S.I. TITLES AT NELSON

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28472, 30 December 1957, Page 11

S.I. TITLES AT NELSON

Top Seeds Win Singles

(New Zealand Press Association) NELSON, December 29. A large gallery saw the finals of the South Island tennis championships decided* in perfect weather at Rutherford Park, Nelson, on Saturday afternoon. The A grade singles titles were both won by the No. 1 seed—J. Robson and Miss Ruia Morrison, both of Auckland.

There was an upset in the men’s doubles finals, L. Gerrard and C. Parker (Auckland) staging a magnificent recovery to take the title from the reigning New Zealand champions J. Robson and R. McKenzie (Wellington).

The women’s doubles was won by Miss Morrison and Mrs J. Robson in straight sets, and the combined doubles by Robson and Mrs Robson, also in straight sets. An unseeded player, Miss G. Tompkins (Wellington), improved her status considerably by reaching the semi-finals of the women’s A grade singles. Miss Dawn Taylor the No. 6 New Zealand seed must have improved her ranking by reaching the final and putting up a good fight against the experienced Miss Morrison.

Robson was never in great difficulty in his singles final with Gerrard. He kept up the pressure throughout and forced his younger opponent into errors. Gerrard appeared a little nervous at the start and Robson took the first three games with ease. Robson looked set fqr an easy win, but Gerrard came back with some nice net play and went to a 4-3 lead. At this stage he had Robson on the defensive, but Robson drew level at four-all with some skilful playing. From this stage on Robson was in complete command, taking the next two games to give him the first set 6-4.

Poor serving cost Gerrard the first three games in the second set. Gerrard continued attacking, but Robson left him stranded repeatedly with shots that skimmed along the sidelines. He placed his shots with what appeared to be the greatest of ease and his opponent never looked like taking another game. Miss Dawn Taylor (Auckland) put up a good fight against the more experienced Miss R. Morrison. However, she could not match the skilful court play of 1 the New Zealand women’s champion. Miss Taylor put up a plucky fight but, like Gerrard in the men’s singles, she could not match the New Zealand champion’s experience and skilful court play. The match lasted an hour and a half. Parker and Gerrard’s second and third set recovery in the final of the men’s A grade doubles was the most surprising of the championships. Robson and McKenzie did nothing wrong in the first set, racing to a 6-0 win. The two young players tried, hard, but their opponents were in top form. However, the story changed in the second set when Gerrard and Parker began to attack and bustled their older opponents into errors. McKenzie and Robson took the first two games, but the other two came back to draw level at three-all and win the set 8-6. The third set was closely ‘ contested, but the younger pair combined better than they had previously and managed to win the set and the match 7-5. Miss Morrison and Mrs Robson were not unduly extended to win the final of the women’s A grade doubles by defeating Misses Nettleton and Cox in straight sets. Results:— A Grade Men’s singles: J. Robson (Auckland) beat L. Gerrard (Auckland). 6-4, 7-1, Men’s doubles: C. Parker and L. Gerrard (Auckland) beat J. Robson (Auckland) and R. McKenzie (Wellington), 0-6, 8-6, 7-5. women’s singles: Miss R. Morrison (Auckland) beat Miss D. Taylor (Auckland). 6-4, 6-8, 6-1. Women’s doubles: Miss Morrison and Mrs H. Robson (Auckland) beat Misses P. Nettleton (Auckland), and S. Cox (Wellington), 6-3. 6-3. Mixed doubles: Robson and Mis Robson beat Gerrard and Miss Mor rison, 6-3, 6-4. B Grade Men’s singles: M. Norden (Christchurch) beat L. Martin (Christchurch), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Men’s doubles: M. Delaney and D. Heatherbell (Nelson) beat R. Harris (Nelson) and L. Martin (Christchurch), 2-6, 9-7, 6-3. Women’s singles: Miss K. Williams (Christchurch) beat Miss E. Stewart (Nelson) 6-1. Women’s doubles: Misses N. Williams and J. Hatch (Christchurch) beat Misses J. Cottier and D. Crow (Nelson), 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Mixed doubles: N. Andrews and Miss Stewart (Nelson) beat R. Harris (Nelson) and Miss Hatch (Christchurch), 7-5, 6-0.

Junior Boys’ singles: R. B'tnt (Christchurch) beat R. Welsh .Southland), 6-2, 6-2. Girls’ singles: Miss B. Bryant (Auckland) beat Miss J. Glennie (Auckland), 2-6, 6-0, 6-1.