Gerrard Seeks Fourth Successive Title

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30028, 12 January 1963, Page 9

Gerrard Seeks Fourth Successive Title

VEW Zealand's top tennis player of recent years, L. A. Gerrard, of Auckland, will today set out to emulate the feat of H. A. Parker, who died in Sydney last year, as the only player who has won the national singles championship four years in succession (1902-3-4-5). Gerrard seems very likely to achieve this.

The national tournament will begin at the Stanley street courts, Auckland, today and continue until next Saturday, without overseas players but with no absentees among the top New Zealanders, except for Miss M. A Smith, of Auckland, who has been ill since she returned from her tour overseas.

Gerrard and I. S Crookenden have so far been the main rivals at the top this season and, although Gerrard has been patchy in his form, he still seems to have the measure of his younger opponent, although he has had some losses to other players. Gerrard beat Crookenden in two earlyseaoon finals before suffering a surprising 3-6, 1-6 lose to him at Remuera. Crookenden excelled himself to beat the top members of the Mexican Davis Cup team, R Osuna and A. Palafox, while Gerrard k>st to both, but Gerrard has now beaten C.ookenden in each of the three major tournament finals this season—Welling-

ton, Auckland and North Island. Unlike the Auckland and North Island championships, the comparative veteran, J. K Robson, who missed the early part of the season because of a badminton injury, has been given second seeding to Gerrard today instead of Crookenden but he has not so far seemed likely to justify it A more likely threat is the young V'ellington member of last year’s Davis Cup team, J. B. Souter, who beat both

Robson and Gerrard in the Wellington - Auckland Wilding Shield challenge. Souter has the fourth seed ahead of K. H. Long, the hard-hitting Auckland lefthander, who beat him in the Auckland championships when they were seeded the other way round.

If the seeded players move through to the quar-ter-finals the matches will be Robson (2), v. Long (5), Crookenden (3) v. R. G. Clarke (7), Gerrard (1) v. B. E. Woolf (8), and Souter (4) v. R. N. Hawkes (6). But some of them may not find it easy to get there. Souter may meet the player who beat him last year, J. H. Lockington, in the second round or F. Scarlett, who

beat him early this season, in the last 16; Crookenden may have to dispose of the Catholic title-holder, R. Wong, who has been in good form; Hawkes wild probably meet the redoubtable A. S. Bums; and Robson will probably face G. D. Moss, the former Canterbury player who beat him last year. Among the others who may cause upsets are P. Becroft, who put Clarke out in the North Island first round, and J. Ferguson, who did well to reach the North Island quarter-finals

as an unseeded player. Both have played extensively overseas.

By the seedings ths women's quarter-finals should be Miss R. Morrison (2) v. Mias S. Cox (5), Miss P. Belton (4) v. Miss E. Terry (7), Miss J. Davidson (1) v. Miss J. Glenie (8), and Miss E. Green (3) v. Mrs H. Robson (6).

The seedings for the top four were the same for Auckland, North Island and national championships but Miss Cox, playing the circuit again after an absence of three years, is likely to prove herself far out of position. In the Wellington final she beat Miss Davidson without conceding a game; at Auckland she eliminated Miss Belton and then Mrs Robson before losing to Miss Green, who bad beaten Miss Davidson in the final. Miss Cox did not play in the North Island championships.

Nine Canterbury players are entered in the championships: C. G- Judge, L. J. Walpole, R. Goodall, M. C. Healey, W. Thom, L. W. Watkins, Miss Davidson, Miss S. Rich and Miss D. Smith. Judge, a singles semi-finalist, doubles finalist and mixed winner in 1961 was unfortunate to meet B. E. Woolf in the Auckland first round and he will probably play Gerrard in the national second round. But he and Miss Davidson have a fine chance of taking the mixed again, in spite of being seeded only eighth, because they have already won the Auckland mixed.