The dream realized – new courts and a clubhouse open in 1927

To celebrate, a full day of exhibition matches was planned for June 26, 1927. A number of notable players from around the country agreed to appear. Alas, rain fell the preceding night, turning the courts into quagmires. The skies cleared briefly about 9 a.m., renewing hope that the matches could be held. The courts were rolled once again, and the lines were redrawn. Another cloudburst erased the lines. Some of the visiting players suggested that, before rolling the courts again, Club officials burn off the dampness by pouring gasoline on the courts and lighting a fire. This was done, and finally, at 4 p.m., nearly 250 patient spectators were able to watch a match between Beryl Robinson, the Bermuda champion, and Mrs. Russell Downe of Greenwich. They played only one set on the still-slippery court, and Downe won 7-5.

After a men’s doubles match, the crowd watched the day’s highlight, a set pitting George King of New York, ranked tenth nationally, against Elmer Griffin of California. King had grown up in Scarsdale and had often played at Fox Meadow. Of the exhibition match, the Inquirer reported: “King’s fast serving and hard driving proved more effective than Griffin’s fast chop stroke and the set went to King 6-4.”

King returned to Fox Meadow three months later for an exhibition match against the nation’s top-ranked woman, Helen Wills. Arthur Driscoll umpired before a capacity crowd, and the match went to eight-all before King won a tie-breaker game.

Next came exhibition doubles with Wills and King paired against Alfred Hayden and Jim Hynson; then Wills and Hayden against King and Hynson. In both matches the Wills duo overwhelmed its opponents.

Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983