Once the opening is made the
advance should follow quickly, and the point ended by a decisive
kill. That is the modern American game. It is the game of
Australia as typified by Patterson schooled under the Brookes
tutelage. It is the game of France, played by Gobert, Laurentz,
and Brugnon. It has spread to South Africa, and is used by
Winslow, Norton, and Raymond. Japan sees its possibilities, and
Kumagae and Shimidzu are even now learning the net attack to
combine with the baseline game. England alone remains obstinate
in her loyalty to her old standby, and even there signs of the
joint attack are found in the game of Kingscote.
Tennis has spread so rapidly that the old idea of class and class
game has passed away with so many other ancient, yet snobbish,
traditions. Tennis is universally played. The need of proper
development of the game became so great in America that the
American Lawn Tennis Association organized, in 1917, a system of
developing the boys under eighteen years of age all over the
United States.
The fundamental idea in the system, which had its origin in the
able brain of Julian S. Myrick, President of the United States
Lawn Tennis Association, was to arouse and sustain interest in
the various sections by dealing with local conditions. This was
successfully done through a system of local open tournaments,
that qualified boys to a sectional championship. These sectional
championships in turn qualified the winners for the National
junior Championship, which is held annually in conjunction with
the men's event at Forest Hills.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111