Tough First Match For Wimbledon Champion

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30471, 19 June 1964, Page 13

Tough First Match For Wimbledon Champion

(N Z P .4 -R*ufsr^-■Copyright)

LONDON, June 18. The world’s leading woman tennis player, Miss M. Smith (Australia), has drawn a tough first opponent when she begins the defence of her singles title in the Wimbledon championships next week.

After a first round bye, Miss Smith, who has already won the Australian, Italian and French titles this year, plays the 18-year-old South African champion, Miss A. van Zyl, in the second round on Tuesday.

Miss van Zyl, who beat Miss Smith in Pretoria earlier this year, is one of the most dangerous non-seeded “floaters” in the draw —and Miss Smith, beaten on her opening appearance two years ago at Wimbledon, is still prone to making nervous starts. If all the women seeds go through, the quarter-final lineup would be: Miss Smith (1) v. Miss Lehane (7); Miss B. J. Moffit (United States) (3) v. Mrs A. Jones (Britain) (6); Miss N. Richey (United States) (5). v. Miss L. R. Turner (Australia) (4); Miss R. Ebbern (Australia) (8) v. Miss M. E. Bueno (Brazil) (2). R. Emerson, top seed for the men’s title, also faces a stiff hurdle early in the tournament. The Australian, who is quoted by leading bookmakers as a 3-1 favourite, meets D. Dell, America’s fourteenth ranked player, in the first round, but in the next round he is likely to clash with one of the major unseeded threats, N. Pilic, the Jugoslav No. 1. If all the men’s seeds gain their appointed places, the quarter-final line-up will be: Emerson (1) v. M. Mulligan (Australia) (8); R. Osuna (Mexico) (8) v. D. Ralston (United States) (5); F. Stolle (Australia) (6) v. M. Santana (Spain) (3); N. Pietrangeli (Italy) (7) v| C. McKinley (United States) (2).