DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 12

DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIPS.

WELLDT6TON MEN'S STRENGTH A PROGRESS REPORT. (By HALF-VOLLEY.) All eyes will be ou Timaru to-day, if the weather holds, for to-day the finals of the Xew Zealand championships are being played at the South Canterbury centre. The following "progress criticisms" are made on the state of the tournament at mid-day on Monday. Monday saw the greatest upset in the tournament so far, and one of the greatest upsets in the whole history of the New Zealand championships, when both the favourites were beaten in the semi-finals of the men's singles. In the absence Qf any overseas players, this event had been regarded as a pretty sure thing for C. Angas, the Canterbury crack, who won in 1929 and 1931. In the bottom half of the draw Sturt, Bedford and Ferkins disputed the light to enter the final; of these Sturt, seeded No. 2, was generally given the best chance, and after his convincing straightsets wins over Gunn and Barnett, few doubted that the final would see Sturt in action against Angas. The critics were all confounded, however, when Angas was defeated by Dennis Coombe (Wellington) and Sturt lost to Bedford (Wellington). The two Wellington players, neither of whom has yet won the championship, will fight out the final match to-day, and I will defer my remarks on their respective careers and styles meanwhile, and draw attention at this stage to some of the lesser lights of the tournament. Wellington's Strength. One of the facts emerging from the tournament is the strength of the Wellington men's contingent. Not only is the final of the men's singles being fought out between two Wellingtonians, but in Ferkins, Roussell, Edwards and Charters, Wellington has four more singles players who are among the Dominion's best. Ferkins needs no mention here—he has often been seen in action in Auckland, and his cheerful imperturbab.lity and persistent workmanlike style always endear him to the gallery and carry him through to the concluding stages of tournaments. Roussell's games at Auckland at the last Dominion tournament to be played here are still remembered. Charters has apparently recaptured the great form which nearly enabled him to d-feat Alan Stedman a few years ago in a sensational match. He volleys crisply and audaciouslv, and his sharply angled shots are particularly deadly on a slow court, as A. D. Brown found to his chagrin when Charters defeated him in straight sets. Edwards, unknown in Auckland, is apparently an acquisition to Wellington and Xew Zea-

land tennis —he defeated J. Roach (Waikato) in four sets on the first day, his brilliant passing shots being the deciding factor in the match, and then took Bedford to four sets, making Bedford turn on his best game to win. Canterbury Ladies Strong. If one excepts Misses D. Xicholls and N. Beverley, the two finalists in the ladies' singles event, the Canterbury ladies show up at this tournament as strongly as the Wellington men. Misses T. and I. Poole, Mrs. Beatson (formerly Miss Marjorie Sherris), Miss X. Bishop and Miss M. Wake are a pretty formidable contingent, and if they are not heard of in the singles final, some at least of these will still be well in the running when the concluding stages of the ladies' doubles and mixed doubles events are reached. But the outstanding performance of the tournament so far, on the ladies' side, has been the surprise win by Miss Margaret Beverley over Miss I. Poole in straight sets. Hitting very hard on both wings

Miss Beverley yet retained very complete control under very bad conditions, and ran Miss Poole mercilessly round and round the court. It was a sensational win, and a thoroughly well deserved one. It is but the prelude tee further first-class performances, for it seems impossible to pick anyone now in the junior class who w iU be able to prevent her winning the Dominion title in a few years' time. Perry to Play Vines. This week will see the first appearance °f. the great Perry as a professional: he will play Vines at New York, probably on January 6. There is sure to be tremendous interest taken in this first meeting, whose promoters, with some justice, claim to be presenting a "world championship contest." With Vines pre-eminent among the professionals and Perry lately the first of the amateurs, there would appear, in fact, to be every justification for calling the winner of this event a "world champion." Personally, I will be prepared to see Vines win. He has now thoroughly settled down to professional tennis, and it would seem that it takes some settling down before a player can turn on a mechanically perfect game under the different conditions that prevail under the professional regime. Perry is not good at adapting himself to new conditions, and it is quite likely that for a while he will fail to produce his best tennis. Vines has just returned to America from Japan, where he and Tilden have been conducting a highly successful tour.