Rain-ruined day for tennis players

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33382, 14 November 1973, Page 30

Rain-ruined day for tennis players

(By

A. M. MENZIES)

Xo play was possible in the Benson and Hedges men’s tennis tournament at Wilding Park yesterday, in spite of a drying wind and some sunshine.

Play was scheduled to begin at 12.30 p.m., was postponed until 2.30 p.m., and was then called! off for the day. The downpour late on Monday afternoon and over, night had soaked the courts so badly that, although play might have been possible, sliding and footmarks would have damaged the courts. The remaining six firstround singles set down for yesterday will now be played today, plus one second-round

singles and four first-round doubles.

The top seed, J. Fass[bender, of West Germany, I will make his first appear|ance when he plays a secondround singles against the American, D. Dell, who won his first round on Monday. The loss of a day means that five more matches than planned will be played today. This will take the singles to the round of 16, with one of them played, and the doubles to the quarter-finals. Tomorrow eight singles will be played but no doubles; on Friday will be held the quarter-finals of both singles and doubles; on Saturday, the four semifinals; and on Sunday the singles and doubles finals, plus the play-off for third place in the singles. Seedings and draw for “The Press” doubles were made yesterday afternoon as follows:— Seedings.—3l. Estep (United States) and I. Fletcher (Aus-

tralia) 1, A. Stone and F. Stolle (Australia) 2, S. Ball and J. Bartlett (Australia) 3, J. G. Simpson (New Zealand) and J. Fassbender (West Germany) 4. Draw.—Estep and Fletcher, a bye; M. Lara (Mexico) and J. Singh (India) v. R. N. Hawkes and D. A. Parun (New Zealand); G. Slater (New Zealand) and F. Ponte (Perti) v. R. Simpson and C. Lewis (New Zealand): J. G. Simpson and Fassbender, a bye; Ball and Bartlett, a bye; A. Amritraj (India) and F. McNair (United States) v. K. Warwick and P. Kronk (Australia); J. BlcManus (United States) and M. Holocek (self-exiled Czech) v. W. Brown and K. Mac3lillan (United States); Stone aird Stolle a bve.