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Trabert Wimbledon Singles Finalist To Battle Nielsen For Crown Friday Tony Recovers From Hard Crash Into Net to Sweep Sets Against Budge Patty By ROBERT C. DOAVSON United Press Sports Writer WIMBLEDON, England, June 29. Tony Trabert recovered from a hard crash into the net in the opening set today and swept aside his countryman Budge Patty, 8-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Wimbledon singles final along with Kurt Nielsen of Denmark. .Nielsen, the unseeded upstart of the 1955 tournament, gained the title round with ah 11-9, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 triumph over favored Ken Rosewall of Australia in the more exciting of the two semi-finals on the famed center court at Wimbledon. The two 24-year-old finalists meet Friday for the most sought-after title in tennis. British bookmakers, who may legally make odds for all sports events, promptly established Trabert a 7 to 5 favorite. For a moment in the sixth game of the opening set, when Trabert crashed into the net and fell to the ground while racing for a low shot, the huge crowd of about 17,000 feared that his dream of a Wimbledon title this year may have been doomed. Trabert trailed at the time, 2-3, on Pattys service, and he appeared to limp back to the baseline after clutching the net to help himself regain his feet. But if the young Ohioan had hurt himself, it did not show in his game. He battled back to break Pattys service and tie the score, won the set with a service break in the 14th game, and breezed through the final two sets to clinch. Moves Step Closer to Goals By winning, Trabert moved ,to within one step of twin goals he had set for himself more than one year ago. In departing for his European tour in 1954, Trabert announced that he would like to win the Wimbledon championship and establish himself as the "worlds best amateur player." It is common knowledge that he would like to use the prestige of a Wimbledon crown as a bargaining point for a lucrative professional contract, probably after helping the U. S. defend the Davis Cup next September. Nielsen, a tall, blond sporting goods buyer in his native land, said he has played Trabert three times previously but has never won a, set from him. Two years ago he became the first unseeded player in 23 years to reach the final round at Wimbledon. He lost to Vic Seixas of Philadelphia in 1953. This year he similarly came to Wimbledon unranked and unheralded. As a student at TJ.GJj.A. a few years ago, Nielsen entered the U. S. National Indoor championships and was beaten in the final round in 1953 and 1954. Sweeps Six Matches In his sweep to the final round, Trabert has not lost a set in six matches. Although there were fears t first that he was troubled by a sore racquet hand, and later that a lack of competition had hampered his game, Trabert now appears at his absolute best. In last years tournament, he was eliminated in the semi-final round. The 31-year-old Patty, who won the Wimbledon title in 1950, was bothered by a sore elbow, although observers did not think this was the most important factor in the one-sidedness of Traberts victory. "I think Pattys arm must have been off," Trabert said after the match. "I know he can serve better than he did to- day. He was a good sport to play through the way he did without complaining." Patty wanted to repeat his triumph of five years ago so that he might embarrass the U. S. Lawn Tennis Association selectors who refused to rank him last year because he spent most of his time in Paris.. For a large portion of the first set, Patty kept the score close with his deft touches at the net and his long, slow-driven forehand. The Californian was within one point of a break-through in the ninth game of the first set, but Trabert swept the next four points to go ahead 5-4. In the 14th game, Trabert trailed 30-40 on Pattys service before clinching the set with a passing drive, a volley smash and a drop shot that Budge netted. The final two sets were dull. Trabert raced off to a 3-0 lead in each set and piled up points repeatedly by rushing the net and forcing the normally dependable Patty into numerous errors. The Nielsen-Rosewall match was a triumph of power over guile. The little Australian could not handle Nielsens can-nonball service and powerful ground strokes. The Dane scored numerous service aces and placements. In the sixth game of the second set, Nielsen served three aces and another service that Rosewall could only tip with his racquet for a love game. Nielsens power kept Rosewall playing far behind the baseliniPand he was hurried into missing his favorite corner lobs and sideline slashes, by inches. Only in the ! third set, when Rosewall changed his tactics and began lobbing more frequently did he drive Nielsen away from the net. In the quarter-finals of mens doubles, Mervyn Rose and George Worthington of Australia defeated John Ager of Atlanta and Pablo Eisenberg of Millburn, N. J., 6-3, 1 6-1, 6-2. Beverly Baker Fleitz of Long Beach, Calif., and Darlene Hard of Montebello, Calif., reached the womens doubles semifinals with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Dora Kilian and Hazel Redick-Smith of South Africa, while Hugh Stewart of San Marino, Calif., and Erika Vollmer of Germany gained the mixed doubles semi-final by beating Hamilton Richardson of Baton Rouge, La., and Miss Hard, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
