LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 276, 22 November 1927, Page 15

LAWN TENNIS.

SENIOR GRADE MATCHES,

HARD V. GRASS CQURTS

A FEW COMMENTS

(By HALF-VOLLEY.)

Last Saturday saw the commencement

of the senior .grade inter-club matches,

■when wins were recorded by Parnell over / Eden and Epsom A 2 by seven matches to three, University over Remuera A 2, 9—l; and Eden and Epsom A 1 over Onehunga, 7—3. Early indications pointed to a wet afternoon, but conditions were good except for a tricky wind, which was responsible for a large tally of "outs" and "nets." Eden and Epsom Clubs were without the services of both their leading players in Miss Knight and Sims, the effect of which was to considerably weaken both senior teams. The senior A team secured a comfortable win over Onehunga, all except one of the matches requiring only two sets. For Ontehunga, Misses Litten and Taylor and P. Harrison and Miss McCrea won in straight sets. Their third win came through the efforts of Jliss Jean Taylor, who beat Mrs Francis, fr-r3, 4—6, 6—o. Miss Taylor is one of the younger school, and shows decided promise. . She is delightfully free on both forehand and backhand, and goes for her shots in a manner that some of the older hands would do well to copy. Store will be heard of her in the future. When Miss Ramsay met Miss Litten it Was a case! of chop versus chop, but probably Miss Ramsay has no equal in the Dominion at this stroke. She is very accurate, and will give most opponents something to think about. Knott and V. R. Johns won mainly by -bringing off winners when required. Errors were plentiful. Robb was very; •teadyj and went 'near to the second set. The remaining matches were won with] something to spare. Parnell established an early lead over ! Eden and Epsom senior B. The Parnell ladies scored four comfortable victories i® singles and doubles, as was to be expected, as the Epsom ladies were not % strong side. The men's matches were Well contested, particularly the doubles, which ran to three sets, with one advantage..; set in each case. Morrison and ( Campbell fought hard for the first set* against Coates and Chalmers, the •winning of which would have given them the 1 . match. Some . judicious lobbing helped materially to turn the tide in favour of the winners. Coates has a nasty cut shot, which must be handled firmly, whilst Chalmers is always the of .steadiness, who can send over a good lob at the right time. Brown and McKeown took the first set, 6—3, from Lamb and Home, who evened the match wijth a 6—2 second set. The Parnellites got home in the last set only at Jfjl& Morrison, who has not played •enior tennis for. a couple of seasons, w*® not expected to beat Parnell's champion, Lamb, but he did, and must be given credit for a good win, 6—3, 2—6, Chalmers proved too steady for McKeown, who was beaten in straight seta.

rChr paper one would have thought that w University-Remuera A 2 match would M.TB produced a close contest, with Remuera perhaps "having the edge" with the men, and 'Varsity slightly superior m the ladies. It naturally came as a surprise, "therefore, to find that the students should overwhelm Remuera to the tune of nine matches to one. At the it must be conceded that the Remuera players were playing not only OB strange courts, but also on chip courts, but this alone cannot explain their defeat. .Hubble beat Entwistle after a poor st®rt, but got going just in time to avert defeat. Hubble has a tendency to "chuck . W || cn matters are not going right, and should correct this by striving to ■Work himself into form, forgetting, if possible, the score for the time being, ■j • 111. other words, more concentration is necessary. In my opinion, with both men on their game, Hubble is the better wan. Nicholson must be given good victory over Griffiths, who «n»d conditions not at all to his liking, •nicholson at all times is a player to be reckoned with, and one can imagine Tilden describing him as a first-class go-getter." "Half-Volley" recalls Nich-: Olson and E. Bartleet battling for the secondary school championship years Jjgo, when they chased the ball for hours. Nicholson won that match, but ®*ttnot claim many victories over Bartleet since. Miss M. Miller beat Miss B. Withetow •iter three sets, the first two being very each winning one at 6—5. This j *" time these players have met, wd the result is interesting. Miss E. lr' 1 * accounted for Miss Richardson, * ?3° " a improved player, and did exceedingly well, as Miss Miller fs Player. She seems to specialise > Marathon" matches, having a numt° her credit. Score 6—5, 4—6, ft ' 8 quite evident that the Miller P r * , » if tanked to-day, would be entitled ® P' ace9 at least. - All the doubles and mixed gatnes were *oirin straight sets, and there can be ®o doubt about University's superiority wi the day. Remuera's only tally was a ■wies* double, Misses Witherow and Sr° a - beating Misses Mueller and 6-2? 6-2. Tho teams remaining in the A grade Parnell, Remuera Al, Eden and •' i: m . and University. :."Aa interesting match in the B grade that in which Onehunga defeated Wuversity by one set, the result being matches each, Onehunga 11 set®, Unillglgllßiity. 10. ": ■' r

The University team on form should have scored an easy victor}'. This is perhaps the best way of congratulating the victors, who most certainly have cause to be very elated. University won three of the four singles, Miss Brownlee falling a victim to Miss P. Campbell, who is quite a steady player. Miss Bowell li-st the first set 6 —5, and was hard put to it to win the second 6—5. In fact, had a doubtful decision gone in favour of Miss McDougall, the latter would have won. However, such is tennis. Onehunga won all the doubles and mixed except one, which allowed them to pull up and nose out by one set. Hard v. Grass Courts. Hard courts are becoming increasingly popular every year; in fact one cannot recall any recently formed clubs having grass courts, while a number of hard court clubs come to mind immediately: Campbell Park. Clive Road, Pukeora, Stanley Bay. Unity. View Road, whilst the Mount- Albert- Glub lias some hard courts in conjunction with the older grass courts. "Half Volley" is of the opinion that the time is not far distant when grass court clubs will be a thing of the past. It will be interesting to see if the winning of the Davis Cup by France will have any effect on the class of court on which future Davis Cup matches will be decided. As long as France retains the Cup, the contest must be played on hard courts, which will no doubt, tend to popularise this class of court. Tennis on grass is quite different from tennis on hard courts, and it is here that certain clubs each week are going to find themselves at a disadvantage, as no doubt Remuera did last Saturday. Certainly all A grade matches should be contested on grass courts.

The cost of upkeep cf grass courts is heavy, I would estimate the cost of upkeep for a season (of six months only) to be £50 per grass court, or four times that of a chip court, which would be at most £20 per court per annum. Hence those clubs with grass courts must have a larger subscription, and probably a smaller amount (if any) to the credit of profit and loss account. When the time comes for the Auckland Tennis Association to lay, down further courts with the funds in hand, the issue may be clearer than at present. If not, then the question of chip or grass courts will have to be carefully considered.

HOWICK CLUB'S OPENING. The Ho wick Lawn Tennis Club held its official opening for the season on Saturday afternoon. The president. Canon H. Mason, declared the lawns open, and wished the club every success during the season. The secretary reported a large increase In membership, and good prospects for thp coming season. Afternoon tea was served by the committee. WAIKATO EAST MATCHES. The results of the, inter-club matches played under the Waikato East Association on Saturday were :— • A Grade.—Waharoa beat Wardvilip 13 sets to 4: Arapiini beat Putaruru. 10—9. B Grade. —Matamata beat Te Vol. 11— S. C Grade.—Public Works 'beat Hinuera, 6—5; Tiran beat Selwyn, 6—5. HAURAKI PLAINS MATCHES.

In the second round of the Hauraki Plains Lawn Tennis Association's competitions on Saturday Turua. defeated Kopuarahi by 7 sets 82 games, to 6 sets 78 games. Results (Kopuarahi names mentioned first) :—Men's singles: T. McKay lost to F. C.. Robinson, 3—9 ; L. Cundy beat G. Elyin, 9—7; A. McMillan beat C. Scott, 9—3: B. McMillan lost to J. Devereaux, 4—9. Ladies' singles: ■ Miss E. Candy lost to Mrs. A. Clotworthy, 3—7; Miss A. Candy lost to Mrs. Scott, 3—7. Combined doubles: E. O'Carroll and Mrs. T. O'Carroll lost to Dr. Lange and Mrs. Robinson, 2 —7; J. O'Carroll and Miss O'Carroll beat A. MeConnell and Miss Clotworthy. 7 —l. Men's doubles: McKay and Candy beat Robinson and Devereaux, 9 —4; A. and B. McMillan beat Elvin and Scott, 9—2: E. and J. O'Carroll lost to Lange and McConnell, 5—9. Ladies' doubles: Misses E. and A. Candy beat Mesdames Clotworthy and Scott. 7—5; Mrs. T. and Miss N. O'Carroll lost to Mrs. Robinson and Miss Clotworthy, 6—7.

Waitakaruru defeated Kerepeehi by 7 sets 80 games, to 6 sets 86 games. Results are (Waitakaruru names first) : —Men's singles; Griffiths beat G. Crisp, 9 —B: D. Molesworth beat N. Clay, 9—5; A. Otter beat H. Candy, 9—4; G. Paton lost to C. O'Loughlin. B—9. Ladies' singles: Miss Beaver beat Mrs. O'Loughlin, 7 —6; Miss Jessep lost to Mrs. 'Hudson, I—7. Combined doubles: A. McLean and Miss ' Gillett lost to E. Smart and Miss Rogers. 3—7; B. Morgan and Mrs. Paton lost to C. Hudson and Miss Paker. 3—7. Men's doubles: Griffiths and Molesworth beat Crisp and Clay, 9 —4; Otter and Paton beat Candy and O'Loughlin. 9—7; McLean and Morgan beat Hudson and Smart, 9—B. Ladies' doubles: Misses Beaver and Jessep lost to Mesdames O'Loughlin and Hudson, I—7;1 —7; Mrs. Paton and Miss' Gillet lost to Misses Rogers and Parker, I—7. In the B grade series Turua defeated Waitakaruru. ; i,~ WILDING SHIELD CHALLENGE. CHRISTCHURCH, this day. The Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association has resolved that a challenge be lodged for a contest for the Anthony Wilding Shield, held by Wellington, to take place on February 24 and 25. It was also resolved that Otago Association be asked to send a representative team to Christchurch again this season. CAMBRIDGE DEFEATS HAMILTON. (From Onr Own Correspondent.) CAMBRIDGE, Monday. The Cambridge Club have a strong senior team this season and they demonstrated that fact on Saturday afternoon by winning the first match, against Hamilton, jy fourteen sets to ten, after a very interesting and closely-contested match. The Hamilton Club did not have its strongest combination, several of its best men players being absent, but It was represented by Its strongest ladies. The local ladies showed their superiority, winning four of the six singles and all three doubles. In the men's singles Hamilton secured four wins and also two of the three doubles, while of the combined doubles four went to the local dub. Nearly all the sets were closely contested and some good tennis was i -seen.