GERRARD LOSES, CROOKENDEN FIGHTS ON

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30497, 20 July 1964, Page 3

GERRARD LOSES, CROOKENDEN FIGHTS ON

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) MEXICO CITY, July 18. Mexico took a 1-0 lead over New Zealand today in the American zone of the Davis Cup. A. Palafox beat L. A. Gerrard, 6-2, 8-6, 6-4, in the day’s first singles, before torrential rain halted play in the second one in which R. Osuna leads I. S. Crookenden, 6-2, 10-8, 5-7.

The Osuna-Crook-enden match was set to resume on Sunday, before the doubles.

About 3000 persons watched the competition in the Chapultepec Stadium. “I thought Antonio was returning rather well,” said Gerrard. The New Zealand captain. J. E. Robson, said he thought the Mexican’s accuracy “might have made Gerrard a little tense. “Gerrard certainly has played better games,” Robson said. Palafox, showing a steady, determined style, kept the New Zealander on the defensive. In the second match, Crookenden started slowly and appeared to be upset by the damp ground. During the first set he slipped twice, without falling. More Clay After the court was covered with dry clay his play improved and with his serve functioning to precision, he began to press Osuna. Robson said he felt Crookenden was doing so well he would have preferred to continue play had not the rain come down so hard. Much of the time play was going on under a drizzle. A torrent finally flooded the court. Both Crookenden and Osuna said they didn’t think the interruption of the match would make any difference. “I’ve had it happen to me before,” Crookenden said. The New Zealanders showed no signs of suffering from Mexico City’s altitude—one mile and a half above sea level.

Palafox began with a rush in the first set, much to the satisfaction of the partisan capacity crowd. Gerrard rallied at the end of the set to hold his service twice as Palafox seemed to relax a bit.

Gerrard’s Lead Palafox had service trouble in the second set and it was Gerrard who was off to a lead with two breaks for a 3-0 and 4-1 advantage before Palafox regained his control. The Mexican singles champion then scored his first service break, on accurate placements, held his own service as he began to nick the corners of the court with his first ball, and broke again in the eighth game to even at 44.

Gerrard was beginning to press and his ground strokes were unsteady. Palafox won the set with a break in the thirteenth game and held his own service to close it. In the final set, Palafox continued his surge and went off to a 4-2 lead on strong service and good cross-court placements against Gerrard’s ground strokes. The New Zealand champion recovered to even at 44. Gerrard got his strong first service back in good working order in this stretch, and was hitting Palafox’s twist service well.

The ninth game was the one which decided the match. With Gerrard serving, it went to deuce four times, and three times Gerrard had advantage point but could not win the game. The next time it was Palafox who won the advantage point, and got the service break with a passing shot. Palafox closed the match at love on his own service against an exhausted Gerrard Late Showers This is the rainy season in Mexico, but tl ■> showers usually hold off until late afternoon. During the first singles the weather remained cloudy and humid, bn* there was no rain. But when Crookenden and Osuna entered the court for the second singles light rain beean. The game was interrupted in the first and second sets by heavy rain and was finally abandoned for the day with the Mexican leading two sets to one. Osuna won the first set, 6-2 The Mexican broke Crookenden’s service twice. With the score 4-1 for Osuna, a light rain began but they continued to play. A few minutes later the rain became harder and play was halted for eight minutes. When the rain stopped the olayers returned to the court and Osuna easily played out the set. Exhausted Gerrard was so exhausted from the first match that he did not stay to watch Crookenden but instead returned to his hotel room Osuna won the second set. 10-8. Games followed service until the seventeenth game, when Osuna broke Crookenden's service on passing shots, then held service to win the set. Rain again forced a stop, this time for 35 minutes with the games tied 44. The rain

was light, but made the clay courts slippery. As the rain slackened, workmen brought dirt on to the court and scattered it to give dry footing. In the seventeenth game, Crookenden made the only protest made so far in either match to the referee. He thought that a ball which had been called out had hit the line. The officials finally decided to replay the point. Controlled Shots Osuna, a retriever-type player, had to work hard for victory in the set as Crookenden had good control of his shots and kept Osuna running cross-court. Crookenden won the third set. 7-5.

Again games followed service, but this time it was Crookenden who broke service, in the twelfth game. He had held to 6-5 and it was deuced four times before Osuna hit out on a return of a ground stroke. Osuna’s service seemed to weaken starting with the sixth game and after that he had to battle to hold it. Osuna had been pounding Crookenden’s backhand, but the New Zealander’s strokes were equal to the pressure and he made several spectacular returns.

The rain had stopped, but the temperature had risen several degrees and the humidity was heavy. In spite of the adverse weather, all of the crowd of 3000 remained in the stands.

During the rest period between the third and fourth sets, the rain began again in a heavy downpour, delaying resumption of play. The two captains, Robson and Pancho Contreras, then postponed play until Sunday morning because the courts were unplayable. The resumed singles match will now start at 5 a.m. New Zealand time and the doubles match will follow immediately, unless the singles is protracted.