Tennis Lessons

The two most hopeful young hopefuls of U.S. tennis--Dick Savitt, 24, and Tony Trabert, 20--both came a cropper last week in the Eastern Grass Court championships, at Orange, N.J. In each case an old tennis hand was the obstacle that sent the youngsters arsy-versy: Gardnar Mulloy, 37, and Billy Talbert, 32.

Savitt, Australian and Wimbledon champion, won the first two sets against Mulloy, 6-4, 6-3, with a display of the all-court game and big serve that had carried him to past triumphs, and seemed well on his way to running out the match. Then the fire went out of his game, and he dropped the third set, 6-8.

Mulloy, rested by the intermission, mixed canny drop shots and deep drives in the fourth set, and jumped to a 4-1 lead. In the sixth game, Savitt was unnerved by an apparently overeager baseline judge who called, loud & clear, a succession of foot faults. Savitt glowered at the linesman, stalked over to the umpire and demanded that the offending linesman be removed--presumably for incompetence. When his request was not granted, logically enough, Savitt, fuming inwardly, threw the next game and the set, by deliberately driving four straight balls, into the net. The crowd booed him.

Old Hand Mulloy also had foot faults called against him, but instead of fuming, he flared, "Dammit, I didn't."* Having blown off steam, Mulloy went on to blast a demoralized Savitt off the court in the final set, 6-2.

Up & coming Trabert, National Clay Court and Intercollegiate champion (TIME, July 23 et seq.), learned his lesson in less time--three straight sets. Tony, a blaster of driving shots from baseline and net, never could set himself against Talbert's well-placed drives and drop shots, and was constantly on the defensive--a phase of the game he does not understand. The score: 6-2, 11-9, 6-2.

In the final, Talbert whipped a tired Mulloy in straight sets. Then the two old hands took an advanced lesson from the Australian Davis Cuppers Frank Sedgnian and Ken MacGregor in the doubles final, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 9-7. --

While Savitt and Trabert were taking their header at Orange, Art Larsen and Herb Flam sailed through their singles matches against the Mexican Davis Cup team at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. Then the doubles team of Flam & Vic Seixas polished off Mexico's brother combination of Armando & Rolando Vega to put the U.S. into the American zone finals against Canada.

* The official manual for linesmen states: "He [the baselinesman] should call a foot fault only when he is positive that the rule has been broken. The server must receive the benefit of any doubt."

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