LAWN TENNIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 93, 20 April 1932, Page 13

LAWN TENNIS.

LADY PLAYERS RANKED. SEASON'S PERFORMANCES REVIEWED. (By HALF-VOLLEY.) In the following article I give the annual ranking list with comments on the form of the players concerned throughout the season. In this column next week will appear a men's list, also with a full review of players' performances. The compilation of the ranking list is always a thankless task. It is obviously impossible to compile a lint so that every match played will show form exactly consistent with the ranking. The nearest that can be done is to arrive at an estimate of the average form of players throughout the whoie season, and taking this as the basic consideration, the following list is put forward as an accurate ranking:—(l) Miss Marjorie Macfarlane, (2) Miss 13. M. Knight. (3) Mrs. B. Napier, (4) Miss T. D. Newton, (5) .Miss •f. E. Ramsay, (6) Miss Marion Macfarlane, (7) Miss It. Taylor, (8) Miss L\ Miller, (!)) Miss L. Robcrton, (10) Misa B. Griffiths, (11) Mrs. I>. Wren, (12) Miss W. YYorrall, Miss Edwards and Mrs. Russell (equal). In compiling this list Lhc association ladder has not .been taken as a final authority, though ladder matches and ladder placings have been taken into account where no more satisfactory index of form was obtainable. Singles matches only have been taken into consideration, and no doubles matches have been used to guide the writer, though comments on doubles form are occasionally added as being of general interest. Miss Macfarlane's Continued Success. Miss Marjorie Macfarlane (Remuera), holder of the Auckland championship and of the championship of the Remuera Club, will by common consent be given tiie first place. Apart from one ladder match lost to Miss Knight, the only losses which she suffered during the season were to players outside Auckland. In the Nunncley Casket match Miss Macfarlane lost to Mrs. Dykes in straight sets, and in the Australian Test she lost to .Miss Hall. In the New Zealand championships she was somewhat unexpectedly defeated by Mrs. France, (5 —2, 7 —5, in the second round.

Apart from these four losses Miss Macfarlane has had a season of unbroken success. Her win over Miss D. Nicholls in three sets in the Nunneley Casket match was perhaps her best performance, though some would put her defeat of Miss Hartigan in the Test as a more creditable victory. During the season she defeated Miss Knight three times—once in a ladder match, once in the final of the Auckland championship and once in the final inter-club match. She defeated Mrs. Napier likewise on two occasions, and also Miss Marion Macfarlane (in the semifinal at Remuera) and Miss P. Miller (in the Auckland championship). In the hard court championships at Easter Miss Macfarlane wound up a completely successful season by winning the championship, decisively defeating Miss Newton in the semifinal and Miss Marion Macfarlane in the final. Altogether there is not the slightest doubt of her claim to the first place. Her triple win in the Auckland championships demonstrates that she is an attacking force of the first order in doubles, as well as singles. She is ranked as No. 1 on the Auckland ladder.

Miss B. M. Knight (Eden and Epsom), ranked at No. 2, had a rather disappointing season, falling away after she had given a glimpse of brilliant form early ill the summer. She began the season by striking form quite early, and before Christinas defeated Miss Macfarlane in a ladder match in a manner which gave her supporters some hope of seeing her win the Auckland championship. Selected to play for New Zealand against Australia, she failed to strike anything like form against the brilliant Australian ladies, losing to Miss Hall, 6—3, o—2, and. to Miss Ha'rtigan, o—2, o—2. In the New Zealand championships. after defeating Miss Howell and Miss Newton, she lost to Mrs. Molesworth, 6—2. C-2. After this tournament Miss Knight retired trom the Nunneley Casket team, her place being filled by Miss Marion Macfarlane. In the Auckland championships Miss Knight reached the final, defeating in turn Miss Marion Macfarlane, Miss Roberton and Mrs. Melody, before going down to Miss Marjorie Macfarlane in the final. In the only inter-club match she played she was again defeated by Miss Marjorie Macfarlane. At Eden and Epsom she defeated both Miss Newton and Miss Miller, to win the singles championship of that club. Miss Knight did not play either Miss Ramsay, Mrs. Napier %r Miss Taylor in matches during the season; with these exceptions she defeated every other nlayer ranked on this list clown to No. 9. She holds the second place on the Auckland ladder. Rise of Mrs. Napier. Mrs. B. Napier (Remuera) is placed at No. 3. Without doubt she is the mostimproved player in Auckland this season. When it is pointed out that in the 1930 and 1931 ranking lists published in this column she was placed in each case at No. 9, and that she started this season at No. 9 on the Auckland ladder (on which she is now placed fourth below Miss Ramsay) it will be seen that her play has improved out of sight in the course of the season. Indeed, when her performances are examined in detail they appear equal to Miss Knight's, and I have placed Miss Knight ahead simply on the latter's ladder placing and on the fact that Mrs. Napier has not beaten her. Mrs. Napier's inclusion in the Nunneley Casket team was the occasion of her first success. Her inclusion in the team at all was a matter of argument among some of the critics, but proved amply justified, as she defeated both Miss D. Howe and Mrs. France. In the New Zealand championship she went down, in the first match she played, to Mrs. Molesworth, who beat Miss Knight in the next round. Her performances include two decisive wins over Miss J. E. Ramsay, who hitherto has occupied an indisputable position at No. 3 on an Auckland ranking. Miss Ramsay still holds the third place on the official ladder, but her two losses to Mrs. Napier in the inter-club final and in the Auckland championship, make it clear that Mrs. Napier must be ranked ahead of her. Mrs. Napier twice tried conclusions with Miss Macfarlane—once in the semi-final of the Auckland championship and once in the Remuera final, and on each occasion was beaten. She defeated Miss Taylor at Remuera in straight sets, after the latter lady had beaten Miss Ramsay. Mrs. Napier concluded a successful season by losing to Miss Marion Macfarlane in the semi-final of the hard court championship.

I have placed Miss T. D. Newton (Eden and Epsom) next, at No. 4. She has few playing performances on which to rank her, and it is a question whether she would not be more fairly treated by placing her in the "insufficient data list. However, if she is to be ranked at all, it must be here. She did not play Miss Marjorie Macfarlane during the season until the Easter hard court tournament, when the Remuera lady decisively defeated her at 6—2, 6—l. On grass she lost twice to Miss Knight—once in the Eden and Epsom semi-final and once in the New Zealand championships. In each case she took the second set. In the New Zealand championships she decisively defeated Miss Marion Macfarlane. The Remuera selectors apparently thought that this result was no fluke, when they did not put Miss Macfarlane in their singles team against Eden and Epsom. In that match Miss Newton was placed against Miss Griffiths, whom she defeated after a match which probably did not show Miss Newton to be worth the fourth position in this list. I am of opinion in spite of the few performances given above that Miss Newton would certainly defeat Miss Ramsay at present, and I have therefore placed her fourth, ahead of Miss Ramsay. Miss Newton occupies the fifth place on the Auckland ladder, below Mrs, Napier.

I Miss J. E. Ramsay, ranked this year at No. 5, started the season well, but failed J at any time during the tournament seai son to produce any match form at all. This is one of the worst reversals of form I have seen in a local player, and suggests that Miss Ramsay would have been wise to stop playing altogether after January and give her tennis a muchneeded rest till next year. Her record is almost entirely one of losses. In the Christmas tournament she lost successively to Mrs. Dykes, Miss Nicholls and Miss Valkenburg. all dn straight sets. In the Auckland championship she was defeated in the second round by Mrs. Napier, who also defeated her in the inter-club final. At Remuera she defeated Miss Robcrton in straight sets in the first round, only to be .beaten by Miss Taylor in the second. At Eden and Epsom she wisely defaulted, and stopped .playing singles matches. She should, I think, have given herself a rest earlier in the season. Miss M. Macfarlane Sixth. Miss Marion Macfarlane (Remuera) I place next at No. 6. Who concluded a somewhat patchy season by an excellent win over Mrs. Napier in the semi-final of the hard-court championship. She was selected to play for Auckland in the Nunneley Casket match, ahead of Miss Newton; but this selection was made before Miss Newton's win over her in the New Zealand championship, which clearly entitles Miss Newton to the higher position in this list. During the season she was also defeated by Miss Marjorie Macfarlane, in the Remuera semi-final, and by, Miss Knight in the Auckland champion-' ship. In the Nunneley Casket match she failed to take a set from either Mrs. France or -Miss Howe. In the inter-club match against Parnoll she was unaccountably defeated by -Mrs. Russell in straight sets. She beat Miss Betty Griffiths at i Remuera before meeting her sister in the | semi-final, but the Remuera selectors preferred to play .Miss Griffiths in the final | inter-club match. Nevertheless 1 place her definitely above either Miss Taylor or Miss Kobeiton, whom I rank at Nos. 7j and '■) respectively. Miss K. Taylor (University and Remuera) has improved her game during the season, and though her actual match performances in big tennis have been few, I think myself justified in placing her ahead of either Miss Miller and Miss Robcrton at Xo. 7. Her defeat of -Miss Ramsay in the Remuera championship was a very creditable performance; she had previously beaten Miss Richardson, G —o, 7—j, in the first round. In the New Zealand championship she was severely beaten by Miss Hartigan, and in the Auckland championship also did not survive the first round. She was defeated by Mrs. Napier at Remuera. In the inter-'Varsity tournament she was compelled to default owing to an injured knee; it is doubtful whether she was wise to take the risk of playing in this tournament at all. Miss Taylor is the holder of the eighth place on the Auckland ladder. Miss P. Miller (Eden and Epsom) has had few performances to judge by during the season. In fact practically all her performances in first-class tennis are losses—she lost to Miss Knight in the Eden and Epsom final; to Miss Lloyd in the New Zealand championship, and to Miss Marjorie Macfarlane in the Auckland tournament. Nevertheless, though Miss Miller's performances are few, her match against Miss Knight in the Eden and Epsom final, where she lost only by a couple of strokes in the third set, gives some indication of her capabilities, and 1 consider that she would beat Miss Roberton in a championship match at present. Miss Miller is not ranked on the Auckland ladder. Miss Roberton's Thin Season. Miss L. Robcrton (University and Remuera) generally regarded (and rightly) as one of the very best of Auckland's younger generation of players, has not had a very convincing season when her match performances are examined in detail. She was successful at Easter in retaining the inter-University championship at Wellington; but apart from this she has not done at all well, her only recorded match win (apart- from ladder matches) being over Mrs. Wren in the Auckland championship. In this tournament she was beaten by Miss Knight in the second round, while Miss Ramsay beat her in the first round at Remuera. In the New Zealand championship she was defeated by Miss Howe in the fifth round. Nevertheless, I am of opinion that she cannot be ranked lower than ninth. She holds the sixth place on the Auckland ladder above Miss Marion Macfarlane. Tenth Place to Miss Betty Griffiths. Miss Betty Griffiths (Remuera) is in my opinion undoubtedly next, and 1 place her tenth. This is her first inclusion in any Auckland ranking, and she is not ranked on the Auckland ladder. She did not play in the Auckland championship singles, and in the New Zealand championship was beaten by Mrs. France, 6—o, C—l, in the first round. _ Her two best performances were both in matches which she lost—when she was beaten in the Remuera championship by Miss Marion Macfarlane, 6—4, 5—7, B—fi, and when she lost to Miss Newton in the inter-club final, 5—C, o—3. Miss Griffiths, in my opinion, showed greater improvement this season than any other Auckland junior girl player, and will be found, in the course of the next couple of years, considerably higher up the list. Mrs. P. Wren (Parnell), must come next at eleventh. Her only inter-club performance was a loss to Mrs. Napier in straight sets, and in the Auckland championship she went under to Miss Robcrton in the first round. Her best wins were in the Parnell championship, which she won this year for the first time. The twelfth place I have had considerable difficulty in filling, and after some hesitation I have bracketed three names for this position—Misses W. Worrall (Poval Oak), Miss G. Edwards (Eden and Epsom) and Mrs. Russell (Parnell). Miss Worrall's performances at Onehunga, Miss Edwards' wins in the hard-court championship and Mrs. Russell's victory, over Miss Marion Macfarlane in tlic mterclub, give each of these players in turn some right to inclusion. None of them. so far as I am aware, has played any of the others, and none is ranked on the Auckland ladder. I place them equal.