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► | Six Yank Tennis Queens Win* First Matches at Wimbledon I ] [ | ; I Rainstorm Causes Several x f Hours Delay; Two American Women Await Opening Set By JOHN C. McDERMOTT United Press Sports Writer WIMBLETON, England, June 26. — American tennis queens, led by defending champion Louise Brough of Beverly Hills, Calif., "sweated out" a five-hour rainstorm today and then swept through their opening matches in the Wimbledon tournament without a defeat. After standing by until 5:30 p. m., while officials of the All-England Club considered postponement of the entire days program because of a wind-swept rain, six of the eight competing U. S. stars breezed to victory in straight sets. Miss Brough, apparently unhampered, by a "tennis elbow," which has kept her out of action for three weeks, and three other American women who had drawn first-round byes, moved into the third round. Advancing with the buxom blonde defending champion with second round victories were second-seeded Mrs. Margaret Osborne duPont, of Wilmington, Del., the U. S. Womens champion; fifth-seeded Beverly Baker, of Santa Monica, Calif., and Althea Gibson, of New York, first Negro girl ever to compete at Wimbledon. Third-seeded Doris Hart, of Coral Gables, Fla.; fourth-seeded Shirley Fry, of Akron, Ohio; seventh-seeded Nancy Chaffee, of Ventura, Calif., and unseeded Betty Rosen-quest, of South Orange, N. J., scored first-round victories. Because of the curtailed program, the matches involving Barbara Scofield Davidson, of San Francisco; Arvilla McGuire, of Piedmont, Calif., and Mrs. Rita Anderson, of Los Angeles, and a few scheduled mens doubles matches were postponed until tomorrow. Only Two Carried to Three Sets Among the contingent of triumphant Americans, only Miss Chaffee and Miss Gibson were carried to three sets. Miss Brough, seeking her fourth straight Wimbledon womens singles crown, was not quite up to her usual game, but found a jittery, erratic opponent in Mrs. Gwen Scot of England and won handily, 6-1, 6-2. Mrs. duPont defeated Mrs. Joy Mottram of England, 6-3, 6-4; Miss Baker trimmed Mrs. Laura Morgan of Wales, 6-2, 6-0, and Miss Gibson beat Pat Ward of England, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, in second-round matches. In opening-round contests, Miss Hart whipped Jacqueline Marcellin of France, 6-2, 6-0, in a 25-minute match; Miss Fry trounced Susan Partridge of England, 6-3, 6-1; Miss Chaffee rallied to beat Mrs. Josephine Lloyd of England, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Miss Rosenquest eliminated Mrs. J. A. Starling of England, 6-1, 6-2. The final matches were concluded under leaden skies and in the gathering shadows of twilight, with a cold, piercing wind sweeping the courts. Officials had just about given up hopes of holding todays program at 5 p .m. when the rains suddenly stopped and the remnants of a crowd of 15,000 began a rhythmic hand-clapping chant for the matches to get underway. Most of them had sat four hours huddled under umbrallas or the vine-covered ramps of the All-England Club in the hopes that the matches would be played. After a hasty consultation by the officials, the tarpaulins were removed from the courts and Miss Brough took the center court against Mrs. Scott for the opening match of the program . Although Miss Brough said her ailing right elbow had completely recovered from strain, her game was a mild disappointment to the chilled crowd of 8,000 that watched her match. But the talented American star did not have to be at her best to win. Taking advantage of Mrs. Scotts "center court jitters," a weak backhand, and nine double faults on service, Miss Brough had only to return the ball and take advantage of her opponents er-ros to pile up points. The glamorous Miss Chaffee, rattling her golden ear-rings with a. shake of the head every time she missed a shot, had a mild scare from Mrs. Lloyd. She lost the first set, chiefly because of her own errors, won the second, and then wasted away a 3-0 lead in the third as Mrs. Lloyd evened the set. But the comely-Californian lifted her game again to sweep the last three sets and the match.
