LAWN TENNIS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20777, 10 February 1933, Page 13

LAWN TENNIS.

ANGAS'S MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY. IMPRESSIONS OF THE TEST. High praise for the play of th» Canterbury champion, Charlie Angas, in the lawn tennis Test match, America v. New Zealand, at Wellington on Wednesday, was expressed yesterday by Mr Geoffrey Ollivier, who, in giving some observations on the play, to * representative of "The Press," said that he "would not have missed seeing the Americans for worlds." "Angas played a magnificent game in the doubles, in which he and E. 35. Andrews beat the world champions, Wilmer Allison and John van Byn," said Mr Ollivier. "It must have been easily the best game he ever played. He was here, there, and everywhere, anticipating the trend of play with the utmost certainty and volleying with the greatest accuracy from any part of the court. Ho combined really well with Andrews, although he had to take the left-hand court contrary to his usual custom-. Andrews deserves high praise for his performance, also, as he was as steady as a rock, making no mistakes with the chances that came his way, and working for openings with great skill." Mr Ollivier said that the match was splendid as a spectacle, and aroused the crowd to intense enthusiasm. "Played Within Themselves'." "The feature that struck me, most forcibly about the play of the Americans was the manner in which they played well within themselves. They never seemed to be going at full pressure except when they wanted a point or points very badly. They.won these vital points when they wanted to. Their play, too, contained a variety of strokes which was lacking in most of tho New ZealandWs' games. Their service varied in both spin and placement, while their ground strokes had a similar variety. Obviously inculcated by long match experience, their court position was infinitely superior to that of . all the New Zealanders with the possible exception of Andrews, who, it must be remembered, is in a class little inferior to that of the visitors. They were always in position for the returns, a keen sense of anticipation saving them much of the chasing tint »!)•• N>w Zealanders had to undertake in order to win their points." Top-Spin Irfttle Fused. Mr Ollivier said that the cannon-ball service of Vines was something to!'marvel at. Its sheer speed frequently left even Andrews standing. Discussing the characteristics of their play, Mr Ollivier said that the Americans had two stock strokes on the forehand, off either of which they developed great speed. The one was a perfectly flat drive off a medium-high or high ball., while the other was a sliced stroke off a ball that kept low. Top-spin had no important place in their stroke equipment at all. For their forehand shots they all used a very shor-t swing with most of the speed coming from a snap of the wrists, and they did not appear to pay much attention to footwork in the execution of strokes on this wing. This- characteristic was in marked contrast to their styles for the back- v hand, in which they religiously kept the right foot advanced and the bofly sideways on to the net. In the backhand,, however, they used a full sweep of the arm, with plenty of follow.through. The great speed of their volleys came from correct transference of body weight at the moment of striking, and with a curious rotation of the body they disguised the direction of the shot ' until the last possible moment. Devastating Smashes. "One hardly 6aw the ball after it left the racket when one of them essayed a smash," said Mr Oliivier,-who remarked that with the visitors a Binaßh ended the rally one way or the other, generally in their favour. Their methods of smashing were curiously similar — that is, they all crouched low while sighting the ball, and then leapt with their feet off tho ground to take the ball as high in its flight as possible. It was a devastating shot, and yet not more effective than their drdp shots : off hard drives at the back line. This' stroke they employed with the utmost subtlety and with a wonderful control, the ball clearing the net by inches and stopping dead with the spin imparted to it. Mr Ollivier inclined to the belief that much' of the visitors'" efficiency in regard po the development of speed and control was due to the exceptionally fine gut that they used in their rackets. While strung at an exceptionally.high tension, this gut was still, by reason of it's fineness, very resilient, gripping the ball in the same way as thicker gut at a lower tension, but allowing much greater speed to be imparted to'" the ball. This same fact, said Mr Ollivier, had been pointed out by Mr T. W. Patterson in the interview published in "The Press" on his return from Australia. Gledhill's Varied Play. Speaking of tho various games, Mr Ollivier said that Andrews gave a very good display, against Vines, and al-. though he played at well as he did in the New Zealand championships, he was not quite good enough for the great American youth- Malfroy also did himself justice, although fading out a little . 1 in the third set of his match with Allison. Don 5 France was not at his best against van Ryn, starting with three double faults in the first game, and "making many more mistakes than, he docs when in top form. Angas's exhibition against Glcdhill was excellent, and he was really a little unlucky to lose the match. "According to the Americans, Gledhill was the only one of the four playing at his best when they left Australia,", said Mr Ollivier, '' and I must say that he impressed me very much indeed. He mixed his play to an extraordinary degree, changing his tactics every two or three games from slow to fast, deep to short, .and from centre attack to corner, but -all the time making the net his objective. He came into the net on the most daring shots, and brought off some remarkable volleys." SECOND TEST TEAM. STEDMAN LIKELY TO REPLACE ANDREWS. Although no official anouncement has yet been made as to the composition of the New Zealand lawn tenuis team to play the Americans at Auckland to : morrow, it is understood that E. D. Andrews, the national champion, will not , be available. C. Angas, the Gantorbury champion, did not intend to take part in the Auckland game, and returned to Christcburcb . yesterday after Wodnes : day's match. He was prevailed uponj I however, to play at Auckland, and left for the north again last evening. The New Zealand team to play the Americana will probably be as follows: | C. E. Malfroy (Wellington). C. Angas (Canterbury). I t>. G. France (Wellington). I A. C. Stedman (Auckland). : \ ■