Mlle. Lenglen had consistently better depth
and more patience. She out- manoeuvred the American champion and
won 6-2, 6-3. The match was far closer than this one-sided score
sounds. Every rally was long drawn out and bitterly contested,
but the French girl had a slight superiority that brought her a
well deserved victory.
A. H. Gobert and W. Laurentz retained their doubles title after
one of the most terrific struggles of their careers in the
semi-final round against Arnold Jones and me. The boy and I had
previously put out Samazieuhl and his partner in three sets and
just nosed out the Spanish Davis Cup team, Manuel Alonzo and
Count de Gomar.
The semi final between Gobert and Laurentz and the Americans
brought out a capacity audience that literally jumped to its feet
and cheered during the sparkling rallies of the five bitterly
contesting sets. Just as Gobert drove his terrific service ace
past me for the match, Laurentz suddenly collapsed and fainted
dead away on the court. It was a dramatic end to a sensational
match.
The scene then shifted to England, where the American team
journeyed across the Channel to prepare for the Grass Court
championship of the world at Wimbledon. My preparation consisted
of a hasty journey to a hospital, where a minor operation put me
to bed until the day Wimbledon started.
The remainder of the team journeyed first to Beckenham and then
to Roehampton for their first grass court play of the season.
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