" Every one
of the 10,000, spectators felt it and joined with her in her
determination. It was an electric current between the gallery and
the player. I felt it and am sure that Mlle. Lenglen must have
done so too. It could not fail to impress her. The match opened
with Mrs. Mallory serving. From the first ball, the American
champion was supreme. Such tennis I have never seen and I verily
believe it will never be seen again. The French girl was playing
well. She was as good as when she defeated Mrs. Mallory in France
or Miss Ryan in England, but this time she was playing a
super-woman who would not miss. One cannot wonder her nerves,
naturally overwrought, broke under the strain.
Mrs. Mallory, in an exhibition of faultless, flawless tennis, ran
through the first set 6-2. It was at this point Mlle. Lenglen
made her mistake.
She had trouble getting her breath and was obviously feeling the
strain of her tremendous exertions. She defaulted the match! Mrs.
Mallory walked from the court conqueror, clearly the superior of
the much vaunted world's champion.
It is regrettable Mlle. Lenglen defaulted, for if she had played
out the match, everyone would have made full allowance for her
defeat, due, it would be said, to natural reaction from her
recent sea journey. No one would have been quicker to make
allowance for Mlle. Lenglen than Mrs. Mallory herself. The whole
tennis public deeply regretted an incident that might well have
been avoided.
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