THE ART OF TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 306, 23 December 1912, Page 7

THE ART OF TENNIS.

m DEPRESSIONS OF AUSTRALASIAN PLAYERS. (By C. T. DIXON, Captain of British Isles- Team.) (Specially Written for "Auckland Star.') Considering the small number ol players Australasia has to select from she can certainly congratulate herself on turning out so many able exponents of the game. For one, she possesses a player whom many fine judges of form unhesitatingly place as the greatest in the world at the present Lime. I refer, of course, to Norman Brookes, who, despite his defeat by Parke in the Davis Cup contest, just over, is still playing wonderfully good lermis, aud what is" the secret of Brookes' successes on the lawn? It would be dilfioult to define exactly what it is that makes Brookes, perhaps, more to be feared than any other player. There are many factors, "and not only one which make him the master he is. His style is not especially taking. There are many players who are more attractive to watch than Brookes. in the execution of many of his strokes one feels inclined to call bun almost cramped, but he has a great faculty of always getting there. The keynote' of his game i is attack. Very seldom on the defence himself, he is for ever making his oppo- j nent run, and placing Mm in the dis- j advantageous position. His finely-placed service, which is delivered with the j easiest of actions, and the pace of which is so nicely varied, is a most valuable adjunct to hut in this respect, i By means of this he attains with great j rapidity his favourite position at the j net, and the return will have to he a very good one if Brookes is to be beaten. If the reply is anything but good, Brookes has you at his mere} - , for very seldom he fails to volley the ball into inaccessible regions of your court. Brookes, again, has evolved his own methods to a great extent. In returning! the service he stands well inside the base line, even to the fastest deliveries, and in consequence is able, by taking the ball before it has reached the top of itbound, to gain the net again with the least possible loss of time. Overhead he may not be severe, but he is fairly accurate and places well. He follows the ball closely, has good powers of anticipation. His ground strokes, though not brilliant, are sound. Add to these qualities a grim and set determination to conquer, and you have some of the attributes that go to make, up this player's - extraordinary success. He may lack \ something in stamina, and as a match becomes more protracted Brookes' chances become correspondingly less, for he is not overstrong physically. But his skill ' is such that most players who oppose' him in a best of Sve set encounters, sol- | dom get the chance of playing more than j three. Rod Heath is a player with great i possibilities, ne scarcely did himself jus- | tice in the recent Davis Cup contests*. He can rise to greater heights than his form there wouid warrant. Last year at Wimbledom, and at several of our leading tournaments at Home, he impressed mc very much. His strong forehand drive was then much in evidence, and proved a great asset in his many successes. His backhand, too, which signally failed him recently, was infinitely better when I saw him play at Home. He has a powerful first service, and gets

considerable spin on it. but to my mind j he does not take the full advantage of ! it in following up to the net. for his I volleys are inclined to be defensive rather than aggressive. At times hn scores with a neat stop volley, but he is inconsistent with it. Where he fails is chiefly in the matter of judgment. He does not vary his game sufficiently, and he misses a greater proportion of easy strokes than a player of his class should. Alf. DunloTi. as he is affectionately called, is essentially a doubles exponent,, rather than • singles player, though he, lias done many good things in the latter : ' branch. In doubles he is a sound player.) ' with a thorough knowledge of its tactics. Having specialised in these particular i contests, he has made himself master of all its intricacies. It is difficult to point to a weakness in Dunlop's game in a double. Whether in the return of the service, in recovery, or in the well-placed and good-length tosses, he is equally reliable. Overhead he is indeed brilliant, i for he seldom fails to punish any lob which he can safely reach. An admir- j able partner for Brookes, he gives the latter player any number of valuable openings. Ehinlop has also a fine temperament. Mr. A. B. Jones (New South Wales) is a player of exceptional promise. He combines good-length driving with effective work at the net. As a volleyer. with the exception of Brookes, no other Australasian player I have met has quite! the natural ability that he possesses. He I gets well on to the top of the net, and I the direction of hi» volleys is well con- j cealed to the last moment. His cross . volleys are particularly taking to the eye. Good length and fair pace are the j chief characteristics of his service. A series of leading tournaments in England,' wheijeby he would gain further experience*, would raise him even to a. higher position than lie now holds in the tennis, w<3rld. ] As a hase-line player of the game, it | would -be. difficult, I imagine, to find aj i more able exponent than Horace Rice, I who for so many years has held such a j •leading place in" tennis in this country. [ i Like A. W. Gore at Home, years fall lightly on him, for he still continues to| pound the ball -from side to side to.keep • up his accuracy in a long 5-set encounter. | His powers of retrieving arc wonderfully; "ood, and when on the run he makes the i most' delightful passing strokes. He, possesses also what I have found gener- ; ally lacking in a left-handed player, a, strong backhand drive, which is often a scoring asset in his game. There are several other players in New South Wales such as Marsh, Wright, and E- L. Jones I should like to touch upon, but time will not permit. Another player who should soon be appearing regularly in Davis Cup con-tests is Mr. G = ollivier, the New Zealand champion He was far from his best in the Victorian championship, at Melbourne, some weeks back, but he showed in bis match j a<*uinst mc here last Saturday that when j in form he is a most difficult proposition j to tackle. Like Brookes, his motto is i attack; he is for ever seeking the act. a.nd when there scores heavily with his ■ deep chop volleys. His American service, with any amount of spin, is a thorn; | in the side of most of his opponents, as, j following it up to the net as he does, he is enabled, with his fine reach, to get to most returns. He, however, with excessive body work, takes a good deal out of fojmself in service. 'His foreh-Hid, drive is well controlled as a rule, and. direction sl'flxulrv varied; his backhand: may not •be so strong, but he often surprises his ; opponent with a short cross return from | this quarter. Players in Net? Zealand!

I are much handicapperi for practice. What ! the}- are as a rule able to obtain is not of very great value. There is much talent in the play of Messrs. Eisher, Peacock, and Swanston respectively which only needs more tournament and varied practice to be exposed to dajdight. Both j at Christehur-eh and Wellington, in the forthcoming matches against the British Isles team, it is certain that these three players, with Ollivier, will put up a much I closer fight against their opponents than they have done in Auckland.