The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 166

fB The Miami Herald Ifltereatiaaal Edition Monday April 25 19M iftan aril nrlPWItfhMiMI No 1 pick? Tilden in straight sets Fred Ail-Tirae Greatest PREPARE FOR 0CT0CER STATE GENERAL EIDER RESIDENTIAL 0 ELECTRICAL 0 PLUMBING 0 ROOFING 0 AIR-CONDITIONING 0 POOL EXAM! START NOW1! AND GET UP TO 40 HRS OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION FREEH CALL FOR DETAILS 15 CUSS LOCATIONS STATEWIDE Dade-6254852 Broward-9814357 TOLL FREE 1-803432-1038 ALLSTATE CONSTRUCTION COLLEGE 's Oldest And Largest" No I Bill Tilden Best of last 20 years Rod Laver Australia Post-World War II (alphabetically) Bjorn Borg Sweden Jimmy Connors US Lew Hoad Australia Jack Kramer US Laver John McEnroe US John Newcombe Australia Ken Rosewall Australia Manuel Santana Spam Pre-World War II (alphabetically) Bunny Austin England Jean Borotra France Don Budge US Henri Cochet France Jack Crawford Austalia Roderick Menzel Czechoslovakia Baron Umberto de Murpurgo Italy Jari Sato Japan Tilden Ellsworth Vines Gottfried von Cranim Germany When Tilden made up his mind nothing stopped him Perry eventually went along some wide balls to my forehand Tilden said Perry did and Tilden hit a perfect Continental-grip forehand anything?" Tilden asked my Continental Perry said one you said worth Tilden shook his head "Playing you all these years realized that on a very low ball on the forehand side the Continental is the only grip to hit because you can hit it down the line or halfway across the court or pull it right back Perry asked baffled now when nearly Tilden said decided I will not be the complete player until I learn the Perry irked Tilden in by accepting a $150000 offer to join a rival pro troupe got back at me by saying that all I had was a fair-to-middling forehand drive and that certainly wasn't worth They eventually pined to tour the world The quintessential Tilden showed itself to Perry one summer afternoon in Kansas when Tilden asked Perry to practice must have rocks in your Perry said 100 degrees out here played every day for two months and playing again tonight and you want to go out and hit extra balls in this want to show you Tilden insisted Perry was adamant "No Bill going under that tree over there and stand in the shade and hit a few golf balls and smoke my pipe and keep doing that at intervals of about 40 seconds" rl i tl i iK ball The closest anybody today probably will ever come to understanding how Tilden looked at tennis and played it is to read his book Match Play and the Spin of the Ball It is as classic to tennis as Tommy How to Plav Your Best Golf All the Time is to his Want to know who's having a aai? Tha Herald tells you daily WITH THREE MORE LOCATIONS HOW 0PEH TO SERVE YOU POPE From IB tional genius reminds me of Rene Cochet the magnificent Frenchman of the 1920s" So bring back Perry to his 1936 speed and how would he play the McEnroe who will try to regain a Wimbledon championship? "It's easy enough to win them from the stands but I think I'd try to out-con John I suspect he's a bit lazy at times" And Perry against five-time Wimbledon king Bjorn Borg now retired? is the best game-point-agamst-him player ever seen When down 30-40 or 15-40 or love-40 he reverts to that pattern where if he has to hit it 101 times he will Or would have when he was at the peak of that unbelievable dedication and concentration try to do to him what he did to others Make him play my game I had a short Perry even hit the famous running forehand very close to his body take his hits from the baseline early and I think my volley would help Of course it might go on for three weeks Borg have hit the ball past me so I would wait him out at times and do what Cochet did so well serve step in take his next ball early go to the net For that matter the match love to see would be Lew Hoad against Borg Hoad was better than most thought He hit so hard and so quickly off the ground he would have stretched Borg" Now roll for an imaginary Perry-Connors at best Perry would Connors more short-angle stuff than he usually gets My main idea reinforced by Tilden was never to give them anything they want Borg was one of the few exceptions to my theory that variety most often succeeds God! You should have seen Tilden change his game to suit every situation hen he was No 1 from 1920 through 1929 before he turned pro in winning three Wimbledons and seven US Thus revering versatility Perry stood aghast if necessarily not speechless while doing the British Broadcasting Co commentary for Mats upset of Guillermo Vilas in last French Open final games nearly five hours Only If volleys in all that time Two drop shots even attempted Not a single shoe-mark outside the doubles lines five sets of shoe-marks outside even the singles line They were playing five feet inside either sideline The second rally of the first game went over the net 60-odd times and more than 30 balls never got over the service line and Vilas weren't running at all They would walk in two paces and hit the ball and walk back It' was an incredible contradiction to all that Tilden represented in his ability to deal with any kind of shot with total Perry grows quietly angry over modern of discipline so little giving so much taking He pleads for respect for the game not from the 45 million who play it all over the world but the glamor players the show-biz element who seem to get away with everything while returning so little to tennis" He most wants more attention placed on the lower levels way a man like Jack Nicklaus campaigns for junior But his voice goes soft again at mention of William Tatem Tilden WESTLAND SHOPPING CENTER 1595 49th ST HIALEAH PH: DADELAND SHOPPING CENTER 8701 SVV 72nd AVE MIAMI PH: 667-4866 HOLLYWOOD FASHION CENTER 5844 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood PH: 866-9061 III tennis greatness you start with Tilden Everything else comes afterward I be so presumptuous as to offer any numerical ratings Except that I consider Rod Laver the best of the last 20 years I would just break the best down into eras pre-World War II and post-war because conditions changed so much around then and afterward Such as the tremendous revolution when truly open tennis came in in modern best behind Laver: McEnroe Connors Hoad Jack Kramer John New-come Ken Rosewall Manuel Santana His pre-WWII nominees all below Tilden and excluding himself Cochet Ellsworth Vines Gottfried von Cramm Jack Crawford Jan Sato Jean Borotra Bunny Austin Roderick Menzel Baron Umberto de He sighed today hardly anyone less than 35 or 40 years old remembers many of them But I must add this: The best of any era had that certain something that would have made them competitive in any other time Whether it was Tilden against Borg or McEnroe against Budge or Laver against Connors they would have given us splendid As for Perry just ask Ted Tin-ling the Philadelphia fashion designer and Wimbledon expert was so says Tmling 73 when Wimbledon honors him next year on the 50th anniversary of his first title there they will name their southwestern gates the Fred Perry Gates They've done that just once before and not for one man but two brothers the Dohertys who were such pioneers in the late 19th century and early Perry used his Continental grip the ax-handle or basic American backhand grip with blinding brilliance in winning nine of his 10 Davis Cup matches teaming with Bunny Austin to lead England to four Davis sweeps He quit the amateurs in '36 and barnstormed largely with Tilden and Vines His pro career too ended when he fell during a '42 match in New York found out that the Madison Square Garden floor was a hell of a lot harder than my But he played close to 500 matches against Tilden as a pro player has certain things he do" says Perry resting in Pompano Beach between buzzing off to California New York Jamaica and England for clinics broadcasting stints and appearances for his sportswear company not Tilden Bill was always up to something One day he talk to you at all The next day he would talk the hind legs off a horse He never quit thinking or making you think fiddle you with chops and spins in one match The next time just hit the hell out of the TRIUMPH Whitewall PI vs 1 64 IT Steel Card law Price i PI5S0OR13 Whttewoll Plus! 51 AA Saasea Traedl Whitewall Prie P16580R13 $4195 P18580R13 5395 P18575R14 5795 PI9575R14 5995 P20575R14 395 P22575R14 47 P16580R15 49 P20575R15 44 P21575R15 64 P22575R15 69 P23575R15 71 P18575RI3 P19575R14 P20575R14 P21575R15 P22575R15 P23575R15 $4193 4793 3195 3493 5795 3993 Prices plus $1 67 90f No trode-m needed Prices phn )l 83 to 2 96 No trode-m needed 15 SUPER SPORTS SuJP Ftu31 77F Wide 60 nod 70 wrier profits Size Price E70-14 F70-14 G70-14 G70-I5 H70-15 160-15 $5190 5975 6205 6415 6115 SQ40 Prtces plus $2 34 to $3 03 No trode-m Most sizes avatloble in 60-series too No trode-m needed mmm Oar keit-Miflna ties! belted redial! 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