TENNIS TOURNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 8

TENNIS TOURNEY.

NEW ZEALAND TITLES. RAIN HOLDS UP PLAY. POSTPONED TTT.T, TO-MORROW. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) TIMARU, this day. Upsets in the singles semi-finals yesterday did not affect the attendance for what will probably be the final day of the Xcw Zealand tenris championships. The sky was heavily overcast and a light drizzle was falling at 11 o'clock. The semi-finals of the mixed doubles were played this morning, and the first match resulted in the elimination of the Canterbury pair, Cant and Miss Gould by Coomb© ani Miss Nicholls. The standard of tennis was well below senior club standard. Coombe was exerting himself only at intervals, and Miss Gould, made numerous mistakes. Cant played some good shots, driving carefully and scoring points with placements from the net. Miss Nicholls was steady and reliable on the baseline. After holding two match points, when leading S —7 in the third set, Gunn and Margaret Beverley lost their right to contest the final of the mixed doubles championship, going down to Rousseil and Miss Poole after a marathon contest, which, although it did not rise to heights of brilliance, nevertheless contained plenty of sensational incidents. In the final set, when all four players were keyed up to a high pitch little mannerisms became noticeable when shots wore missed. The exchanges were keen and sharp. It was an evenly contested match, with Rousseil the most enterprising of the four players. He was lobbing deep to the back of the court, and frequently making good interceptions at the net, placing the ball between his two opponents as they advanced to attack. He scored most of his winners off Miss Beverley's cross-court drives. Misses Poole and Beverley had several driving duels, and the Canterbury girl brought off some spectacular halt-vol-leys. Light, but steady rain, was falling during the final two sets, and at the conclusion of the match it was announced that there would be no further play till this afternoon. Later it was decided to postpone further play till 9.30 a.m. to-morrow. Results:— Mixed Doubles. SEMI-FINALS. E. A. Rousseil and Miss I. Poole beat J. W. Gunn and Miss M. Beverlev 7—9 6—2, 11—9. D. C. Coombe and Miss D. Nicholls beat A. R. Cant and Miss B. Gould, 6—2 7 —5. '