CARNIVAL AT FOREST HILLS: Anatomy of a Tennis Tournament

Round by round at the 1974 U.S. Open--the one in which Jimmy Connors crushed Ken Rosewall (6-1, 6-0, 6-1) and Billie Jean King outdueled Evonne Goolagong (3-6, 6-3, 7-5). Admittedly, this (or any) major tennis tournament replay is infinitely less bouncy than the grass surface on which it's played. Still, Sport writer Bell manages to fill in some of the background necessary to an understanding of this prestigious summer classic and its participants' flaws and eccentricities--i.e. Ilie Nastase's petulance; John Newcombe's magnetism; Stan Smith's slump; Virginia Wade's erraticism or Chris Evert's near-perfectionism. Initiates to the scene may care to know that ""singles is a game of personality unleashed. . . doubles is a game of personality controlled""--we'll take that empty court anytime. Anything but matchless.