is opponent
at the net, which is Whitman's strong position. That kind of play won
him the first set; but Whitman braced after that, and closed up, and
although Ware got the balls over the net, he could not pass him. Ware
lacked head-work in placing. He seemed to lose much of his coolness as
soon as Whitman came up to him, and instead of lobbing, as he ought to
have done, or of going up to the net himself, he placed the balls
frequently to his opponent's advantage and to his own discomfiture. I
had expected to see Ware put up a strong offensive game, but his play
was mostly defensive. He had evidently not expected to encounter such a
change in his rival's methods. Whitman certainly showed greater
confidence in himself than he did on Jarvis Field, and was much more at
home at the net.

It may be that some of Ware's weakness was due to his lack of practice,
as he injured his wrist in June and did not touch a racquet for four
weeks; but I doubt if he could have defeated Whitman at Longwood, even
if he had been in the form that made him champion at the
Interscholastics. He will have to do some hard work between now and the
date of the Newport Tournament if he wishes to hold his own there. He
must pull himself together and keep from falling into that listless
style of play which proved so disastrous to him in the last two sets
against Whitman. The latter now stands a good chance of carrying off the
honors of the year, if present form may be depended upon to be
prophetic. He has beaten at Longwood men who were considered his
superiors, and he only met defeat at the hands of a man who is rated as
the fourth player in the United States.

The Hovey-Whitman match was one of the most interesting of the week, in
spite of the fact that it was evident from the start that the school
player was outclassed. This fact might not have been so patent if
Whitman had kept his nerve better, but he seemed to be afraid of his
antagonist from the very outset, and did not put up anywhere near so
good a game as he did against Ware. Hovey apparently realized this
weakness, and kept close up to the net. Whitman made his greatest
mistake in falling back, for Hovey's net game is hard to beat. This also
gave the champion an opportunity to do some sharp volleying with a stiff
wrist and forearm--strokes that the younger player was unable to return.
Occasionally Whitman made some brilliant plays, but he was overshadowed
by the veteran.

Hovey took the f