A Preview And A Prophecy About That "dedicated Fortnight" At Wimbledon Where The Best Of The Best Will Meet Next Week

The conservative British Call them merely "The Championships," as if they were in an all-inclusive class by themselves, and actually they are. More informally, they are known as the Wimbledon tennis championships and they come up for contention again—the 69th time since 1877—starting June 20 on the turf of the sprawling plant on the outskirts of London.

For weeks the game's greatest amateur players, both men and women, have been gathering from all parts of the world. America's proud Davis Cup stars, the feared Australians, the exciting Italians, the towering Swedes—all have one aim: to win tennis' most coveted prize. Wiesbaden, Rome, Paris, Beckenham—these have been just preliminaries leading up to the big test.

Wimbledon long has served as the barometer of individual and international tennis greatness, and the tournament this year is of particular interest because it may bring an undisputed No. 1 player out of a haze of inconsistent performers.

I think Rosewall and America's Tony Trabert now have emerged as the two standout contenders for world amateur court honors. My operatives in England tell me that the British who will bet a two-shilling piece or a 10-pound note at the fall of a drop shot, have made Trabert and Rosewall joint title favorites in a published pretournament "book." I haven't heard the exact odds but this is the way I would preview the field, derby fashion:

4-1- Tony Trabert ( U.S.A.), Ken Rosewall ( Australia)

6-1- Vic Seixas ( U.S.A.), Lew Hoad ( Australia), Rex Hartwig ( Australia), Hamilton Richardson ( U.S.A.)

10-1—Jaroslav Drobny ( England), Budge Patty ( U.S.A.), Sven Davidson ( Sweden), Mervyn Rose ( Australia)

15-1—Art Larsen ( U.S.A.), Giuseppe Merlo ( Italy), Orlando Sirola ( Italy), Lennart Bergelin ( Sweden), Nicola Pietrangeli ( Italy), Fausto Gardini ( Italy)

In the Davis Cup Challenge Round at Sydney last December and in subsequent tournaments, Trabert flashed the kind of form which could rocket him to the top this year. He has blended his thunderbolt game with a positive attitude which has given him a steadiness and a purpose he formerly lacked.

Tony lost in the semi-finals of the Australian championships in January, then reeled off 10 straight tournament victories before going to Europe. He was upset by Italy's Sirola at Wiesbaden, before he got his land legs, but he bounded back to win at Paris.