FINAL OF MIXED DOUBLES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21384, 29 January 1935, Page 16

FINAL OF MIXED DOUBLES

ROUSSELL'S FINE PLAY AGAINST PERRY CHRISTCHURCH JUNIORS - DO WELL [By Cross-Court.] AUCKLAND, January 28. F. J. Perry (England) and Miss S. Whittaker (Australia) won the mixed doubles championship of New Zealand at the Stanley Street courts to-day, the last day but one of the annual championship tournament. The finals of the other events will be decided tomorrow, the men's singles being between Perry and A. A. Kay (Australia), and the women's singles between Miss D. Nicholls (Wellington) and Miss Marjorie Macfarlane (Auckland). Christchurch players made a clean sweep of all the junior events except the girls' doubles. The weather was again warm and fine, but the boisterous wind of the earlier days had abated, making for much better tennis. E. A. Roussell (Wellington), who surprised even his most enthusiastic admirers by beating Ewin (Australia) in an early round and by going through to the semi-final, added to his laurels by earning the distinction of taking more games from Perry than any other player in the tournament to date. Perry, however, contributed to this good showing with a long string of errors on the backhand. Crawford. Ihe famous Australian, has declared that his winning tactics against Perry included the playing of slow balls to the Englishman's backhand. It was with such a shot that Roussell gained most of his points. Perry made mistakes in trying for too much angle or too much speed. Roussell kept the ball in play with admirable consistency, and was not afraid to attack at the net, behind drives deep into the corners, the direction of which was disguised until the last minute. The most meritorious feature of Roussell's play was the cool manner in which lie stood up to Perry's attack. He frequently drew applause for recovering most difficult shots, and he was not slow to turn defence into attack.

Kay and Sturt In the other semi-final, there was a great fight for the first two sets between A. A. Kay, the left-handed Australian, and N. G. Sturt, of Auckland. Sturt's reputation as a singles player has rarely been sustained in Canterbury, but on his home courts at this tournament he has played some fine tennis. In one way he was lucky to reach the semi-final, for in the original draw he was in the quarter occupied by Huxley (Australia), who eventually had to scratch. The match was a battle of beautiful stroking and fine volleying; but the Australian had the advantage in ball control, and seized on the slightest opening unerringly. If Sturt came to the net on any but [he best of shots to the corner, Kay's passing shot would invariably clip the sideline at an unreturnable angle. Kay started uncertainly, but after being down 0-2 and equalising, only one break in service came in each of the first two sets. Kay seldom looked like losing his own service, so fast and well placed was it, so Sturt had an uphill battle all the way. The Australian was definitely on top in the third set. He is playing tennis that, if not good enough to beat Perry, will make the final extremely interesting. Women's Singles The remaining semi-final of the women's singles between two Aucklanders, Misses Marjorie Macfarlane and B. Knight, was closely fought; but though Miss Macfarlane is not quite the player of a few years ago her steadiness and accuracy were enough to win from her opponent, who, brilliant in patches, was singularly lacking in the qualities of her opponent. Miss Macfarlane, as usual, waged the fight entirely from the back line, making scarcely a mistake in her driving, and chasing Miss Knight's attacking shots indefatigably. Miss Knight was inclined to err when trying to force the pace, but her chief failure was in volleying, in which department of the i.amc she is usually one of the best in New Zealand. She played well to win the second set. but after the interval allowed Miss Macfarlane to establish a big lead. Miss Knight fought courageously to retrieve it, but lost the deciding set at 6-4.

Kay and Evvin Win Knott and Sturt, champions in 1526, were eliminated from the men's doubles by the Australians, Kay and Ewin, in a match that frequently reached great heights of brilliance. The Australians played fine aggressive tennis, serving fast, forcing their ground shots, and killing anything loose in the air mercilessly. Knott, who has played little championship tennis during his last few years' residence in Australia, was not Knott of old. He served double faults and occasionally missed easy ground shots; but on the other hand lie was the only one of the New Zealandcrs who could bury a smash. Sturt's service and low volleying throughout, were excellent, but too often his smash of a short ball left the Australians with another chance of winning a point. Knott and Sturt played their best tennis in the second set, but they were swept off the court in the third, and when they tried to make a bid for the fourth they met a rain of fierce services and smashes against which nothing could prevail. In the last game of the match Ewin served balls of blinding speed, to clinch the match. The other doubles semi-linal was tame in comparison. France could do nothing right to start with, and as Turner and Johns played above themselves there was just sufficient incentive for Perry to play some fine tennis. When France tightened up his game there was only one pair in the hunt. Women's Doubles Mrs W. J. Melody (Wellington) and Miss S. Whittaker (Australia) qualified for the final of the women's doubles by beating Miss B. Knight (Auckland) and Mrs R. P. Adams (Wellington) in a long match, in which most of the brilliant things were done by the losers. The latter, however, nullified their brilliant coups by errors, many of them when they appeared to have the point won. The winners were extremely steady, and rarely missed an opportunity of putting the ball away. Miss Whittaker is now playing much better than in the early stages of the tourney, and this match she hit to the corners with great accuracy, and was also decisive in her overhead work. Mrs Melody's baseline work was a model of accuracy, and her opponents seemed I to find difficulty in playing forcing shots from her chopped returns. Miss [ Knight's volleying and smashing, except for one inspired period in the second set. were not as accurate as usual, and Mrs Adams's shots did not have quite enough thrust to beat the excellent defence of the winners. Perry in Serious Mood For the first time in the tournament the gallery saw Perry in serious mood in the mixed doubles final. The rea- } v ? s not far to seek. In Miss Whittaker (Australia) he had a partner who was a rather doubtful quantity for a championship final, and his opponents—Sturt and Miss Maefarlane—in the morning had put out a fine pair in Miss Beverley and Ewin. Gone were the trick shots and practically all the errors from his play. He guarded three-quarters of the court on his own, and maintained a strong attack on Miss Macfarlane's corner, an attack the direction of which he changed to Sturt with consummate judgment. As it turned out,

Miss Whittaker gave him splendid support, covering up the few gaps left by Perry with great skill, and placing her returns and drives to the best advantage. At the net, too, she 'missed few chances of volleying or smashing winners. Miss Macfarlane played an extremely sound game from the baseline, and it was mainly her exploitation of Perry's penchant for poaching that won the second set after being down 3-5, and with match point against her. Except for a good spell in the second set, Sturt was disappointing. He was unable to kill his smashes, and he netted many easy volleys. A Surprise Win The semi-final of the mixed doubles produced an upset in the defeat of Ewin and Miss Beverley by Sturt and Miss Macfarlane. Neither of the losers struck form at any stage, and the Australian did not appear to try very hard. Miss Macfarlane maintained an impregnable defence on the baseline, and her well-placed drives and lobs created many openings for Sturt, who missed scarcely a volley or smash throughout. The constant errors of the losers prevented the match from being a good one. Junior Matches In a match that failed to produce tennis of as high a standard as the players are able to produce, B. G. Pattinson (West Coast) beat C. F. Penfold (Canterbury) in the final of the boys singles. The match was cl particular interest, as it was their third meeting in a championship final this season. Pattinson won the Canterbury title and Penfold the South Island title. They seemed a little overawed by the occasion, and neither went for his shots with confidence. The result was a slower, game than these two well-matched youths usually play. Pattinson was the more aggressive, but the match might Tiave gone the other way had not Penfold been completely out of touch with his volleying. Both youngsters have given a very favourable impression in Auckland. Penfold reversed this result in the final of the junior mixed doubles. When partnered with Miss R. Barry (Canterbury) he beat Pattinson, and Miss M. Dickie (Taranaki). The girls were well matched, but Penfold has a greater genius for the doubles game than Pattinson, and he largely dominated the game from the net. Miss Barry gave him solid support, her excellent forehand drive often forcing their opponents on to the defensive. Pattinson hit some fine drives, but his volleying was not as good as Penfold's.

Miss Barry also look part in the girls' doubles final, in which, partnered by Miss J. Burns (Wellington), she was beaten by Misses M. Beverley (Waikato) and P. Cooke (Auckland), the winner and runner-up respectively in the girls' singles. Miss Burns, who has held the girls' singles title for two years, has been below form at this tournament, and had she given Miss Barry better support in the third set the result must have been reversed.