Parun Successful, But N.Z. Loses Tennis

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32217, 9 February 1970, Page 13

Parun Successful, But N.Z. Loses Tennis

(By Our Tennis Reporter)

In spite of a wonderful victory by the New Zealand champion, O. ParUn, on Saturday, when he recovered from a difficult position, and another strong attempt yesterday to do the same, New Zealand had lost its Davis Cup-style contest with Australia by the end of the singles.

it was a great victorj for New Zealand and a grand personal triumph for Parun himself, soon to depart on another overseas tour. New Zealand finished the first day in the happy post tion of being one match up—the only one completed. Steeling his nerves and im proving in concentration as the match progressed, the 22 year-old Wellingtonian, Pa run, beat the giant-killer oi the recent Australian championships. R. Crealy, a 25 year-old New South Welshman, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 8-6, 6-3, in a tense two-hour struggle. But B. E. Fairlie, for so long New Zealand’s leading player, with an enviable record on his overseas trips, has still not recovered the form he lost through his arm injury and various other troubles. On Saturday evening he lost two quick sets, 1-6. 6-6, to another New South Welshman, R. Ruffels, before winning the third, 6-4, with some improvement. Rain at the break stopped play for the day. The court was covered with tarpaulins lent by the Canterbury Malting Company so that the heavy rain throughout the night was kept off the court except for a little seepage. Any hopes the New Zealand team' had that Fairlie might lake up where he left off were soon dashed after play resumed about 1.30 p.m. yesterday. He lost the fourth set, 1-6. These hopes were raised again when the 21-year-old Fairlie took a 4-1 lead over Crealy in the third singles but he lost that advantage too and the match. 5-7, 4-6, with a reduction from the best of five sets to the best of three. Purple Patch Then Parun. already a hero, looked as if he might repeat his Saturday performance. After losing the first set, 3-6, to Ruffels, and being down, 1-3. in the second he struck another purple patch and won six games in succession to give him the second set, 6-3, and a 2-0 lead in the third. However. Ruffels was supremely competent for the rest of the sex and lost only one more game. That gave Australia the unbeatable 3-1 lead so that the doubles could not affect the result. Ruffels and the 18-year-old J. Alexander, the third member of the Australian team, beat Fairlie and Parun. 6-3, 11-9, for Australia to win the whole con-I test by 4 matches to 1, and! receive a good fillip for its 1970, cup expedition, which will be-i gin soon against Korea. Formally Introduced The international, sponsored by Coca Cola, was introduced with all the pomp and ceremony of a true Davis Cup tie. The players were formally introduced, the captains sat in armchairs beside the court, and Parun and Crealy provided all the tension to support the cup tie atmosphere even if the crowd was not a big one. There was a precedent for Parun s win. He beat Crealy, 6-8. 11-9, 19-17, at Merion, Pennsylvania. in August and again in the Pacific Coast tournament, 6-3. 8-6. in October. Since then Crealy has risen to greater heights and there were doubts about how well Parun could perform against this new look. These doubts certainly ■ appeared justified after the first three sets. Parun said afterwards that he was in trouble early because he missed some vital points when he had chances. Perhaps he was not quite prepared; he arrived at the courts without his shorts and had to borrow a pair of Fairtie’s Considerable Reach The tall, curly-haired Crealy, with the long legs and stoop-

p ing walk, used his considerr able reach to cover the court 1 magnificently. He stood right over in the “tramlines” to re- • ceive service and he successI fully ran round his backhand; he volleyed beautifully and he r also scored with a deceptive top-spun lob which either beat Parun as it dipped to the baseline or he smashed it into the B air. However, Parun began the sec- - ond set with great gusto, playling with more purpose, settling ’down, concentrating and ■' struggling for his games to win, si6-4. But when Crealy won the ;.! third set in 17 minutes with I some sizzling services many " thought it was all over for the i New Zealander. -| The real struggle began in J the fourth set after each broke .[service in the first two games • and held until the last one. It I I was all hard slogging, thrust ‘and parry, the players blowing jllike horses at Riccarton, and it r lwas just a matter of who would >, crack first. Parun gained the - decivise break for 8-6, ridding ; himself of the mishits which . had plagued him earlier. l j In the fifth set Parun played -[some of his finest tennis. He •iwent for every shot, he chipped I back even Crealy’s hardest deliveries and he got in behind - his service. The fourth game , was the vital one. Crealy was . down 0-40 on his service, got up to deuce but lost the game ‘ito a slashing return by Parun. ‘ The New Zealander held like a J leach to this advantage, leap- '] ing and diving for the ball and hitting firmly. He held his next ‘three services tenaciously for llvictory although his supporters ,had a tense moment when he ' had game point against him in ►[the last. BEGAN ATROCIOUSLY f Fairlie began badly i against the very competent lefthander. Ruffels. throwing away points with double faults and lacking confidence in his ground strokes which time and again went to net or out. Ruffels, wearing his dark glasses even in a bad light was, by contrast, quick and sure. Fairlie was much sounder in the third set but he lost his form overnight. When they came out yesterday they had a long first game, marred by several disputed calls and a request by Fairlie for a change of linesman. Two linesmen then exchanged places at the diplomatic suggestion of the New Zealand captain, Mr E. D. White. Ruffels won his serve

and rain stopped play for another 20 minutes. After that Fairlie, still doublefaulting and making other errors, could take only one game and he lay dejectedly in the manager’s chair at the end. Fairlie shocked New Zealand supporters by serving three double faults in succession to be 0-40 down in his first game against Crealy but he recovered gallantly and then broke Crealy’s service to move towards his 4-1 lead. He was now showing some of his true brilliance but Crealy disguised his shots remarkably to deceive his opponent and re-

• cover to win the set, 7-5. Fairlie had two game points in the last game but Crealy produced two spanking aces. GOOD PASSING SHOTS Fairie played some good passr ing shots in the second set but his new service action let him down again and he lost, 4-6. Parun. who beat Ruffels in Wellington last Wednesday, found him a tougher nut to crack yesterday and the stocky« aggressive Ruffels played with the experience that has earned him the second singles position in the Australian cup side for the last two years. However, Parun made a determined attempt to pull off another amazing recovery. Ruffels, who had been returning service much more consis- ► tently than Parun, broke for 24 in the second set but Parun r broke back for 3-3, and this was where he won his six - games in succession and it was • a great boost to his confidence, i He won the set 6-3 with a brili liant ace but his good run came . to an end in the third. I Parun broke in the first game • but Ruffels broke to even at 2-2 > and again for 5-3 when Parun j found the net with a series of I low volleys. That was his last • chance. One of the main features of the doubles was the outstanding ■ service of the youngest Australian. Alexander, w*ho has played doubles for Australia for two ’ y ears but not singles.