N.Z. players favoured to take tennis titles

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32802, 30 December 1971, Page 18

N.Z. players favoured to take tennis titles

(By

A. M. MENZIES)

In spite of a number of strong contenders from overseas, two New Zealanders who have held the titles before are seeded to take the singles prizes in the Ballins Canterbury tennis championships which begin at Wilding Park today and end on Sunday.

However, as a result of the first two tournaments of the national circuit, neither O. Parun nor Miss M. Pryde, is assured of success. In the first tournament at Wellington, the 24-year-old Wellingtonian, Parun, the first New Zealander to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Anthony Wilding, was a cut above the men. He should hold the title he won in January when he beat-the exuberant Austrian, H. Kary, in the final, and he should move further towards the $2OO first prize in the BP Grand Prix to be awarded to the player with the most points in singles at the end of the six tournament. Parun has had a great year —one which suggests that his standard might be better

now than that of his professional compatriot, B. E. Fairlie, in whose shadow he lived for so long. He has been at home for three months, a period which has included a rest and a 20day term in military camp as part of his obligations as a compulsory trainee. That his tennis lost some of its sharpness on his return washown by his first loss to his Davis Cup team-mate, J. G. Simpson, in an invitation tournament at Auckland last month and by his loss to the American, W. Brown, at Timaru yesterday. Now he will be staving to bring himself to peak for his next expedition overseas. This means that his opponents on the circuit can expect no quarter, even if he is home for a holiday. If Parun and the 21-year-old North Shore player, Simpson, are to meet again in this

tournament—and that is the way they are seeded—what more coulij Wilding Park patrons desire than a match like last January’s when Simpson had the champion on the brink of defeat—up 4-2 in the fifth set of their semi-final. Paran’s position may look shaky after yesterday’s loss; Simpson’s looks even more vulnerable. Simpson was eliminated in the second round at Timaru by another American, J. Fort, but he now has the precedent of a win over Parun. The threat to the two New Zealanders comes from a batch of Americans, a Rhodesian, a Canadian and a Canterbury man. Brown, Panin’s conqueror at Timaru, will be playing in Nelson, but the 22-year-old Fort, who has taken to grass like a grass grub, and another American, S. Faulk, who has been a semi-finalist at both Wellington and Timaru, will be respected opponents. SOME FINE WINS On their records they should be third in the Southern States rankings, Faulk is also twenty-ninth ranked nationally and his victims have included such formidable players as the Jugoslav, N. Spear, the Czechoslovak, V. Zednik, Kary, the Americans, J. Osborne and E. Van Dillen, and Simpson. A 22-year-old student, Fort, is not yet ranked nationally but the success he has had this year suggests he soon will be. He has won several tournaments in the Pacific north-west area and he may already feel it was worth while to sell his car to help finance his trip to New Zealand.

The 24-year-old A. Neely, whose tennis suffered from a sojourn in the Army, is now ranked forty-second in the United States. He is another

who has beaten Simpson this year in Florida and he forms a fine doubles team with Faulk. OTHER CHALLENGERS

R. N. Hawkes, now top for Canterbury, is always a likely giant-killer; R. Dowdeswell is a stylish' Rhodesian; and R. Puddicombe, who won the 1970 Canadian men’s doubles and who was ranked fifth last year, is now living in Wellington and put the Davis Cup player, D. A. Parun, out of the South Canterbury singles. The field of 24 also includes another ranked American, B. Bailey (56th), and last season’s New Zealand under-19 champion, R. McGhie, of Auckland, who has played a great deal in Australia recently.

Parun is still the outstanding prospect in the men's field but the position of the top seed in the women’s singles. Miss Pryde, of Wellington, is precarious. She had to pull out of the semifinals in Wellington because of a knee injury and she did not play in Timaru. Because the fields have not been stable, the grand prix points are going begging among the women. Mrs J. Fraser, of Auckland, won at Wellington, but did not play in Timaru and is not in the Canterbury tournament. Miss B. Vercoe, another Aucklander, did not play in Wellington, but was runner-up at Timaru yesterday.

, MISS LEGGE LEADING Miss R. Legge, of Canteri bury, has been runner-up and i winner and so has the most i points. Her victory over iMiss Vercoe yesterday was I comfortable indeed. > If Miss Pryde is not com--1 pletely fit, she may have djf- ’ Acuity with Misses Legge and Vercoe this time, or perhaps , with the little American, i Miss M. Struthers, who has ■ been a semi-finalist in both

tournaments but who has lost to Misses Legge and Vercoe.