Many people were alarmed by this and some began to leave. ‘I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing,’ said one. ‘This isn’t sport,’ said another. ‘He’s mad,’ said a third. ‘I’m not interested in looking at that sort of thing.’
For those who stayed, however, the impression will live long. The van Gogh serve became unplayable; de Kooning got a racquet on the odd one but most of them went past him like trains in the night. The man in the red beard was in deadly form. If he keeps playing like this he will be around for a very long time and will have a towering influence. He lost control of his service action late in the final set and gave himself a nasty clip on the ear but otherwise he finished full of running.
It got better. André Malraux was in fine form against the Italian Enrico Caruso, who said afterwards that he felt the warmup period should be extended from ten minutes to two and a half hours.
At 11.30 am, Simone de Beauvoir came out and gave Fanny Brice a tennis lesson. After the shock loss of Sartre forty-eight hours earlier, it was as if she were playing for both of them.
‘You vile bitch,’ said Nelson Algren from the players’ box.
In Russia the name Pasternak is synonymous with the game itself. If Russia could play tennis, they say, it would play like Boris. Almost all his tennis has been played in Russia, for Russia, against Russians.
On Court 3 this afternoon, Boris was beaten by his compatriot Igor Stravinsky, who has played in Europe and America, in Australia and Africa. Pasternak said later that the result would be held against both of them. Within hours, both were dumped from the Davis Cup squad and many Russian supporters were called in for ‘currency offences’.
Also out today was Vladimir Nabokov. Russians attribute his victories to his Russian-ness. Americans say he wins because of his individual genius. Russians say there are plenty of geniuses in Russia and Nabokov is a product of the national tennis program which used to be run by his uncle.
Nabokov has had more written about him than most players competing at this event. Photographs of him with a butterfly net have been beamed around the world with descriptions of his play as ‘taut, important and sublime’. None of these things have ever been said about Ring Lardner, who was photographed after the match holding a tennis racquet.
Franz Kafka got a very big fright tonight and, if anyone wishes to witness an unusual spectacle, Franz Kafka getting a very big fright would be among the more rewarding of those currently available. He came out against Damon Runyon and found himself in all sorts of trouble. On his day Runyon is capable of knocking over the tall timber. His court speed is terrific and his volleying deadly. After the first set, Kafka must have wondered whether Runyon was ever going to leave him alone. In the second set Kafka hustled, he chased everything and he rushed the net whenever he could.
Untroubled by these events, Runyon has a good look at everything Kafka sends over and then hauls off and hits it very hard with old Mr Racquet.
At 2–5, Kafka sat in his chair, drenched in perspiration, his legs exhausted and his mind racing. Runyon’s friends gave every indication of having engaged in short-term investments bearing on the result and with their man two sets up and 3–0 in the third set they were helping themselves to plenty of goulash and some ‘special’ coffee provided by a citizen named Toots. Kafka was up against it in spades.
He steadied, broke Runyon with some superb returns to get to 2–3, served four aces and broke Runyon again to get it to 4–3, held serve and broke Runyon again for the set.
In the fourth Kafka was untouchable. His final shot was a ball picked up from deep in the back corner and whipped down the line. Runyon simply smiled and walked to the net. He said later he thought Kafka would become ‘a very prominent player indeed’, that he had enjoyed himself more than somewhat and had done ‘nicely’, even picking up a little scratch on a business proposition involving the 3.20 at Longchamp.
Day 20
Millay v. Rand • Escher v. Schweitzer • Einstein v. Thurber • Conrad v. Faulkner • Jung v. Hesse • Shaw v. Keaton • Ford v. Orwell
Officials were confronted with a protest tonight over the result of the Edna St Vincent Millay v. Ayn Rand match, won by Millay. In a detailed submission Rand claimed ‘these points (see schedule 2) were scored incorrectly within the meaning of the Rules. They should be replayed, witnessed and scored accurately and I will win them.’
‘It is unthinkable I should be knocked out,’ Rand told reporters. ‘I am clearly the best player and I will fucking win. Simple as that.’
If anyone has a lazy hundred, a small bet on a Davis Cup victory sometime soon for Holland might be worth a thought. The bookies don’t think they can do it but cut this out and stick it on the fridge. They’ve got four players in this tournament: Mondrian, who went out in the first round to Casals but was playing with two broken ribs, de Kooning, van Gogh, and Maurits Escher, who was in devastating form against the German Bert Schweitzer today.
Schweitzer is no slouch and he didn’t do much wrong but at one stage he served to Escher’s backhand and Escher hit a beautiful forehand winner for 0–15. Schweitzer’s next serve was to Escher’s forehand. Escher hit a backhand winner for 0–30. Schweitzer served again, curving into the body. Escher somehow fended it back and Schweitzer hit a cross-court drive into the ad court and was passed by
