German girl new star of Aust. tennis

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 20

German girl new star of Aust. tennis

NZPA Melbourne 1 | I A bold gamble by Britain backfired and gave West Germany’s Sylvia Hanika an i unexpected birthday present in the sixteenth Colgate Fed-j ; eration Cup at Kooyong, I Melbourne yesterday. i The tall Munich-born Miss ; 'Hanika pulled off the bigigest surprise of the touma-L iment, when she beat the; i darling of British tennis, Sue !Barker, 6-3, 6-2. ! The shock win by the Geriman girl, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, swept West Germany to , a 1-0 lead over the third- , seeded British team. The British girl did . not i have an answer for her you- ' I nger rival as she was con- ’ i tinually forced to scramble ; for points and ran into diffi- 1 culty with almost every service game. The move by Britain top play Miss Barker in spite of jthe injury doubts which I’ have surrounded her in the, 1 past 72 hours left Britain < with egg on its face. Miss Barker suffered a I strained back and pulled i groin muscle when she fell 1 awkwardly in the opening i singles clash of the rubber ' against Spain on Monday. i It was the intention of the s British team to rest Miss ( Barker, the No. 2 player, 1 from her match against I West Germany. However, the wash-out of 1 the third day’s play on t Wednesday prompted the 1

British to take the risk and play her. A strong left-hander, Miss Hanika produced a stunning performance which stamps her as the find of the tournament. The surprisingly big Koqyong crowd of about 5001 was unashamedly behind the British girl, and cheered ' every point she took. Although Miss Hanikas win came as a shock, the warning signs were there foi Britain after the German girl’s impressive performance in a tournament al Christchurch, last week-end last week-end. Miss Hanika reached the final of the tournament but was beaten in the third set by Czechoslovakia’s Regins Marsikova. Earlier yesterday, Australia went into th? quarterfinals after a 3-0 drubbing of ■Japan while France took ai: I unassailable 2-0 lead ovei 'eighth-seeded Argentina ir another upset. The former Sydney girl Gail Lovera, spurred France to victory by beating Raquel Giscafre, 6-1, 6-3, in the opening singles clash Then Francoise Durr put the issue beyond doubt when she beat Ivanna Madruga, 6-4, 6-2 to give the French a 2-0 winning lead in the rubber. New Zealand will play Brazil in the draw fot today’s Federation Cup and Plate quarter-finals.