AMERICAN TAKES MOST MONEY Ruffel’s fall gave Tanner “walk-over” in finals

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33676, 28 October 1974, Page 24

AMERICAN TAKES MOST MONEY Ruffel’s fall gave Tanner “walk-over” in finals

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

Roscoe Tanner and his blonde wife, Nancy, sat in the stand at Cowles Stadium on Saturday evening and deduced that the family finances would be boosted by SUSS6OO through a dual success in the Benson and Hedges tennis classic.

Yesterday, the 23-year-old American left-hander achieved this target, but the money flowed in without him having to make the anticipated maximum effort.

By an act of the greatest misfortune, Tanner’s opponent, R. 0. Ruffels (Australia), wrenched his right ankle in the first set of the singles final. Although he hobbled through to an inevitable defeat, his ankle was too sore and swollen to allow him to play in the doubles final, so tanner and his Egyptian partner, I el Shafei, had a walk-over. Expected a fight It was an unfortunate ending to a splendid tournament, and it deprived the crowd of about 1000 of wit-

nessing a fiercely competitive struggle between two accomplished players. The top-seeded Tanner had dropped only one set on his way to the final, but the expected a desperately close encounter with his rival lefthander. “Ray played great tennis all week,” he said. “It’s a pity it had to end this way.” Ruffels was injured when trailing, 3-4, in the first set. “Hobbled on” “I just kept playing in the hope that it would improve — sometimes this happens,” he said. “But I couldn’t shake off the pain and when I was down about 1-4 in the second set I thought I might as well hobble on to the end.” But the 28-year-old Australian, who missed almost all of his tennis assignments last year because of a heel ailment, was greatly cheered by his form in the tournament. “I know that I’m back in the groove after playing the way I have this week; and the other players know it, too. “Now its just a matter of getting over this injury — which could take two weeks or so — before carrying on.” Power mastered In the brief period before he was injured, Ruffels challenged Tanner’s power game through his courtcraft and accuracy on the serve. In the normal course of events, a tie-breaker might have been needed to decide the fate of each set. Both finalists had hard three-set matches in the semi-finals on Saturday. Tanner beat another American, A. Mayer, and Ruffels eliminated the New Zealander, O. Parun. Two midnight doubles matches, on Thursday and Friday, might have affected Mayer’s stamina and concentration in the crucial third set. Stinging serves Two superb returns of service by Tanner and two errors by Mayer enabled Tanner to break his opponent’s service to lead 3-2. Then he wound up his left arm to ace Mayer three times in the next game, and crisp passing shots and two more aces enabled him to clinch the match. Ruffels started with two double faults against Parun, but thereafter played with considerable finesse and was a deserving winner. The New Zealander covered the net well and struck

some telling passing shots, but he struggled to win the second set, 7-5, after losing a golden chance to break through when leading 4-3. Accuracy lost There was much greater fluency to Ruffels’s game; this was particularly evident in the deciding set. Parun lost some of his usual accuracy in the face of tight placements by his opponent, and he dropped his service twice on the way to defeat.

The doubles event was a disappointment. As well as the final, one semi-final and two quarter-finals were decided without a shot being played because of players’ injuries.

The top-seeded West Germans, J. Fassbender and J. H. Pohmann, withdrew from the semi-finals because Pohmann had aggravated a shoulder injury. Ruffels and S. Ball reached the • final after playing only two easy sets in the first round, but Tanner and el Shafei had tough early competition from the holders of the French open doubles title, Parun and R. D. Crealy. Will return Ball and el Shafei later played an exhibition singles, which the Australian won, 10-9. Although the classic ended on a note of anti-climax, the leading players were unanimous in their praise of the organisation and the facilities, and pledged that they would return next year.