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Updated: June 27, 2025
He can meet Kumagae at his own baseline game until he gets a chance to close in to the net, where his volleying is remarkable. The result is, against Kumagae's driving he is perfectly at home. Murray is a vicious net player who swept Richards off his feet.
Lost to Wallace Johnson, Kumagae, Shimidzu. S. H. Voshell Beat Shimidzu , Davis. W. E. Davis Beat Richards, R. Kinsey, Lowe. These few records show how useless comparative scores may be. If another season like 1921 strikes American tennis, the ranking will need either clairvoyance or a padded cell.
His backhand is a severe "poke," none too accurate, but very deadly when it goes in. His service overhead and high volley are all severe and reliable. His low volley is the weak spot in an otherwise great game. Kumagae cannot handle a chop, and dislikes grass-court play, as the ball bounds too low for his peculiar "loop" drive.
With such players as Kumagae and Shimidzu, followed by S. Kashio and K. Yamasaki, and the late H. Mikami, Japan is a big factor in future tennis. 1922 will again see Japan challenging for the Davis Cup, and none but a first-class team can stop them.
Last year Kumagae reached his top form and was ranked third in America. His defeats were by Johnston, Vincent Richards, and myself; while he defeated Murray, S. H. Voshell, Vincent Richards, and me, as well as countless players of less note. The season of 1920 found Kumagae sweeping all before him, since Johnston, Williams, Garland, and I were away on the Davis Cup trip.
Wallace F. Johnson and Joseph J. Armstrong were playing Ichija Kumagae, the famous Japanese star, and Harold A. Throckmorton, then junior Champion of America, in the second round of the doubles. It was Kumagae's first year in America, and he did not understand Americans and their customs well. Kumagae and Throckmorton were leading one set at 6-0, 5-1, and 40-15, Kumagae serving.
Every day produced its thrills, but play ran singularly true to form in most cases. Illness took a hand in the game, compelling the defaults of R. L. Murray, Ichiya Kumagae and W. A. Larned. The early rounds saw but one upset. Norman Peach, Captain of the Australasian Davis Cup team, was eliminated by William W. Ingraham, of Providence, one of the best junior players in America.
Every year produces its outstanding figure and the early months of 1921 saw Vincent Richards looming large on the tennis horizon. The first sensation of the year was the decisive defeat inflicted on Kumagae by young Richards at Amakassin Club, New York. This was immediately followed by Kumagae's victory over Dick Williams, avenging Williams' win at Palm Beach some months before.
I know it, for Vinnie, with care and discretion, quietly led me along the Road of the Has-Beens, where he deposited me to the tune of 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0. Richards, with the scalps of Kumagae, Williams, Voshell and myself dangling at his belt, seemed destined for the championship itself. Alas, pride goeth before a fall. The fall came to Vinnie suddenly. The following week was the Longwood Singles.
The boy has not the speed on his ground strokes to pass Murray, who volleys off his chop for points, and cannot take the net away from him as he cannot handle the terrific speed of Murray's game. Thus Murray's speed beats Richards, while Richards' steadiness troubles Kumagae, yet Kumagae's persistent driving tires Murray and beats him. What good are comparative scores?
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