Sport: Higher Mopes Down Under

After the national tennis tournament at Forest Hills last summer, U.S. Davis Cup hopes hit bottom. The U.S.’s No. 1 player, Vic Seixas, was soundly whipped by a fuzz-cheeked Australian named Ken Rosewall, 17. Last week, at Australia’s Victorian tournament, last warmup before the Davis Cup interzone finals, U.S. hopes were clearly on the rise.

In a quarter-final match, Seixas, despite recurrent attacks of hay fever, whipped young Rosewall in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2. Two days later, facing Australia’s “Big Fellow,” rangy Ken McGregor, Seixas was a whirlwind. Rushing the net behind one of the biggest services in the game, Seixas took just 58 minutes to knock McGregor right off Melbourne’s Kooyong courts. Again it was in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.

Australian tennis officials were flabbergasted. Even Aussie Veteran Harry Hopman, a canny, cautious type, grudgingly admitted: “The American captain’s form was excellent. I don’t think we have ever seen him better.”

The Seixas victory over McGregor set the stage for a showdown battle between the U.S.’s playing captain and Australia’s Frank Sedgman, Wimbledon and U.S. champion and generally considered the world’s top amateur. The big match was rained out twice before it finally began this week. Then Sedgman, who relies heavily on his speed afoot, found the wet grass courts slippery going. He found Seixas’ booming service and tantalizing drop shots even tougher to handle. Seixas won, 8-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and became the first U.S. player to win the Victorian Championship since Don Budge in 1937.

But one man alone cannot win the Davis Cup. While Australian officials worriedly tossed coins to decide who was their No. 2 player, Player-Captain Seixas had already picked his man. The U.S. Navy gave young Tony Trabert a 29-day leave. The U.S.’s brightest hope before he went into service last year, Trabert is a seasoned left-court doubles player (Seixas plays the right court) as well as a topflight singles player.

This week, just in time for the Seixas-Sedgman final, Trabert arrived in Australia. Seixas greeted him with open arms. Said Seixas: “I have felt all along that we have a good chance in the Davis Cup . . . Assuming Tony is near top shape, we should have a pretty strong team.”