Court

In Washington. Tennis was the most fashionable thing to watch in Washington last week. For tennis players there was a White House tea. For tennis play there were audiences which included Mrs. Hoover, Japanese Ambassador & Madame Katsuji Debuchi, Germany's elegant Ambassador Friedrich W. von Prittwitz und Gaffron, Sweden's Wollmar Bostroem, China's Sao-Ke Alfred Sze, Greece's Charalambos Simopoulos, U. S. Secretary of State & Mrs. Henry Lewis Stimson, Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, Mrs. William Mitchell, Mrs. Patrick Jay Hurley, Mrs. William M. Jardine, Mrs. Pierce Butler.

The players were Yoshiro Ohta, Tamio Abe, John Hennessey, John Van Ryn. Their match was Japan v. the U. S. in the semi-finals of American Zone preliminaries for the Davis Cup. The U. S. won four of the five matches, but not without Japan's Ohta defeating John Van Ryn 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

American Zone Davis Cup play was to be finished at Detroit on June 1, the U. S. v. Cuba. The winner goes to France.

In France. Lank shadows and stocky, the fluttering shadows of dresses, the ridiculous elongated shadows of trousered legs, darted and danced last week all over the reddish scoria of the Roland Garros Stadium courts near Paris. The shadow-casters were most of the ablest tennis amateurs in the world. The French championships in which they were engaged were the first big international matches of the season. Present to display their 1929 form were:

France--Cochet, Lacoste, Brugnon, Borotra, Boussus, four of whom are calculated to defend and retain the Davis Cup.

U.S.--William Tatem Tilden II, who said last week in Liberty that after 1929 he would play no more international tennis ; Helen Wills, who made no such statement; Francis T. Hunter, Junior Coen. Other U. S. players of high calibre were engaged in a Davis Cup preliminary at Washington, D.C.

Italy--Baron Umberto de Morypurgo and Mario Del Bono.

England--J. C. Gregory, Eileen Bennett.

Spain--Lilli de Alvarez, flashing, feline friend of Royalty.

Holland--Kea Bouman, buxom blonde, contrasting doubles partner of the Spaniard.

As the matches went on, Helen Wills and her sister Californian Edith Cross were roundly beaten by Elia de Alvarez and Kea Bouman, who won the doubles championship.

As they have done before, Lacoste and Borotra beat Tilden and Hunter.