Lawn Tennis GERRARD BEATEN

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29193, 2 May 1960, Page 6

Lawn Tennis GERRARD BEATEN

Bournemouth Titles (N.Z. Press Association— Coppnghti LONDON, April 30. Miss Christine Truman won the womens’ singles title in the British hard court championships at Bournemouth today. The tall Essex girl beat her British Wightman Cup team-mate, Miss Ann Haydon, 6-2, 6-2, in 38 minutes. Miss Truman won the French, Italian and Swiss singles titles last year but she intends to miss the Continental season this summer to concentrate on grasscourt play before Wimbledon in June. In the men’s singles final, M. Davies beat the top-seeded W. A. Knight. 6-2, 4-6. 6-2, 6-1. Last year's champion. L. A. Gerrard, of New Zealand, was beaten in a semi-final by Knight 6-1. 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Once again Gerrard had to fight an uphill struggle, as he had done against the Midlander in the final last year and also against R. K. Wilson in this year's quarter final Two sets and 4-5 down with three match points against htm was enough to quell any man’s spirit, but not Gerrard’s. Instead of defence he went on the attack, saved the first and third of the match points with magnificent but chancy backhand volleys, and he so rattled Knight by his inability to finish off things that the Northampton player put the other one into the net.

It was inevitable after that Gerrard should take the set, 7-5, but then he went to 4-3 in the fourth. Here he made his biggest mistake of the match—and it was a fundamental one.

In trying to press Knight back, he made three volleying errors to lose the eighth game on his service and lost it again in the tenth for the set and the match.