"The Yanks are ahead one to nuttin," Arthur Ashe chortled after Cliff Richey had defeated John Newcombe in the first match of an Australian-American tennis tournament billed by its sponsors as the "World Championship." He then proceeded to make the tournament one all, falling to Fred Stolle 6-3, 6-3 here at Harvard's Palmer Dixon Courts.

Ashe took only 55 minutes to lose, succumbing to a blitzing array of Stolle shots and displaying little of the power that earned him the nickname. "The Whip." He did stage a brief rally after trailing 5.0 in the second set, but Stolle regained control and finished off Ashe 6-3.

Richey broke Newcombe's service twice to take the third set and the first match, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Newcombe had trouble controlling his first serve in the last few games of the final set, and his inaccuracy cost him the match.

The tournament, sponsored by the Sportsmen's Tennis Club, is being held to raise money for an indoor tennis court for underprivileged children.