W IND TRICKS PLAYERS

ANGAS TAKES TENNIS HONORS

Brilliant Don. France Falls Before Superiority of Confident Canterbury Champion

WOMEN'S SINGLES TO MISS NICHOLLS

\ . , (By ■•"N.Z. Truth's" Special Tennis Writer). Hitting a ball high m the air with delight, Charlie Angas performed the first step m a dance of joy, rushed to the net, and wrung the hand of Don. France. All because he had just won his first singles title of New Zealand. • >'■■' .

WIND and rain worked for : Angas m the tourney as seldom any man had been favored. Thunder rolled to send the players j scuttling for the pavilion just as Noel Wilson seemed to have Angas's measure m, their fourthround singles match, and within half-an-hour Angas was stretched on the floor under a pile of overcoats, immobile with the pain of illness. Wind blew to unnerve the highly-strung Cam. Malfroy m the semi-final, where there was a remarkable clash of temperaments, and let Angas through m the fifth set of a match which showed one game difference m the total score by the two youngsters. . Wind again swirled and eddied to *rarap Don. France's • hitlng game and ower his play by half -fifteen m the, final. Control of the ball with a normal stroke was an impossibility m the conditions when the two men met. ■■ •■ . France sought to play his usual aggressive net game behind strokes which were much below his' 'ordinary severity, and France paid the penalty. 'On shots, temperament, tactics and physique no one gave Angas a hope against France, save Artgas himself. He pjayed with great confidence from the beginning, but he had' every reason to do that,' for from the very first point France was fighting to reduce his opponent's lead. "The Wellington crack opened with a ouble-fault and he trailed 'the whole 'ay In a match which was a compound f great fighting spirit, bad tactics, brilant strokes by France and remarkable teadiness on the part of Angas. On the day, there was not the slightest subt that Angas was the better man. ranee sometimes scored three and four lacements m a game by taking the net, lit Angas scored aces with passing shots 3£the weak ground stuff that. France aye him, and at the net he was fully ranee's equal. He missed fewer winners and had the reat advantage of playing with a game r two m hand. Save for that whirlwind rilliance of the second set, France was ever the equal of his younger opponent. Lucky breaks went to Angas on more mn one occasion, but it must be admitsd that he showed great stroking m ibs, volleys and passing shots and that c played m > the way to win. . Angas's future rests with himself. At resent, there is no denying that save for is volleying and getting powers he Is rershadowed In every department by alf-a-dozen of his rivals. If he develops more pace and . placelent off the ground: he may easily hold le position he has: won as Number One n the country. If he fails to do that he will be relegated to the position of a mighty good second-rater, a dangerous superLaurenson. , O ■;.'.-■ , It was France's great' chance and he". missed. But' he missed to a man who has shown himself this season as the hardest to beat. • ■■/ Angas has a whole string of titles in 'his kit and only lacks representation of his country. He will jain that against Australia this month. This was ■"■ his fourth New Zealand neeting. Twice he went down ingloriousy m three straight sets, once to Bartleet md once to J. G. Peacock. Two years igo he ran Ivan Seay to 9-7 m the fifth jet. Last year he took the South Island ■••■-•* ' ■;"•' ■■•.:«.\ '".•-:■..: X- '■,'.'.•''....'.: ■ * ".•'

■ Singles from S. McDougall 6-2, 6-2,. 6-3, ■ the doubles with E. Boddy. ■ Last year he won the Canterbury ■ doubles, also with Boddy. This year he ■ won the Canterbury singles title from ■Rhodes-Williams 6-2, 6-3, the North Is■land singles from Malfroy, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7, ■3-6, 6-2, and beat Seay for the first time ■m his life. His win against France, 6-1, ■3-6, 6-4, 6-1 was as convincing as the ■figures suggest. ■ Saddest thing of the meeting : was the ■failure of the cracks. Reserving himself ■for the singles, Ivan Seay found as he Hhad already known from the records of ■years that Don. France was too sound ■for him. ....■■/■,.,- --■ Seay must work for a better backhand ■ before he' can rival the first three m the I country. . I Wilson went out to Angas for the I mysterious reason that allows one I player to go on beating another. I Wilson has better: shots than Angas, 9 but he has not Angas's super steadl- ■ ic«3s or his colossal confidence. I Malfroy showed himself Angas's most ■jserious rival m that half of the draw by ■again running to 8-6 m the fifth set. ■ Malfroy, had he not changed his tac■tics and erred under the strain of the ■fifth set, would have been m the final ■against France. He had had four, pre- ■ vious victories over the new champion, ■ for the loss of four sets. ■ Stedman showed that the nerves that ■ often go witti reputations are . beginning ■ to be felt by hlni;,a pfty as he is a' grand H piayer. Sturt, alone, revealed that there ■ is tennis to be played this year. B His two and a-half ' sets against Mal- ■ froy, a flight of sustained brilliance, will ■ never be surpassed m a New Zealand ■ meeting. He' was playing superb tennis, ■hitting winners from Malfroy's apparent ■.vinners, and gaining the maximum pace ■bnd placement. > .' B Len. France was plainly out of form, OS.nd none of the others 'was class enough ■or the last eight. H Angas's win raises him from sixth HJj on the national ranking to Number B One, the biggest bound that any ■■player has yet. made. . '■ jH Ladies' events snowed the plainest of for regarding Dulcie Nicholls as ■■tie best player of the year. As was pre■■lcted m "N.Z. Truth," Miss Nicholls ■Bit her way to her first national title by HBheer merit and fitness. ■B -She was m danger only momentarily ■■rom Mrs. Scott, who evened with the ■■econd set, and fell down m the first set

of the final against Mrs. W. J. Melody. After that, there was only one player that mattered and only one who attacked. Victory over every player of note, save Miss Marjorie Macfarlane, who found Mrs. Melody too hard as was hinted here that she might, and the hard-hitting Miss

. • . < ■ '■- ■ ■■ ■ ■ .' ' Wake, of Canterbury, Miss Nicholls gets there on class. ' Men's doubles saw the accuracy of the

D. G. France-Cam. Maifroy pair make a sitter of the championship, though at one time it was likely that Noel Wilson, by infusing more confidence into Alan Stedman, brilliant Auckland youngster, would provide an upset. Wilson gained the: reputation of the country's finest doubles man by the manner m which he carried Stedman at moments of strain m the final, a class match of hard hitting. Stedman was 'playing well, but was amongst the country's best and the pace set bustled him. It was the • narrowest of escapes from a five-set go, for ithe' losers led 5-3 with Stedman's service to follow and netted two winners m the first two points of that critical game. Wilson went straight on to play semifinal and final of the mixed, where he put it all over A. E. Sandrall, daring and unorthodox mixed player, and Marjorie Macfarlane. The biggest hurdle for future doubles men m this country will be that same Wilson. Ladies' doubles provided the other upset of the meeting, Canterbury's Number One, Miss Wake, carrying May Andrews to her first national chamnlonship by sheer hard and accurate hitting. Miss Andrew's net play was above average, but she had many sitters raised for her by her partner's fine driving. Outed' "in the first round of singles play by Margaret Whyte, the find of the meeting, Mias Wake blew.opponents off the court In a whole series of doubles games. If was the finest piece of work by any player at the meeting. • Pair by pair were demoralised by her vigorous play and even • Dulcie Nicholls could not shape more accurately. In the final, Mrs. Thomson's frail form was not up to the gusts which swept the court, and she and Mrs. Adams, after winning the first set by a clear margin, faded from championship chance.