LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 1, 2 January 1930, Page 5

LAWN TENNIS.

CHAMPIONSHIP FORM. * MORRISON SPRINGS A SURPRISE. MISS KNIGHT JUST MISSES. (By HALF-VOLLEY.) The provincial championships under the auspices of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association were commenced last Thursday under most adverse weather conditions, which prevailed during Friday and Saturday also. The committee were thus working under a severe handicap, and they can be congratulated for the manner in which the matches were put through under the circumstances. A pleasing feature was the readiness of the players to take the court sometimes in a slight drizzle. As might have been expected, all events were not completed. The final of the men's doubles (in which Sturt and Stedman meet A. C. Johns, and Morrison) and a semi-final and the final of the combined event are held over for a few weeks, and will be played when several players who have gone South to partake in other tournaments return to Auckland. Morrison's Fine Play. In the men's singles it was expected that the finalists would be E. L. Bartleet versus the winner of Stedman and 3SI. G. Sturt. Tennis is full of surprises, however, and on this occasion it fell to the _ lot of M. M. Morrison to provide the upsets. He eliminated in turn C'oatcs, Turner, Stedmau and Sturt. This is a splendid performance in itself, but when one recollects that in doing so he lost ouly one set, and that to Turner, surely iliis achievement can be termed remarkable. Morrison played mostly from the back of the court, and returned shots in rock-like fashion, producing a fine passing shot on either wing at critical times. His serving was second only to Bartleet's. A particularly fine .effort was in the last game of the first set against Sturt, when, with the game point against him, lie sent over three beautiful deliveries, two of which were aces, for game.- Stedman sent over numerous fine drives, many scoring outright, but the conditions were not to his liking. He might have met with more success had he journeyed to the net behind his well-placed drives. Sturt offered stout resistance during the first set, which went to the Eden and Epsom player at B—o, but after that seemed to fade away. In the final Morrison again put up a good fight, but at no stage did. it appear that Bartleet would not emerge victorious. He appeared to be playing well within himself. Bartleet scored regularly by following in on his service, .where he brought off some neat volleys. Right through the tournament Bartleet adapted himself splendidly to the trying conditions, and produced good tennis on all occasions. His fluency of stroke contrasted with Morrison's style, which is rather cramped. The latter plays most strokes close in to the body, though he brings off some excellent shots when called upon to make use of his great reach. The recent victory .marks the third win of the title by Bartleet, his previous successes being last year and in 1926-27.

J. C. Charters, of Whangarei, deserves credit for liis performance in beating V. R. Johns, Hubble and Griffiths. Hubble and Griffiths were both playing well, but Charters struck form early, and was the master in both matches. His was also a plucky effort against Bartleet, whom he ran to sets. Charters gets little first-class play, yet he is undoubtedly a much improved player. Miss Knight in Form. The semi-finalists in the ladies' singles turned up in Mrs. Melody and' Misses Knight, Macfarlane ai}d Ramsay as anticipated. In the earlier rounds, Miss P. Frankham met with considerable success !in defeating Miss Marion Macfarlane and Miss E. Miller in succession. She is a much improved player, and her successes should give her the necessary encouragement to go further. It is doubtful if there is a lady player who can cover court as quickly as she can. Miss Ramsay had three good wins before she in turn went out rather easily to Mrs. Melody. The latter's style no doubt affected her. Miss Knight scored a splendid victory over Miss Marjorie Macfarlane in the other semi-final, and she thoroughly deserved her win on the day. These players have met on a number of occasions with victory usually resting with Miss Macfarlane. Miss Knight was due for a win, and it is safe to say that her success will do both players good. The final was a hard-fought match, in which Mrs. Melody just managed to nose out. Miss Knight seemed to be affected by cramp in the closing stages,'and was "all in" at the finish." Mrs. Melody used a»chop stroke on both wings which required careful handling by her opponent, while her court-craft was superior to that of Miss Knight. The latter scored beautifully at times with her favourite backhand cross-court shot, and crisp volleys. Had she been in better form physically she would probably have been Auckland lady champion to-day.

From a small entry in tlie ladies' doubles Misses. B. Knight and N. Whitslaw emerged victorious without losing a set. The Misses Macfarlane offered most resistance in the second round, yielding only at G—4, 7 —5. Mesdames Melody and Arneil had a'comfortable win over Miss Ramsay and Mrs. Napier to reach the final, where they were unable to cope with the driving and volleying of the Eden and Epsom pair. When camped at the net the winners were a very hard pair to dislodge. Mrs. Arneil was the weakest of the four and certainly was much below, the form displayed by her on previous occasions.

Closely-Contested Doubles. The men's doubles event contained some even pairs and close contests were only to be expected. The marathon of them all was the second round match between Brough and -Hobbs and Melody and Hardy, won by the former at 6—B, 11—13, 12—10, 7—5, 7—5, a tota,! of 81 games. Milne and Lucas performed very well in capturing two-- sets from Sturt and Stedman. Nicholson and Hubble fought some very stubborn matches until eliminated by Johns and Morrison in the semi-final. In anticipation, Nicholson has no superior here, and he makes some amazing recoveries, while Hubble is playigg an improved game. He should • endeavour to get closer to the net. As stated above, the final of this event will take place later. The combined event was robbed of a deal of interest by the fact that two strong pairs in Stedman and Mrs. Melody and V. R. Johns and Miss Knight had to default. The present holders, A. C. Johns and Miss P. Miller, had an easy passage to the semi-final, where they have yet to .meet Entwistle and Miss Newton, the winners playing Turner

and Miss Wliitelaw in the final. J. T. Harrison and Miss McCrea surprised by a straight-set win over Charters and Mrs. Arneil. A number of local players have gone South for tournaments to be held at Xew Plymouth, Wanganui and Palmerston North. They included A. C, Stedman, A. M. Nicholson, Charters, .Turner, Hubble, Entwistle, Mrs. Arneil and Misses Ramsay and Frankham.