Australian Invasion

No Australian tennist has ever captured the U. S. Singles championship. Britons have--H. L. Doherty in 1903, Fred Perry in 1933-34-36. So have Frenchmen--Rene Lacoste in 1926-27, Henri Cochet in 1928. Nearest an Australian ever came to the U. S. title was in 1933, when steady, sturdy Jack Crawford (French, English and Australian champion that year) was nosed out of a tennis grand slam in the final.

Last week, as the 58th U. S. Singles tournament warmed up at New York's Forest Hills, it looked as if the Australians (John Bromwich, Adrian Quist, Jack Crawford, Harry Hopman) who had come to the U. S. this summer might well take back to the Antipodes not only the Davis Cup which they won last fortnight and the U. S. Doubles title (won by Quist & Bromwich last month), but--at long last--the U. S. Singles championship.

Earlier last week Sir Norman Brookes, president of the Australian Lawn Tennis Association, had announced that the team (all eligible for war service) had been instructed to return home at once. But Davis Cup Captain Harry Hopman did not fall in with Sir Norman's plans. He and his teammates were eager for one last fling at tennis before returning to their regiments. Picking up a telephone, Captain Hopman spoke to authorities Down Under, received permission to remain in the U. S.' for the National matches.

So last week, instead of a Charlie Chaplin walkaway for 21-year-old Bobby Riggs, U. S. No. 1, the tournament for the Men's Singles became a three-front battle between Riggs and the two top-ranking Australians : young, ambidextrous John Bromwich (whom Riggs had 1-2-3'd on the first day of the Davis Cup matches) and seasoned, smart Adrian Quist (who had beaten Riggs on the last day of the matches).

Luck of the draw was with Riggs, for Quist and Bromwich were seeded in the same half. After four days of play in which the favorites advanced as expected, U. S. tennis fans hoped for a final between Riggs and one of the Australian invaders.

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