TENNIS TOPICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 85, 20 January 1938, Page 3

TENNIS TOPICS

THE ENGLISH STANDARD.

A BRIGHTER VIEW TAKEN. ißy “Forehand”). The claim that the general standard of lawn tennis in England is higher than any other country in the world •was made by Sir Samuel Hoare (president cf the English Lawn Tennis Association) in speaking at Cromer. During the past twenty-five years the standard of play had improved considerably. He considered that if they had championships for the best 100 players between England and other countries England would win 80 of the events. Whatever the position of “star” players, the general standard of play in this country was higher than in any other country in the world. Referring to the loss of the Davis Cup, Sir Samuel said: “England had its period of good fortune when she had Fred Perry.” The Lawn Tefmis Association, he added, did everything possible to keep Perry in the world of amateurs. The association had had the best possible associations with him, and all the talk of Perry and the L.T.A. not agreeing was entirely without foundation. For reasons good or bad, Fred Perry left the amateur world and England lost a great champion. They must not be unduly depressed about that.

Sir (Samuel mentioned that the L.T.A. intended to talk over with a number of active players the general policy for the future and the best means of getting ready to recapture the Davis Cup and win the Wightman Cup. If they could keep close contact with the players of the country—and the L.T.A. was anxious to keep that contact —and if a keen interest could be maintained in tournaments, he looked forward confidently to winning back the championships at "W imbledon and the Davis Cup. Will Net be Over-played.

“I promised the American Lawn Tennis Association that I would do my best to see they were not over-played or subjected to too much travel,” he added. •

Miss Bundy, who is 21, and Miss Workman, who is 23, are two of the leading junior players in the United States, for whom great futures as tennis players are forecast by Mr Brookes. They played exhibition games at the Stanley Street courts yesterday and attracted a great deal of attention. Misses Workman and Bundy played a friendly match against the Aucklanders, N. Gl. Sturt and At D. Brown. Three sets were decided, the home players being successful, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Sturt and Brown were in good form for so early in the season, the latter’s overhead work being especially good. The visitors were out of touch a little, blit improved considerably as the play progressed. Features of tbe ladies’ play were that they adopted the same style as men and hit equally as hard. In spite of their splendid volleying, the visitors were unable to cope with many splendid placements by their opponents. Miss Workman had a particularly fine service, being fairly fast and accurate, while her volleying was a treat to watch. Miss Bundy was strong on the forehand and her ground shots were more effective than those of her opponents.

A combined set was played between Brown and Miss Workman and Sturt and Miss Bundy. All the players had found touch by this time and the whose set was marked by splendid rallies, both at the net and on the backline. Brown and Miss Workman won 6-2. '

The play was watched by Mr Norman Brookes and officials of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association.

Budg/e Ranked No. 1.

There is no doubt in the mind ol Mr Norman Brookes, president of the Australian Lawn Tennis Association, Melbourne, that Budge, the American, is No. 1 in the world tennis rankings. Mr Brookes and his wife were through passengers on the Mariposa this week from Los Angeles, accompanied by Miss Dorothy Bundy and Miss Dorothy

Workman, two Californian women tennis players who he considers should before long be in the front rank. At the present time von Cramm and Henkel, both Germans, are in Australia. Similarly Budge and Make, are there. Both Budge and Mako were nearly exhausted with playing, said Mr Brookes, and would welcome the spell of a sea voyage. It was not likely that they would play in New Zealand and when they left Sydney by the Monterey on February 4 they would make an uninterrupted passage to America.

As the Australian tennis championships did not finish until the end of January, Mr Brookes continued, it would be impossible for them to break their journey at Auckland. Moreover, they would' ne'ed a good rest before the tennis season began again in their own country.