Trabert, Patty Win at Wimbledon: Rosewall, Drobny Foes in Semifinals, Daily Racing Form, 1954-06-29

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Trabert, Patty Win at Wimbledon Rose wall, Drobny j Foes in Semifinals Former Titlist Upsets Seixas; Little Mo Heads U. S. Girl Sextet Into Quarterfinals By ROBERT MUSEL United Press Sports Writer WIMBLEDON, England, June 28. U. S. champion Tony Trabert of Cincinnati, ignoring a handful of blisters on his racquet hand, steamrollered Australias dangerous Mervyn Rose in straight, sets today and gained the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships along with Budge Patty of Los Angeles, 1950 winner. Trabert overwhelmed Rose, Australian champion, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5. Patty, working his stylish backhand to perfection, upset defending champion Vic Seixas of Philadelphia, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and became the favorite to meet Trabert in an All-American final. Thirty-three-year-old Jaroslav Drobny, exiled Czech playing out of Egypt, scored the tournaments biggest upset by drubbing Lew Hoad of Australia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, and will meet Patty in one semi-final. Little Ken Rosewall of Australia gained the semi-final berth against Trabert with a bitterly-fought trjumph over teammate Rex Hartwig, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. The days tennis dramatics were confined to the mens division since six American women, led by two-time winner, Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly of San Diego, Calif., swept into the quarterfinals with comparative ease. Advancing with Little Mo were Doris Hart of Coral Gables, Fla., Shirley Fry of Akron, O., Louise Brough of Beverly Hills, Calif., Margaret Osborne DuPont of Bellevue, Del., and Betty Rosenquest Pratty, formerly of South Orange, N. J., and now living in Jamaica, B. W. L Trabert was the big question mark as the days play began. The stocky Cincinnati belter had one blister the size of a quarter and several smaller ones on his racquet hand as a result of Saturdays marathon against Sven Davidson of Sweden. He also had a blister on his right foot. Wins First Set in 15 Minutes But Rose, who had played brilliantly up to this round, had no answer for Traberts devastating attack. Tony won the first set in 15 minutes, the second in 18 and required exactly one hour to complete the demolition of the southpaw Australian titleholder. Traberts powerful assault on Rose followed the same pattern in all threev sets, except for a belated stand by the beaten Aussie in the final set. Tony scored early service break-throughs in each set by booming his big service to Roses backhand and by pulling the Aussie out of position with drives . and volleys to the backhand court. Rose made it a fight only in the final set when he managed to run around and take Traberts service on his forehand after trailing 2-5. Thereupon, Rose picked up three straight games to draw even, but Trabert held for a lead at 6-5 and Rose suddenly collapsed. Starting at 0-15 on his service, the Aussie inexplicably lost control of his latest weapon the overhead smash and blew three straight into the net on easy chances to close out the match. Pattys sharply-angled backhand knocked Seixas out of the running in defense of his crown, forcing the handsome Philadelphian to race desperately from corner to corner. Vic took the second set with a service break in the 10th game with two successful smashes of Pattys lobs, but didnt threaten seriously again. A linesmans call upset Vic at 2-2 in the i third set. Seixas dropped his racquet in disgust and it proved to be a critical point, for Patty quickly ranout the game and the set. Patty then scored a break in the second game of the fourth set with his backhand winning prolonged rallies and controlled the match thereafter. Drobny, who was a Wimbledon threat when the 19 -year-old Hoad was in knee pants, administered a thorough lesson in tactics and placements to the husky blond Aussie slugger. The chunky Czech bewildered Hoad with his assortment of drop shots, lobs and sharply-hit groundstrqkes. Hoad, kept off-balance, continually tried to bring his power into play and lapsed intofrequent errors. Miss Connolly led the parade as American tennis queens grabbed six of the eight berths in the quarter-finals requiring just 30 minutes to rout Angela Buxton of England, 6-0, 6-0. Miss Buxton, a baseline player, won just nine points in the first set and 14 in the second. Miss Hart, runner-up to Little Mo last year, ousted Nicola Migliori of Italy, 6-1, 6-1, and Miss Fry defeated Pat Ward of England, 6-3, 6-1. Miss Brough, moving to the net frequently, turned back Barbara Bradley of Reno, Nev.j 6-1, 6-1, and Mrs. DuPont eliminated Critiane "Mercelis of Belgium, 6-1, 8-6. Mrs. Pratt won a long duel against Joan Curry of Great Britain, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1954062901/drf1954062901_2_1
Local Identifier: drf1954062901_2_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800