4 to 1

When U.S. Davis Cup Captain Billy Talbert led his team to Australia this fall, he was feeling pretty chipper about U.S. chances. After all, he had the U.S. champion, Tony Trabert, 23, and the Wimbledon champion, Vic Seixas, 30--a nice blend of youth and experience. After his champions had been bounced out of a couple of Australian warmup tournaments, Captain Talbert stiffened his lip and switched to a "don't-count-us-out" attitude. But confident Aussie bookies decided they had seen enough, counted out the Americans as 3-1 underdogs in the Davis Cup finals with Australia--assuming the Americans got past Belgium.

Last week, to add to Talbert's woes just before the matches with Belgium, a Melbourne newspaper solemnly told its readers that the Americans were a champagne-guzzling bunch of happy-go-lucky nightclubbers who paid more attention to gin rummy than to tennis. Point by point, Talbert denied the charges, then posted an angry exhortation in the U.S. locker room: "Let's go, boys. Let's show 'em."

In the opening match against Belgium's Philippe Washer, the U.S.'s Tony Trabert showed the Aussies a fine brand of tennis, won his match in straight sets. Against Belgium's No. 2 player, Jacques Brichant, the U.S.'s Vic Seixas showed nothing but sloppy tennis and a bad case of jitters, beat himself badly in four sets. With the matches even at one apiece, Captain Talbert, a diabetic 35-year-old not even ranked in the U.S.'s first ten, made a bold decision. He withdrew Seixas from the doubles match and substituted himself. Teamed with Trabert, Billy Talbert, a formful stylist at his peak, bounded all over the court to help the U.S. win the vital doubles point. Next day, Seixas made a belated comeback, and the U.S. finally beat Belgium, 4-1. Four to one, as it happened, became the exact odds the Aussie bookmakers were now quoting against the Americans in the cup finals.

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