LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1932, Page 15

LAWN TENNIS.

dominion championships REVIEWED. BRILLIANT AUSTRALIAN LADIES. (By HALF-VOLLEY.) The 1031 New Zealand championship meeting just concluded at Stanley Street must rank as one of the most successful on record, from the point of view both f the number of representative players rnmnetiug, and of the interest taken m tlTnlay by the public. The attendance, it is believed, reached a figure at least half as large again as the previous record; ~,i it is certain that the increased facihZ s offered to the public at . Stanley Street bv the Auckland Association, parfirularly'tke two-roofed stands, will prove first-class investment to the association from a financial point of view. The mana cement of the tournament was exceecl£„ly efficient, and a word of praise is certainly due to the ladies' committee, who organised the catering arrangements and made the tea tent such a pleasant place. The weather made the courts hard and fast and not one match had to be postponed on account of rain. Angas Wins His Second Championship. ThP men's singles title, which seenied s0 open at the commencement of the tournament that few critics would predict further than the semi-finals,_ went again 0 q Angas, the winner m 1929. He must' be regarded as undoubtedly the first player in New Zealand to-day having lipiten Stiirt, D. G. 1 ranee and Bartleet on the way through to the final (though he lost to Bartleet m a Wilding Shield match In the final he demonstrated that he was always Barnett's superior, though the latter had successively defeated bted- ' „ a nd Wilson in the championship, and also Bartleet in the Wilding Shield. Angas ia undoubtedly a champion. He lias nearly every stroke. His forehand and backhand drives, though they may not seem to a spectator to be very severe, really carry more pace than is apparent, owing to the ease and grace with which they are produced. He can place his drive with great accuracy on both forehand and backhand. It is at the net, however that' Angas is at his best, and his anticipation in this position is uncanny. He is very quick in his movements on ihe court, and very light on liis feet, moving with very small quick steps into position, and thus giving his opponent little chance to catcli him on ' the wrong foot" He is always in the correct position, and is a master of anticipation, in defence as well as in attack. Abo\ e all lie has a superb confidence in his own ability to win, an excellent attitude in a champion. H. A. Barnett, the young Canterbury second string, covered himself with glory in reaching the Dominion championship final for the second time before he leached the age of 21 years. In this tournament and the Wilding Shield matches which preceded it, he defeated Bartleet, Stedman (twice) and Wilson (twice), and lost matches only to I). G. France (in the Wilding Shield) and Angas (in the final). Although not a player whose tactics can ever appeal to the imagination of the grandstand, he must be accounted one of the most accomplished defensive players that has ever graced the courts at Stanley Street. He seldom drives the ball with any pace, and never volleys, in a single, unless drawn into the net by his opponent. Yet his sense of position on the court is such that he appears to return with ease shots, however severe, played to almost any angle. Defensive anticipation is the keynote of his play, and he has brought it to the level of a fine art.'' It may be said that it is an art but little studied among Auckland players. Wilson and Barnett—A Contrast. N. R. C. Wilson, who lost to Barnett in the semi-final, is a player possessing an exactly opposite style; he knows not the meaning of defence for its own sake, and attack is the keynote—in fact the beginning and the end—of his game. Much better in doubles than in singles, for the reason that his wonderful smash and liis deadly volleys close to the net have much more scope in the doubles game, he has nevertheless established for himself a considerable reputation as a singles player. He is the present holder of the Wellington title. It was an education in contrasting styles to see him plav Barnett; the Wellington man eager, thrusting, hitting the rising ball hard, chafing to get to the net; the young Christcliurch player cool, collected, playing exclusively from- the baseline, deliberately waiting for each ball, and then taking all the sting out of his opponents' shots. It is easy to understand why the grandstand sympathised with Wilson almost to a man. E. L. Bartleet played with confidence at early stages in the tournament, when he successively defeated Glanville, Charters, Wright and Laurenson without appearing unduly troubled by any of them. True, Glanville took the first two sets from the Aucklander, but Bartleet did not appear at ail upset, and won the last three with something to spare. But against Angas, Bartleet found on the day that he had met a better and fitter player. Alan Stedman, as was perhaps only natural.- could not stand the strain imposed on a champion defending his • fi jp e near '- v ''°st to Norman Smith in the first round, and never throughout the tournament played with the confidence which distinguished his game last year. And when he met Barnett in the quarterfinal the memory of the disastrous Wilding Shield preliminary match, perhaps, was too miich for his moral. Stedman is young enough, yet. however, and may lay his plans for a further attack on the championship. His splendid forehand drive ana severe smash are great assets, and tlie rest, of his game should be built up to them where possible. There is no doubt that his two great weaknesses are his footwork and his low volleys, and an improvement in the former especially would make him a much more formidable opponent. Angas can well be taken as 8 if 0 ,? 1 k.V any player in this respect. D. G. France, of Wellington, whom many critics fancied as a probable winner, will be justified in thinking himself unlucky in leaving another New Zealand championship without winning any of the tlivee titles. France, though every year tor perhaps ten years he has been a distinct possibility for the title, has never yet won the singles championship. This year he was playing particularly well, and in his game against Barnett in the Wilding Shield match he demonstrated that I he was the only player in New Zealand who could defeat the Canterbury player •b.v means of a net attack. He was perhaps unfortunate in meeting Angas in a conquering mood so early in the draw. Australian Ladies Too Good. Ihe ladies' singles event, won by Miss Hartigan, showed only too well how much superior the visiting Australian ladies are to their New Zealand sisters. Seeded at equal intervals down the draw, the tour Australians contested the semifinals among themselves after eliminating all the New Zealand players. In the doubles, too, the Australians were the winners, Misses Hall and Valkenburg entirely outplaying Mrs. Dykes and Miss lvnight in the final. Miss J. Hartigan, in her singles matches, gave New Zealand ladies something to think about in the speed of her forehand drives, than which nothing fiercer has ever been seen in action in ladies' matches in Auckland. Indeed, a former holder of the New Zealand men's singles title, who line-umpired for one of lier matches, said (and I agree with liim) that no man player in New Zealand had a drive whose average speed exceeded Miss Hartigan's. Of course a shot of such severity must leave little margin for error, and one can believe that when Miss Hartigan is off her game, she is very far off it. Mrs. Molesworth's game I reviewed in this column last week. Her determination and the definiteness with which she goes for placements on her backhand, are the thief features of her game. Of the two doubles winners, Miss Valkenburg and Miss Hall, one can only say that_ they outplayed Mrs. Dykes and Miss Knight

decisively. Their eagerness in anticipation, omi the speed and lightness with which they (and particularly Miss Hall, who is a model in this respect) moved around the court, won the whole-hearted admiration of every spectator. Both on and off the court the Australian ladies' team will leave behind it a most enviable reputation. The neatness of their appearance on the court was in accordance with the tradition established by all Australian tennis teams — it is amusing to see this topic continually harped on b.v American writers, who habitually hold the Australians up as models to their own players in this respect. As to the management, they cannot ipraise the Australian ladies too highly: they never complained about anything, and were always ready to play when required and to acquiesce in all arrangements made by the committee. Altogether a wonderfully good team, leaving behind it a reputation which will become almost a tradition.