A Licking

The American Women's Tennis Team contending at Wimbleton, London suburb, for the Wightman Cup, was decisively beaten by its British sisters.

On the first day Mrs. B. C. Covell (British) defeated Helen Wills 6-2, 6-4; Miss G. McKane (British) defeated Mrs. Molla Mallory 6-3, 6-3; Mrs. B. C. Covell and Mrs. D. C Shepherd-Barron (British) defeated Mrs. J. B. Jessup and Eleanor Goss, 6-2, 6-2.

The second and last day Miss McKane defeated Miss Wills 6-2, 6-2; Mrs. Covell defeated Mrs. Mallory 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Mrs. Beamish (British) defeated Miss Goss, 6-11, 8-10, 6-3; Mrs. C. W. Wightman and Miss Helen Wills defeated Miss McKane and Miss Evelyn Colyer. Thus of seven events the U. S. ladies won only one event.

Said a spectator: "The soft, woolly British balls were responsible for the defeat of the American team which had always played with hard, high-bouncing American balls!." Another said that Miss Wills' racquet was too highly strung and that she lost most of her points on this account. Whatever was the matter, Helen herself had no excuses. Said she: "I was outplayed. I felt physically fit." The British ladies said that they still remembered their last year's defeat of 7-0 in the U. S., under conditions as strange to them as the English conditions were strange to the Americans.

The critics were seen busy analysing the play of Helen Wills and comparing her to the Frenchwoman, Suzanne Lenglen. The general opinion was that Helen was not as fast as Suzanne but that she was a harder hitter. The American girl was also thought foolish to play in such an important tournament before familiarizing herself with the slower British balls and other strange conditions by playing in several minor tournaments.

Hearing several remarks passed in praise of Miss Wills and the reasons given for her poor performance, Suzanne Lenglen was heard to remark: "That's what I call 'bosh.' I've played on all kinds of courts and with all kinds of balls, and class will always tell!" In the invitation tennis tournament held at Roehampton, also a suburb of London, Mrs. Molla Mallory was defeated by her countrywoman, Eleanor Goss. Mrs. Marion Z. Jessup of the U. S. defeated Miss E. H. Harvey of Britain. The scores were: 6-4, 6-1 in the Mallory-Goss match; 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in the Jessup-Harvey match.