If Frank Sedgman had a "big game," then Kramer's was monolithic. Anything the Aussic could do, the 31 year old world's pro champ could do better, as he won, 6-1, 6-2, at the Garden last night.
The victory was only his 12th out of 25, but one believes Jack when he says, "I think I will have the edge when this tour is concluded." Perhaps the crowds wouldn't turn out to see him win every match, and if Kramer likes Kramer, he likes jack better.
Last night he alternated Incredible angular passing shots with his old reliable powerhouse net game; always in the right spot, Kramer proved himself master of the unexpected. Even a blase Radcliffe girl had to gasp, "He's fantastic."
Sedgman lost the, match but picked up the $2,000 check he gets five nights a week. This is better than the $20 per week he earned as the world's greatest. amateur, even including his controversial $12,300 wedding gift. The troupe as a whole has grossed over $300,000 after only a third of its 80-city tour.
In the preliminary match, Sedgman's Aussic sidekick, Ken McGregor, steadied down his cantankerous backhand to edge Pancho Seguro, 4-6, 7-5, 8-6. The Down Under champ's win was but his sixth against 20 losses during the tour and came on the seventh service break of the final set.
The diminutive Ecuadoran, thrice intercollegiate champ while at the University of Miami, is best known for his two-fisted forehand. Like Kid Gavilan's "bolo punch," the weapon is crowd pleasing but not necessarily any more effective than the orthodox technique.
But while their games differed, the four powerfully built athletes were alike in proving their sport far more savage and grueling than the proberbial "tennis anyone?" line would suggest. Each had the Killer-Instinct at the net, and when volleying, the swarthy Segura resembled a matador burying his muleta.
Even the crowd cheered and jeered more than tennis spectators are supposed to, although it must have sounded like a convention of ecclesiastics to the Boston Celties among them
The 7,043 in the audience liked the two singles and the doubles match they saw far better than some of the linemen's decision. Throughout, however, they were more polite than patriotic, and evens stood up for the national anthem of the tennis-rabbit land as well as their own.
Their applause was tremendous and well-deserved; no lace pants, just slambang tennis, and there will be more of the same at 8:15 tonight.
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1937, JAYVEE HOCKEY