Another Simpson likely to be in Davis Cup

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33060, 30 October 1972, Page 13

Another Simpson likely to be in Davis Cup

Eighteen-year-old R. Simpson, of North Shore, seems certain to follow his brother into the New Zealand Davis Cup team. He admits that he had a tough time on his first overseas tour this year; that experience befalls most young players embarking on a full-time tennis career, and Simpson is now the better for it.

When he won the boys’ I singles in the CHTV3-| Bank of New Zealand national under 19 invitation tournament at I Wilding Park at the week-end, he looked a; cut above the rest of the’ field. He had his moments of anguish as he was occasionally j pressed, but it was significant that he did not lose a set in his four! matches.

Simpson’s blooding internationally is already telling against other New Zealanders. A player who has reached the final of the Australian junior championship, who has won two junior and one open title in Britain, and who has had the salutary experience of being put through his paces by the brilliant young Swede, B. Berg, a player who has also beaten his brother, J. G. Simpson, and O. Parun in the Davis Cup, must feel a certain confidence when he comes home.

This was just as apparent in his final with the Aucklander, J. Mills, as it was in the three matches that led to it. Simpson was the aggressor, Mills the defender as the others had been before him. Simpson took the play to his opponent, forcing all the time. Because of this prediliction for attack, he made a number of errors. His fault at present seems to be that he will let these errors and perhaps a little over-confi-dence upset his concentration so that his head comes up and the ball goes to net. He served well, although he did not use the kicking delivery as often as he might have, he swung his ground strokes to the comers, and he was forever moving forward for the volley. Here, however, there was another fault. He strove too much for angle on the volley when he had plenty of room. RANKED FIFTH Stills is a competent player. At present he is ranged only fifth on the New Zealand junior ladder to Simpson’s first but he has had considerable success at the beginning of this season. His rating in the national development squad, where all the best young players are, is now second. This was the way he was seeded for this tournament and he justified it. Against Simpson he did not look as if he would gain control. He won some grand points with the passing shot, he made some great recoveries and he lobbed well, but these are not the shots on which a winning game is based. Mills played a better match when he beat the Waikato boy, D Sutherland, the present national under 19 champion, in three sets in their semi-final. In a contest In which points were won more often by clean winners than mistakes. Mills was strong on the ground stroke both cross-court and down the line and he scored the occasional quick winner even off return of service. BASE-LINE PLAY

The girls’ final was played mainly from the base-line, which

| made it less attractive as a spec-i taele. There was something to. ! marvel at in the progress made I by 15-year-old Miss S. Tebbutt, ! of Waikato. Only last January ishe was runner-up at Wilding i Park in the national under 15 (singles, while this week-end, (from an unseeded position, she i reached an under 19 final where (she extended the New Zealand (under 17 champion, Miss P. Elliott, also of Waikato. | Some of Miss Tebbutt’s shots look a little restricted and awkIward but they are effective. In (her morning semi-final, Miss I Tebbutt made sure that Miss C. Newton, of Canterbury, was in (plenty of time to be bridesmaid! [at her sister’s wedding. Miss, | Tebbutt won, 6-4, 6-2, but there (was the impression that Miss Newton was not seeking success. I She produced one or two of the brilliant winners she had shown the previous day but for the most part seemed content to see the match slip away as she overhit. Miss Tebbutt met a formidable opponent in Miss Elliott, a player who has few peers on the baseline. Miss Tebbutt won the second set by moving to the net and volleying deep, but Miss Elliott was able to get the driving pattern back into the third set, and in this type of play she makes few errors. If Simpson and Mills played according to their seedings, first and second respectively, matters were much different in the girls’ singles. The top seed, Miss L. Ward (Auckland) had been eliminated on the first day. and Miss Tebbutt had beaten the fourth-seeded Miss J. Phillips, of Canterbury. On Saturday, Miss Elliott, seeded third, beat the second-seeded Miss S. Armstrong, of Otago, and then finished the winner. DOUBLES WIN Seeded second. Misses Elliott and Tebbutt sustained their form into the doubles yesterday when they beat the top seeds. Misses Ward and Armstrong, in the final. 6-3. 7-5. Misses Ward and Armstrong, who distinguished themselves by winning the South Australian Junior doubles in January, made many errors in their final yesterday, and the Waikato girls remained steady. Miss Elliott showed that she can play away from the base-line too as she volleyed with finesse. Simpson gained his second win when he and Langsford beat Mills and C. Lewis (Auckland). 6-3. 6-2, in the final of the boys’

doubles. Simpson was the strong man of the contest, hitting his volleys with acute angle, playing smashes from well back in the court.

Langsford was not quite as sound but he struggled hard and successfully to hold his service in the penultimate game of the second set after they had broken Lewis’s serve. Mills and Lewis made manv more mistakes, a lot of them forced by the consistent attack of Simpson. Results: Boys* singles Semi-finals. —R. Simpson (North Shore) beat G. Slater (North Shore), 6-0, 6-3; J. Mills (Auckland) beat D. Sutherland (Waikato), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Final.—Simpson beat Mills, 6-4, 7-5. Third place.—Sutherland beat Slater, 6-3, 6-3. Boys' doubles First round.—Simpson and J. Langford (Auckland) beat N. Blackburn (Canterbury) and S. Burns (Canterbury), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Slater and Sutherland beat P. Hampton (Canterbury) and R. Healey (Wellington), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Mills and C. Lewis (Auckland) beat D. Neilson (Canterbury) and S. Dickson (Canterbury), 6-2, 6-2; C. England (Hutt Valley) and A. James (Canterbury) beat C. Brading (Canterbury) and J. Hampton (Canterbury), 64. 6-2. Semi-finals.—Simpson and Langford beat Slater and Sutherland, 6-3, 7-5; Mills and Lewis beat England and James, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5. Final.—Simpson and Langford beat Mills and Lends, 6-3, 6-2. Girls' singles Semi-finals.—J. Tebbutt (Waikato) beat C. Newton (Canterbury), 64, 6-3; P. EUiott (Waikato) beat S. Armstrong (Otago), 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Final.—Elliott beat Tebbutt, 6- 3-6, 7-5. Girls' doubles First round.—Newton and S. Meachen (Wellington) beat E. Smith (Canterbury) and S. Chapman (Canterbury), 6-3, 6-2; J. Phillips (Canterbury) and J. Dalzell (Canterbury) beat A. Mehalski (Canterbury) and L. Wilson (Canterbury), 64, 6-1. Semi-finals.—L. Ward (Auckland) and Armstrong beat Newton and Meachen, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0; Elliott and Tebbutt beat Phillips and Dalzell, 6-2, 64. Final.—Elliott and Tebbutt beat Ward and Armstrong, 6-3, 7-