OUR TENNIS VISITORS.

Auckland Star, Volume 304, Issue 304, 23 December 1926, Page 6

OUR TENNIS VISITORS.

The captain of the New South Wales tennis team said yesterday that 20,000 players were linked up in his State. An almost identical number—l9,3sl —is returned for the number of players who were members of clubs affiliated to the New Zealand Association in 1925. The exact number is described, with unconscious humour, as approximate. There are numbers of players who do not belong to affiliated clubs. The fact is that next to Rugby football, tennis in New Zealand has more players than any other game. If it is surpassed in New South Wales by another game, we presume that game is cricket. Tennis has become popular to an extent never anticipated years ago, and the only obstacle to its indefinite expansion is the difficulty of finding courts. With the increase in players has developed a desire to raise the standard of play, and the present visit of a team from New South Wales is at once a gesture of friendship between the two Dominions, and a move to test our best players and give others something to think about. Meetings between the two countries are a recent development, and they are sure to be held more frequently as the years pass. Our isolation has affected our standards in cricket and tennis, and it is therefore desirable that players should meet outside teams as often as possible. It is indicative of the growth of interest iv tennis that almost every association and sub-association applied for a match against the visitors. Whether they win or lose they will help to raise the "standard of the game, and take home a good report of our hospitality.