LAWN TENNIS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18675, 26 April 1926, Page 6

LAWN TENNIS.

NEW ZEALANDERS ON TOUR. PLAY IN SYDNEY. LACK OF BIG MATCH EXPERIENCE. (special to "the phess."; SYDNEY, April IL\ Tho New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association should be well satisfied with the showing made by its representative team in Sydney. Lack of big match experience and insufficient practice were the deciding factors in the Test match against the best of New South Wales. Stroke for stroke the New Zealanders were equal to their opponents, but they failed when meeting more seasoned and experienced players. The New South Wales players are great opportunists, and, with their superior knowledge of match tactics, they were able to choose the right time to ring on the changes, with good results. This was very noticeable in the Peach v. Andrews, Willard v. Andrews, and Kalms v. Seay matches. Peach tried every possible stroke and method to put Andrews off his drive, and though he failed, Willard benefited, and was forewarned when he stepped on to the court to meet the young New Zealander. At first he was surprised, and while Andrews was running up a lead of 5-2 in the first set, he covered twice as much ground as the New Zealander, reminding one of Dr. Jimmy Laurenson playing Ollivier. But Willard's wonderful recoveries urged Andrews to take risks, and then came the reward for his perseverance. Changing his tactics, Willard tried the unexpected, gambling on the inexperience of liis youthful opponent, and this want of experience alone robbed Andrews of a great victory. "Pace More Thaa Place." . The New Zealanders fail overhead by going for pace more than place. This was very noticeable in the doubles. With the exception of Wallace and Smyth they played like novices. Tho Australians use the drop shot and a quick follow-ia effectively, but the New Zealanders play the same strokes and use the same tactics as in their singles. The courtcraft of Kalms is wonderful, and Seay and France should benefit by their matches against this player. Andrews and Seay played up to their New Zealand form, while Wallace, as usual, was consistent, but a bad cold prevented him from showing his best. Smyth has not shown any of his known speed, but he played good games .in the doubles when parfcnorcd with Wallace. Prance and Wilson were alternately brilliant and slack, being affected by the humid conditions more than the others. The members of the team have had a valuable • experience, and have acquitted themselves well. With better weather and more practice they would have made a better showing, but they showed much improvement on the! second day of the Test match. On-both days of the Test the courts were slow and slippery, and with only fifteen feet back-run, play at times was cramped. . The Matches. New South Wales was represented by J. Willard, N. Peacli (captain), F. Kalms, R. 0. Cummings, L. J3. Baker, and Dr. A. L. North. The pairs for th 6 doubles were Willard and Kalms, Peach and Baker, and Cummings and NortK. New Zealand's team was E. D. E. B. W. Smyth, D. G. France, I. A. Seay, N. R. C. Wilson, and A. G. Wallace (captain). The pairs for the doubles were Wallace and Smyth, France and Wilson, and Andrews and Seay. - Of the singles New South Wales won 9 and New Zealand 8. In the WilsonNorth match the New Zealander played a patchy game. After. losing the first set, 4-6, obtained a lead of 4-1 in the second set, he changed his game, sat back, and was beaten 6-4; Wallace put up a good fight against Baker, who started with good serving and volleying, and maintained a lead to win the first set at 6-4. In the second set, with Baker leading 4-2, Wallace forced his opponent back by some fine driving, and keeping up the pressure won at 6-4. The third set) found Wallace tiring, and he had to accept defeat at 6-4. Wallace was suffering from a bad cold, and found the heat very trying. France's victory over Cummings was obtained by sound deep driving, varied with successful sorting to tho net. His win in two sets was iirtpressive. Seay showed at his best in ln's match against Kalms. Although defeated,. 6-8, 6-2, 6-3, his game was full of merit; Kalms was the most versatile of tho New South Wales team,.and his courtcraft is excellent. Andrews had little difficulty in beating Peach in two sets.. From the word "play" Andrews hit hard and true, and made light of the changes tried by his more experienced opponent. Smytti never looked ;like extending Willard. The.slow.court was not to his liking. The Second Day. On the second day Wallace met North and a long closely contested match was played. After winning the first set 6-2,. North led 5-1 in the second, and then Wallace gave a glimpse of his true form, and won at 7-5. In the final set Wallace led 6-5 and 7-6, but he lost the next three games and the match. Wilson took the first set from Baker and led 3-0 in the second, but then on he could not keep Baker back from the net, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Seay played with confidence against Cumnjings, and won in two sets.

Smyth had no answer to Peach's attack, and scored only four games in two sets, The best match of the test was that between Andrews and Willard. In this match Andrews fuJlv justified the selectors 1 opinions in placing him first in the team. Serving and driving hard and true Andrews obtained a lead of 5-2 in the first set. Here Willard pave a taste of that determination that has made him well known throughout Australia. He mado wonderful recoveries, attacked unexpectedly, and never let up for a moment. If ever a tennis player gambled on the court, -Willard did. Time and again, with set point against f him, he took bitr risks. He caught Andrews at five all, and then Andrews took the next game on his service. Then followed th«> hardest frames of the match. Deuce was called four times on Willard's s»rvic« before he won, and made it sis all. Each won his sen-ice to eight all; then Andrews dronned his and Willard won the next at 10-8. Tn the set the pace was maintained, and Willard siot a lead of 4-1. Andrews took + l;e next two games, but lost the eighth. A pa in Andrews took, two games, making: five all. The scores i-fi was then failed, Andrews leadintr, but aeain Willard adopted .bis whirlwind tactics, and won the set. 9-7. This njatcb stamps Andrews as one of the best singles players New Zealand

has ever produced. ■ More certainty overhead and a change of service would gn't! him better command of the» court. Ifis cronnd strokes were superior to tlio?o of his opponents. France could not get going against Kalms, and had to be content with three games in the two sets. The Doubles. | The doubles matches only confirmpd the knowledge that in this branch of the game New Zealand players are weak. They do not cultivate the strokes required, and in most cases play their own set game without thought for their partners. "Wallace and Smyth were the only New Zealand pair to show understanding of the doubles game, and without detracting from Smyth's good showing it must be said that Wallace's knowledge of the game was the deciding factor in their victory over Willard and Kalms. Their loss to Peach and Baker was due to "Wallace's inability to follow the flight of the ball through the shadows thrown over the court by a nearby gasometer. Little attention is paid to these details over here. On the second day, the best, the doubles were played on the courts in front of the grandstand. The courts were not fit for play, and although the manager of the New Zealand team entered a formal objection the acting referee, without reference to the team captains, decreed that these courts were to be used After a few minutes' play the courts reminded' one of the saddling paddock at Trentham during a winter meeting. But. these things are sent to try us, and the young and inexperienced New Zealanders stood 1 the test with smiles. The final scores gave New South Wales the match by 15 rubbers, 32 sets, 271 games, to 6 rubbers, 19 sets, 219 games. THE OLD SCHOOL. COMPARISONS OF PLAT. (FROM OtTR OWN . COBRESPOHDENT.) LONDON", March 10. The "Morning Post" to-day publishes » turn-over article by Mr I\ M. B. Fisher on "Lawn Tennis To-<ay." The New Zealander is thus editorially introduced to readers of the paper: "The writer of this article 'dates back' to the beginning of the present century. He won the doubles championship of New Zealand four times between 1901' and 1910, and has been six times runner-up for the New Zealand singles championship. He had a hand in the training of his young compatriot, 'Tony' Wilding, who became one of the world's greatest players before his life was nnt imely ended by the Great War. Having made England his home since 1918, has maintained his lawn tennis activities with no small amount of distinction against players of the modern school of all nationalities." From remote and rustic beginnings at Wimbledon, the game has advancod until it has . become one of the greatest of all international sports, says Mr Fisher, who bases his observations over a period of twenty-eight years of championship play—a period perhaps sufficiently long to allow some reasonable comparison to be made. Not Faster. "If I were asked whether the modern game was faster than that of a generation ago, I confess (writes Mr Fisher) that my experience tells mo that it is not, so far as the hitting power of the player is concerned. There is more volleying, and, no doubt, a great deal more spectacular play, which has enhanced the popularity of the game enormously. One not infrequently hears the view expressed that modern play is faster because: (a) The courts are faster; (b) the racquets are better; and (c) the balls are faster. I confess that Ido not ndhere to this view. In a comparison between. twenty years ago and to-day, the only real difference consists in a faster and more uncertain service and a great deal more close volleying. This change has' undoubtedly diminished the accuracy of the game, even if. as I say, it has added to the spectacnlar side. "As to speed, and I am referring to speed off the ground, it is extremely doubtful if any modern plovers can be citod to compare with A. F. "Wilding ten years ago.S. H. Smith twenty years ago, and W. Renshaw, who forty years ago defeated the holder the Championship, JI. F. Lawford; a love set in 84 minutes—surely a marvellous record of both speed and accuracy I And I propose to set out to prove, if such a proposition can fce proved, that, whilst flrst-claßs volleying does undoubtedly add to the charm, excitement, and uncertainty of the game, nnd often gives us those sensational thrills which form such a feature of the Wimbledon championships, it is the accurate baseline player who to-day stands supreme. World's Greatest. :: "Not only are the world's greatest players base-liners, but the importance of the ground shots lias become more obvious as volleying hail improved. In csbo there should be any doubt arising out of my statement that the world's greatest players are base-liners, I propose to give a few illustrations. "Let us take, first, that perfectly extraordinary player, Mile. Suzanne Jjenglen. It is true to say that not only can she volley, but she is a beautiful and accurate voileyer. But those who have closely observed her great matches will have noted that she very rarely volleys in a single, though when she is drawn close to the net andis compelled to, she can be very deadly. La Coste, who won at Wimbledon last year, and is champion of France, and who recently had Mr Tilden within a point of dofeat, rarely advances to the net, and then only when he is compelled to. Here, again, we have a player who can volley most effectively .when called upon, but he is a base-line player Jn every sense of tho word. Turning to Tilden, we find the same qualities, and it can truly be said that his great victories have been won from tho baseline, especially during tho last year or two. W. M. Johnston affords another illustration to support the contention that modern speed and volleying havo not by any means crushed the base-liner, that, por contra, it is tho basoliner who lias uprooted the voileyer. "Those who can recall the famous match between Mr Maurice- McLoughlin nn<l Mr 'Tony' Wilding were afforded a picturesque' instance of the ground-shot playor defeating a .remarkable voileyer who was sustained bv an even more remarkablo service. Matches Never Played. "One dreams sometimes of possible matches between players whom Fate has ordained should nover meet. ... It is my view that no pair at Wimbledon of recent years would have ever defeated the Dohertys, who set an inimitable standard of accuracy, combined with pace and unsurpassed judgment. As late as 1916 I had the pleasure of participating in a four in which 'Little Do' took part. Notwithstanding his long absence from the game, the sparkle of his genius was not by any means dimmed, nml, although short of practice, it was abundantly evident that pace alone was not sufficient tn prevent him from finding the vulnerable spots in his opponent's attack or defence, nor to deter him from playing those wonderfully angled shots with a composure and skill (hat were a revelation to us all. He indicated clearly, the real and substantial bridge that spanned a quarter of a century, just as .two years ago Norman Brookes, when he defeated Hunter on the centre court, gave us a taste of the skill of the real giant of twenty years ago. I think wo all of the later era can never be unmindful of the debt, wo owe to the old school, who laid the solid foundations upon which the modern champions have stood."