Young N.Z. Tennis Players Impressed In Australia

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28606, 7 June 1958, Page 5

Young N.Z. Tennis Players Impressed In Australia

rpHE young Wellington tennis t A players, J. B. Souter and R. < Clarke, have returned from their I visit to Australia impressed by 1 the advantages to young players < there with very personal coach- < ing, free equipment, plenty of time for play and hard competi- | tion throughout the winter. On - the other hand, they found that when they got to know the Aus- < tralian players better they were j less impressed by their appar- < ently great ability and were more | confident on the court against i them. ( Souter and Clarke competed j with success in two tournaments as representatives of the New < Zealand Lawn Tennis Association. ] and their keenness in undertaking ( such a trip to further their ex- ] perience is the kind of thing that i will be of great benefit to young ; Dominion players. Souter reached the quarter- ( finals in the under 17 event in ( the New South Wales age championship, where he was beaten ; by A. Shafter, the eventual win- , ner, 7-5, 3-6, 9-7, after being up 6-5 and 30-0 in. the final set. In the State secondary schools cham- , pionship, he lost to D. Collette, tenth ranked New South Wales junior, in the final, 6-4, 2-6, 6-8, after again being within two points Qf victory. Eliminated Clarke was eliminated in the ■ third round of the age champion- : ship and lost to Collette in the : semi-finals of the secondary ■ schools championship. The pair : reached the semi-finals of the age ; doubles championship and the • quarter-finals of the schools’ : doubles. ■ The young Australians im- ■ pressed as good doubles players, : with excellent returns qf service. ■ good services and accurate volley- • ing. They did not rush the net : any more than certain New Zea- ; land juniors but they made sure ! of winners when there. Souter : said the tour had shown him a ; need to speed up his service and I cut down his mistakes at the net. : As well as knowing what to do to ■ improve his own game he now : knew what to expect from Aus- : tralian juniors. For a start they ; had appeared to be “world- : beaters’’ but apart from greater opportunity they had little that New Zealanders had not. Among advantages for young tennis players in Australia are free rackets, free tennis shoes.

and reduced prices for balls and clothes. Those who are working get off to play in the afternoons and the New Zealanders found one leading young Australian who did not have to work at all. Errors One of the young players Souter beat had his coach watching. After the match the coach did not criticise him for losing but pointed out his errors and recommended remedies. All players “have the advantage of very personal coaching.” The young Wellington players said they realised that New Zealand could not hope to duplicate conditions that existed for tennis players in Australia, but Souter felt that the New Zealanders could get as much play on asphalt during the winter as Australians got on grass. Inter-club matches there continue during the winter and players get almost as much play as in the summer. The heat is often too great for enjoyable play inthe summer and the two tournaments the boys played in recently were held in temperatures in the 70’s.