Most Unseemly

Tennis is traditionally considered a gentlemanly sort of sport, but last week's annual meeting of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association was boisterous enough to do credit to a baseball gathering of the Happy Chandler era. Item that produced the fireworks: the national rankings.

In its tentative rankings, released a month ago, the U.S.L.T.A. put Tony Trabert, national clay court champion, in the No. 1 spot. Vic Seixas, national grass court finalist, was ranked No. 2. In the No. 3 slot: Australian and Wimbledon Champion Dick Savitt. After last week's meeting, the ranking order was juggled in topsy-turvy fashion, but not before a lot of gratuitous advice had been thrown in from the sidelines.

The loudest talker was Frank Shields, non-playing captain of the losing U.S. Davis Cup team. Shields had ignored Savitt in the Davis Cup matches, had put his confidence in aging (30) Ted Schroeder (ranked No. 7), who turned out to be the goat of the series. Shields was intent on keeping Savitt ranked right where he was, at No. 3. Cried Shields: "Never once in the past three months has Savitt looked like a champion. Not only that, but he was not the most cooperative player in the world while we were in Australia, and his sounding off brought discredit to the game. He was not a credit either as a player or a representative of America."

Shields's outburst brought a tart answer from Don McNeill, onetime (1940) national champion. Amid resounding applause from the assembled delegates, McNeill pointed out that players are ranked on their tennis ability, and personal prejudice should have nothing to do with ranking. The ranking committee, ignoring Shields's remarks, proceeded to raise Savitt from No. 3 to 2, dropped Trabert from 1 to 3, elevated Seixas to the No. 1 spot.

After the heated session, one of the longest (five hours) in U.S.L.T.A. history, President Russell B. Kingman tried to restore a touch of dignity to tennis. Choosing his words with due care, Kingman called Shields's outburst "most unseemly."

Other unseemly tennis news last week: P: In Miami, a group of disgruntled, discarded U.S. Davis Cup players, headed by veteran (37) Gardnar Mulloy, challenged the losing U.S. team to a charity match. Several members of the five-man team denied knowledge of the challenge. But Mulloy stuck to it, explained: "The whole thing was based on the selection of Schroeder for the Cup team." P: In Australia, while Frank Sedgman's "wedding gift" fund (TIME, Jan. 14) swelled to $11,892, Aussie Davis Cup Captain Harry Hopman spoke out about "amateur" tennis in his Melbourne Herald column: "I don't think there is one player in the world's first ten who abides by the [international] amateur rules . . . Tennis today is in the semiprofessional class, and it should remain there."

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