The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1923. OUR TENNIS PLAYERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 95, 21 April 1923, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1923. OUR TENNIS PLAYERS.

For the cause that lacks assistanoe, For the wrong that needs resistance. For tlie future in the distance, And the good that we con do.

The Xew Zealand tennis team lias cotue back from its trip to Xew South Wales in what seems tv us a very satisfactory and sportsmanlike frame of mind. Though our men have not been able to pain any pronounced success, or to hold their own completely with the very best players on the other side, they *.re not disheartened, and those members of the team who have, already expressed ■hi'ir opinions in public have indicated, with all due modesty, that they do not think they have disgraced themselves or their country. As a matter of fact, considering tlie circumstances of the case, our players seem to have done remarkably well. A touring team is always placed at a disadvantage by the unfamiliar conditions which it has to face, and, quite apart from the sea voyage, our men were naturally affected to some extent in this way. Xo one who has not played tennis or cricket in Australia can have any idea how disconcerting it is to attempt to time a stroke, or follow the movement of a ball in the dazzling light that generally prevails there, and a difficulty that has often ba filed the best of English cricketers for the time being woirld certainly prevent our men from playing their best when they first arrived. Then the courts seem to have been unexpectedly slow; during the last portion of their stay their chance of steady practice was interfered with" by rain, and the illness of several players during their visit to Orange certainly did not improve their prospects for tlie inter-State match. However, though we have to admit that on the evidence supplied by the results of this tour our best tennis players arc not up to the level of Australia's best, we may derive some consolation from the fact that, except for the recognised champions of Davis Cup grade, the margin of difference is not wide, and, in fact, hardly so great as might have been expected. Our players apparently agree that Anderson, so tar as Xew South Wales is concerned, stands by himself, and that below him at a considerable interval there follows a large group of players, none of whom can be said to outclass our own men. To make a rough estimate, we may infer that there arc from a dozen to a score of men in Sydney who are likely to extend our best'half-dozen to tlie uttermost and perhaps even in the majority of matches, to beat them. But we must remember that Sydney is a city of about a million inhabitants, and that, on the principle of averages, it is virtually certain that the number of high-class players there would be, under anything like similar conditions, greatly superior to our own total. Moreover just because so large a body of people are aggregated in the one city the best players get constant practice together — an advantage of immense importance, which Xew Zealand players, scattered all over the two islands, can never hope to enjoy. It must also be noted that the mere presence of an exceptionally high-class player like Anderson in any tennis centre necessarily raises the average level of tennis skill there. Considering all this it seems to us that the measure of success which our men actually secured, winning several matches against all the best'Xew South Wales players, except Anderson, was distinctly notable and praiseworthy. li. seems that the superiority of the Sydney players i. more pronounced in doubles than in singles; this is quite fairly attributed to the constant opportunities for regular practice between the best players, due to tlie fact that, as we have said, a largo number of them arc residents in the one great city. AYe may venture to suggest a doubt whether superior tactics in regard to net play have much to do with the result; for Brookes ami L.umop (io mention mc greatest doubles combination that Australia has produced) never favoured extremely close not play, and left to their opponents the privilege of "sitting on the net continually, with results generally quite satisfactory to themselves. However, this is a technical point which the experts must settle between them. There is one feature of Sydney tennis described by our players which we do not wish to see reproduced here—large numbers of school children practising under tlie supervision of coaches. In our opinion it is a mistake to allow boys to fake up games of the individual type—such as tennis and golf—while they are still at school, if this means that they arc to neglect team games, such as cricket and football with all the splendid discipline that they supply. But what with school-coaching, and covered courts, and a season that lasts through the whole year, winter and summer alike, it seems strange that the Australians have not out-distanced the Xew Zoalanders with their lbnited opportunities altogether. Clearly what our players need most is more continuous and systematic practice and more experience or- the methods of acknowledged masters of the game. It is in this way that the Australians have made their way to the front: and in passing, we may express regret at the decision of the Australian authorities not to send a team of colts to compete for the Davis Cup. They would certainly be beaten, but the experience they would

gain and the enthusiasm their adventure would arouse would be well worth the trouble and expense involved. If Xew Zoalanders were to refuse to play Australians till they thought that they had a chance of winning, they would miss the best chance of improving themselves, andas a means of raising the level of tennis' skill in this country, our representatives; may rest assured that their tour has, been a great success. I