LAWN TENNIS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22245, 9 November 1937, Page 12

LAWN TENNIS

FINE SENIOR GAMES ON SATURDAY NEW BLOOD IN CLUB TEAMS FURTHER MOVES IN BALL CONTROVERSY {By CROSSOOURTI After watching some of the several fine matches which were played at Wilding Park on Saturday, the opening day of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association’s senior inter-club comper tition, an old tennis enthusiast expressed surprise that so few members of the general public attend these matches. It is indeed surprising, for at Wilding Park each week spectator can see, at no cost whatever to themselves, and in the most charming surroundings, exhibitions of the game a,, good as any in the provincial tournaments. . v Few better games are seen at any time, than that in which C. Angas. the provincial champion, was fully extended by H. Dymond. third man on the Canterbury ranking lishm tnc United-Cashmere contest. Nor was that the only good match, and altogether it was a very promising start to the grass court competition season in Christchurch. Saturday’s matches confirmed the impression that uvalry for the top places on the Canterbury ranking list will be stronger than foi many seasons. For some tmie there has been a fairly sharp decline standard after the first |ou/. mem The gap may well be closed this year. Contrasting Styles Angas, litter than usual at this time of the year, has been showing hrst-cla-s form, and his decisive victory m the jubilee tournament at Waimate is evidence of the Canterbury champion maintaining his usual high Yet Dymond won a gruelling J|rst set from him and narrowly m'icdtoPrcss home his advantage in the fecond set The Cashmere man s strokes were not quite severe enough to’ overcome Angas’s resourceful and le "? c f Ub , d u’ fence. It was an interesting match, the more so as it was a close battle between players of contrasting styles. Anpr.s has an infinite variety of shots, Dymond’s stroke equipment is limited, but thoroughly efficient. He is rnpre a “made” player than .Angas, and his success is an example of what can be achieved by concentration and practX<United won three of the four singles, aH of them being three-setters. United has a young team, C. F. Penfold, P. D. McGregor, and M. J. Conch all being players of promise. McGregor and Corich were playing in their first senior competition match, and the termer's win over R. A. Young was most meritorious. He hits hard and courageously from the back line, but his r»ame needs variety. Corich has one .-if the best forehand drives in the vounger generation of players, and should advance just as rapidly as his brother has in the last few seasons.

Elmwood’s Strong Challenge There were many surprises in the Cathedral-Elmwood match, none ol Elmwood’s three singles victories be*i)g expected. M. J. SouVer’s easy win over B, B. Loughnan was especially surprising. The lonner Timaru has very solid ground strokes and a defence that rivals ip tenacity that oi his brother. B. E. Souter. who made H. A. Barnett, Canterbury’s second man. work very hard for a straightset win. A. G. Gillies and G. A. McRae did well to beat experienced senior players in J. W. Arnold and F. O. Schmidt respectively. Cathedral had to win both doubles to save the match, and this the team did after some anxious moments, especially in the first match between Barnett and Schmidt and the Souter brothers. Barnett was outstanding for his opportunist volleying in this game. Linwood. with two new recruits to senior tennis, did well to beat Fendalton by four matches to one. R. G. Pattinson, who has recently displaced A. R. Cant from first position in the Linwood team, had to show his best form to beat J. R. Crawshaw. who may regain lost ground on the ranking list this year. Crawshaw has a strong service and volleying equipment and what his ground strokes lack in speed they make up in reliability. Moreover he covers the court faster than the great majority of players. Cant made few mistakes in his match with the solid D. G. Silvester, but the game was closer than the scores would appear to indicate. R. Kear (Linwood), like Pattinson, a former West Coast representative. adapted his game to the grass surface fairly readily and beat N. R. Mansfield, who has played for Linwood for several years. The veteran, W. S Somerville, gained Fendalton’s only win by beating M. Sharman, a young player who made a very creditable debut in senior tennis.

Misapprehension Over Fees The Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association has brought a hornet’s nest about its ears not only over its adoption for the provincial championships of a ball other than the make adopted by the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association. but over its scheme for supplying balls for inter-club competition matches at Wilding Park. At once it must be admitted that there is much to be said for the association’s scheme, and unfortunately that scheme has not been fully explained to competition players. Many of the complaints that have arisen over this scheme have probably been the result of misapprehension. The majority of the players are not aware that it was the association’s intention to increase the ground fees at Wilding Park, and as the ground fees, and the cost of balls are charged to teams in a lump sum many players have assumed that they are paying an unreasonable price for balls which are not recognised by the makers as first grade. The association takes the view that those who use Wilding Park should be prepared to pay something extra toward its maintenance, as the great majority of club members contribute their levy without ever playing on the courts. Most players will sympathise with the association’s plans when they learn that these will secure an additional revenue of about £BO for the year, a most valuable contribution to the relief of the association’s difficult financial position. However, it would probably have been better policy for the association to have kept its ball charges and its ground fees as separate charges on the teams. Few of the players would have objected to increased ground fees or to paying a price for balls that would still give the association a margin of profit on their sale. 1 Whether or not these balls can be regarded as a close approach to first grade balls—and the opinions of players differ on this question—they should prove satisfactory for the rank and file of players. They have been used for some seasons in Wellington without any complaint. It is a slightly different matter when it comes to the senior players, who not only play in various championship tournaments, but some of whom have to play in representative matches.

Among the senior teams at Wilding Park on Saturday there was a good deal of dissatisfaction, the majority of the players contending that they should not be to play with anything but first grade balls. Several team captains discussed the matter and decided to annroach the association with a request that they be exempted from therule requiring thorn to use the association’s official ball. It is intended that these balls should be used also for ranking matches, but it is not likely that this proposal will be carried through without objection from the iDlttUMi