shimizu of Japan in the matter of consistency of conduct. At any rate, not upon a tennis court. His game is based upon the doctrine that toerris human. Since the days of Adam mankind has labored under the curse of imperfection. Shimizu keeps banging the ball back and waits for original sin to crop out. diness THs does not sound like thrilling be- hi . but the Japanese player has sucee in’ making romance out of routine. But for the fact that Prudential is not painted upon his chest he might pass for another Gibraltar. But he is such a tiny fortress that the heart of everyone ¢ pt his opponent must go Sut to lim He stande up against shots which seem certain to sweep him off the court and over the backstop. Against the pace of a Tilden he seems like some- sually gathered in by a cyclone. tter how fierce the . Shimizu tosses back his shots into the teeth of it. And a eyck has its pride. When it finds that u has not been F away in spit its best efforts mortifica tion sets in and confounds it. wh In addition to his stalwart defense, the Japanese brings another winning factor with him to the courts, He possesses what is probably the most aggressive smile in’ the world. There is not) an ounce of malice in it and yet it serves to weaken the morale of the foe. It is bad enough to have the little man scoot all the way across the court for an impossible t. but when he bobs up not only with the ball but a broad grin as well the player on the opposite side of the net begins to that he has encountered someone » than mortal. fee me Y Tit must be admitted for the sake of absolute accuracy that Shimizu is not infallible. Even into his tennis life some errors must creep. We saw him fizzle outrageously upon one occasion when he was within two points of winning from Tilden, The American raised a high, short lob and Shimizu stood in’ perfect position to smash the ball beyond. the hope of recovery. He swiped at it with his racquet and his shot plunked into the net. “Banzai!” or whatever the Japan- ese for “tut, tut!” may be did not spring to the lips of Shimizu. Instead he merely smiled a little more broadly than before and trotted back to his position. — He lost the match, but Tilden could neither slam nor trick him out of his smile. Ze Shimizu seems to be equally happy in ds tas in victory. His tennis manners should be copied by all the players of the world—including the Scandinavian. DERSONALLY, T have never quite heen able to understand why Norris Williams is not the greatest figure on the courts. There is no one else half so dazzling. He can make more different 8 Sketches kinds of shots than anyone T have ever seen. His service is severe. the pace of shand terri and his’ volle slashing in the extreme. Court gen ship of the highest order is his, uncanny precision at placing. N rthe- less, little Bill Johnston, the ifornia redhead, nearly always beats vin with a minimum of trouble. ‘The explanation may lie in the sage comment of a tennis “Williams has the greatest game rld if his opponent will let him play it.” Most of them do. Nobody with a weakness for fireworks can resist The tendency of the player pitted Williams is to disintegrate into of admiration as the shots come flying by from all angles. ms himselfis not immune from iousness of the beauty of his game. He can be tempted into playing hard shots where easy ones would suffice just » sheer joy of technical mastery. sus, according to Greck mythology, once lost a championship in that very fashion. HE strength of Bill Johnston lies in the fact that he is almost free from aesthetic appreciation. He remains un- moved by the glamour of the game with which Williams assails him. His reply to beauty is intense practicality. To my eyes he doesn’t b to look as effec as Wil but he wins more points. His repertoire is far more limited, but his determination is unbounded. The will to win has simplified his style by making » one of the things not worth bother- ing about. In the last meeting between gra comicbooks:!com