Gerrard And Taylor Win Comfortably

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30982, 11 February 1966, Page 13

Gerrard And Taylor Win Comfortably

The leading men were impressive without being greatly expended. The tall, dark English Davis Cup player, R. Taylor, now ranked equal second in his country, had one of the nicest service actions producing one of the quickest services that Wilding Park sees. Taylor beat the young Canterbury player, J. Martin, with the loss of only three games. His big left-handed service was supported by a swift return of service and he let the rest take care of itself. Martin put some brilliant ones across him but they were infrequent. Backhand Was There New Zealand’s respected top man, L. A. Gerrard, had the gusty wind he dislikes and, playing in shorts which had ripped up the leg like a cheong-sam, he made some errors. But the renowned backhand was there, the purposeful attitude and he was not in trouble when he heat B W. Crofts, 64, 6-2. Fairile’s encounter with R. McCutcheon, at present top in Canterbury, was expected to be worth watching and it was. The difference came in slightly superior volleying. Fairlie won, 6-3, 8-6, breaking service for 54 in the first set and 7-6 in the second. Two other Canterbury men

gave reasonable performances against players of greater ability. P. Angland took the 24-year-old leading Chilean, P. Rodriguez, to 64, 7-5, and W. G. Lewthwaite extended R. N. Hawkes (Wellington), 64, 8-6. Lewthwaite was tenacious in the manner of Hawkes himself; Angland was solid as usual but Rodriguez still has a back complaint. Form Was Expected The women’s stngles proceeded according to form. They were all won in straight sets; no set went to advantage and in seven of them the vanquished did not win more than four games. The exception was Miss S. Field (Canterbury), who lost six to the junior, Miss J. Habgood. After losing the first set, 0-6, the national under 17 champion. Miss J. Bishop made a fight of its against Mrs P. Rodriguez, of France, the newly married wife of the Chilean, to lose only 4-6 in the second set. Mrs Rodriguez played solidly but she was often extended. However, her doublehanded forehand was an awkward shot to return and her backhand was drawn sharply across the ball. She was beautifully clad but occasionally bothered. The top-seeded Miss A. Jenkins, leading member of the Australian Universities side, conceded Miss R. Legge, of Canterbury, only four games

but some of them were close. Miss Jenkins had the more mature strokes but Miss Legge served a number of aces together with a number of faults.