Tennis circles rocked when Manuel Alonso of the Spanish Davis Cup team beat William T. Tilden, II, national champion, for the Illinois State open singles title. Most critics agreed that Tilden was near his best, and that Alonso won on his own merits—placement and force in cross-court driving, plus able net work. The score: 8-6, 11-13, 6-3, 6-1. Tilden and Alonso had met several times before this season, always to the former’s advantage. This upset is regarded as one of the biggest in net history. A similar occurrence was in 1921, when Vincent Richards wrested the Rhode Island crown from Tilden, but present concern is greater than it then was because the winner is an invader. The current question on tennis porches is: ” Will Tilden weaken in the Davis Cup matches ? “
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