SPORTSMAN OF THE WEEK

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26633, 19 January 1952, Page 4

SPORTSMAN OF THE WEEK

JEAN MACGIBBON When Jean Mac Gibbon won the women’s singles lawn tennis championship ot New Zealand at Wellington last ay ’, n ! I , t was, tor some, the fulfilment of something that had seemed inevitable ever since she first began to put her name in records as a very junior junior in Canter bury war-time tournaments. To others it was something else. It was the final <xmfutation of their belief or fear that temperament." "nerves,’ or lack of that abounding self-confidence which seems to be an indispensable part of the " iak ®"“ l> of great players of sports would for eve l stand in the way of her rightful progress. One by one the doubts have been set at rest, the doubters confounded. Perhaps it was because she under-rated her own ability that she took a little l° n B®r than she might have done to reachi the top of New Zealand tennis. She couldand should—have won the New Zealand championship two years ago; but that is not a very tong delay, even m the c°inparatively short career of a young player. For the last two years, perhaps three, Jean Mac Gibbon has been the best woman player in New Zealand —when at her best. No one else has such consisteu. severity throughout all the strokes—service, drives, volleys, and overhead—and no one achieves speed with, relatively, so little apparent effort. In this period she has beaten at one time or another every other leading player except Evelyn Attwood, whom she has never played, yet until last Saturday the main championships, except that of her own province, eluded her. .. , .. The reason? '‘Nerves” occasionally, perhaps; but not over-anxiety to win. For Jean Mac Gibbon in spite of the fierceness with which she hits a tennis ball, is not a combative person. Rather has she given her exasperated admirers the impression that, after playing herself into

a winning position, she is seized with fearsome doubts about the propriety of beating a player she Is sure must be better than herself. And at such moments the errors which arc a part of her game—as they must be a part of the game of any player who inclines to attack rather than to defence, who prefers the full-blooded drive to the deft placement, and who scorns the safe, simple shot when there is a chance to experiment with a daring and difficult one—tend to increase, sometimes disastrously. Change of Grip Yet, in spite of this, her development as a player has been surprisingly steady. She played first at Rangi-ruru School; and at the age of 10 was sorted out by that very able enthusiast, Mr F. J. Murray, as a player of promise. Mr Murray did not like her "Western” backhand grip, but did not persuade her to change; and with it—or in spite of it—she won the Canterbury junior championship three times and the New Zealand junior title at the age of 16. Nearly 19 years after Mr Murray had noted this source of weakness, A. D. Brown, the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association's professional coach, persuaded Jean to change to the orthodox grip. It meant hard work and a set-back to her progress of a year or more; but in the long run it has proved well worth while. Her backhand is now perhaps the most reliable part of her game. With her ground strokes in some disarray because of the change, Jean MacGibbon went to Australia as a member of a New Zealand women’s team; and it was there she learnt the value of the volleying game—and took to it as a duck to the water. A natural athlete—she was athletic champion at Rangi-ruru and still holds the high jump record of the school —she has the speed to get to the net and the agility to deal with the returns she meets there; and she has the ability, somewhat rare among women players, to follow her service to the net—with success.

But it takes more than strokes and speed of foot to make a champion. Tactics are also Important, and different opponents call for different methods. Jean Mac Gibbon has only recently shown a full appreciation of this, although It should not be forgotten that she won one of her first Canterbury championship finals by alternately soft-balling and drop-shotting an opponent who .throve on speed. Contrasts Jean Mac Gibbon is a personality as well as a player—a slightly enigmatic personality. Her shyness and reserve on and off the court have always been in curious contrast to the dynamism of her play. She can produce the most brilliant tennis imaginable without giving any outward sign of satisfaction; and she can lapse into a train of execrable errors without showing a flicker of annoyance—or any sign of compassion for her anxious supporters. Yet the records suggest she has, on the whole, been less erratic than many believed. In six years in senior tennis she has won the Canterbury title tour times In succession, the New Zealand University championship three times, and now the national singles crown. In addition, she has headed the Canterbury Nunneley Casket team since 1948 without losing a singles match on grass. If her occasional failures in championships have seemed disappointing it is only because so much has always been expected of her. Tennis is only one of Jean MacGlbbon's interests, although she admits it is a major interest. Music is another, especially singing; books another. A library assistant by profession, she worked for a time in the Canterbury College Library, and in the last few years she has been in the National Library Service. She Completed her bachelor of arts degree at Canterbury College last year. She comes from a family keen on sport but not so keen as to allow it to be anything more than a pastime. Her father, the late Mr R. G. Mac Gibbon, was for many years engineer in charge of the State hydroelectric undertaking in the South Island. While a student in England during the Great War, he and Mrs Mac Gibbon played in many English tournaments: but neither pursued the game seriously thereafter. Mrs Mac Gibbon, however, still plays “social tennis” once a week and enjoys it probably more than she enjoys watching her daughter winning championships. Jean’s brother. A. R. Mac Gibbon, is a New Zealand representative cricketer and an engineer on the staff of the Christchurch City Council. The first player to win a New Zealand women’s singles championship for Canterbury since 1927, Jean Mac Gibbon is undoubtedly the province’s best plaver since Mav Sneirs. She has given real measure to Canterbury tennis enthusiasts in the post-war years, which would otherwise have been a very lean and drab period for tennis in this province.