LAWN TENNIS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 12

LAWN TENNIS.

. '(Bj„ SIPE-LINI-V Tournament Fixtures.. ' Wellington . Provincial .Championship and. Slastcrton Handicap • Tournaments, at Masterton,- January 21, 23, and 24. Entries closed.-; Ta'ranaki Championship and Handicap Tournament, . Now- ' Plymouth, January 26, 27, 28. Entries .close on Mon-. day,-January 23. ■ ' ■ - Palmerston North Championship and Handicaps, February 17 and 18., ■ Tournaments in Progress.. By the time these lines are. in print;.tho Dannevirke tourney will be finished, and the provincial championships almost started. At timo :of writing the Dannpvirke/ events, are well advanced.,- Parker and' Fisher are left in the finals, of the men's singles. -Parker is evidently, in .better form, having put out Ebbett (Hawke's Bay champion) in'.two-sets (twelve games,to one) in the second round. In;'the third, round 11. W. Brown did" little better', against 'liiniv taking only six ga'fiies iu'-tlrtj.' two sets.' In the. fourth round C. C. Cox' has the same-figures. r■: • : ' Tho ladies' singles event is, at the time of writing, reduced to a battle between Misses Nunneley, WeHwqod, and Travel's. The'winner of the :first two is to-meet Miss Travcrs in the .final..; .Neither, of ■ tho • first-named player's : opponents .hag so -far given them much trouble, two sets sufficing in all cases. Miss L. Williams, while proving' herself to be a player of merit by putting out Miss Hartgill (Hawke's Bay champion) in a hardfought three-set match in the first round, was not apparently quite good enough for Miss Travers in the semi-final; Miss Nunneley is, at the present. time, picked to win the-event. - ( - - ..The handicaps show some very, mixed figure's. Some .of the results apparently' indicate that the art of handicapping^ : if "there be such an abstruse, art—has not always been' applied' to the .best' advantage; but there never, was a handicapper ■ yet Who satisfied everyone, and no doubt there never will be. • ■ . Miss M. Curtis is doing well, aiid H. Drummond, late of Brougham Hill, has participated, in some good matches. : ..." Palmerston Meeting. The Palmerston North Tennis Club intends holding its meeting on February. 17and following dates. After Palmeraton'i application that its meeting should be held at New Year (in opposition to Pahiatiia) had been refused, it was not known-what was to be .done in the Manawatu. This arrangement, however, should be satisfactory;,, and the entry lists should fill up well, since there' are a large number "of - players in tho district.. ■ Canterbury v. Wellington, . ... /The match Canterbury v. Wellington, is set' down", for January 28—at least that, is the , date proposed by the Christcliurch ■ Association and accepted by Wellington. It is hoped-that 'ladies also will be included in' the teams. .This factor .has been allowed to lapse for <-:ome reason in some previous contests. Wellington'will be able, to put in a good team, and should stand a fair chance, of winning. It,is to be hoped that' Peacock will again be ablo to jump into good form, and that- tho Masterton meeting will set Sivanstou up.' The Masterton Entries. The Masterton entries are out, and present a great list. It is unfortunate, however, that, in the end, J. C. Peacock should liavo found himself unablo to afford the time .to attend, the tourney. However, 11.' N.. K.' Swanston will, with Fisher, arid Brown, be . able to show a good front for the province.. Swanston will" only, figuro in the singles, aud should he be inform (which, by the. Wav,- is rather doubtful after an extended holiday spent in'fishing), he maybe expected to give a' good account of himself.: 'He will at least not be stale, and may require only a little -practice to. put him on his game. . • ■ . Newtown Club. This go'-ahead club, while in a v.ery good position considering the work that it has encountered in the formation of its new courts, has still, a little leeway to make up before its tiuanScs are quite squared. <To accomplish this the club is making arrangements for an open-air concert, and art union. Weather permitting, the idea should succeed.

Good Tennis; ' "Austral," of the "Keferee," finished tho old year with a pertinent dissertation oil tlie ingredients that make' up good tennis. They will well bear quotation. He says that "liko tho answer to tho question, 'What is beauty?' it largely depends on tho individual to whom tho question is nut." "Only that which succeeds," is tho answer with many, and, very often, this answer is true. For if you can beat your opponent by short court, 110 pace, strokes which ha is continually driving' into the net or out of court, that is good match tennis. You are giving him strokes which, lie cannot play. If your clean, hard drives are coming back harder than you sent them, and you abandon pace for mere length and so win, that again is good tennis. AH this is very true, but tho writer follows the subject further, and, ns he proceeds, his remarks become mora and more to'the point. lie savs:—"To many who see only the stroke which wins, and not that which made tho winning sfcroko easy, or possible, good tennis is the fierce drive or the hard smash." Tho slow drop to Uio feet that causcs your opponent to put tho ball lip to bo smashed is unnoticed, and the smash alone is applauded, though it is often extremely easy. "It is as if au easy catch in cricket were praised, and the fine bowling not recognised." A

higher stage is reached in fine clean driving; but still it is of no 'higher class relatively than mere good length bowling. "It is the foundation of good tennis, but no more. "Again, skilful volleying is not enough. It can only hold its own unaided by good ground strokes, against weak back* court play or weak volleying." The Strategy of the Game. The writer goes on to say:—"l would placo good tennis as, first and. foremost, the whole game. That is,'good ground strokes' and services judiciously followed to the net, and finished by skilful volleying. A good service or ground stroke establishes an advantage, and drives one's opponent out of position, but he gets the ball back fairly well. Again, you press more closely by a skilful drive* or volley to the exposed spot,' not by pace alone, but by that or a skilful slow ball, which will either.give him no time to recover or- will cause -him to make' liis ; own pace off a slow ball, and. perchance put it up to be punished yet more severely. An advantago once'gained should be pressed •home i against the best answer that even a fine player can give. There, should bo few .strokes won .through ah-' solute errors on tjie opponent's part, but an advantage in ; a rally/ onco 'earned,, should not be allowed to slip) and, when the chance comes to kill, the kill'should be clear and decisive. Extra pace or extra risk in"scoring'the win may be fine for the 'gallery,' but .it-is an undue risk, and a continuance will bring the inevitable punishment of missed opportunities. 1 " . • To finish,'."Austral" contends' that the best tennis of all is a lon?-fought-out contest, iii which each player in. turn tries many, tactics,-now fast, now. slow, back court play and volleying, hard drives alternated with cut strokes—a difficult task, .truly—but the'possibility of a. player learning it -all -creates a Brookes, or a Doherty/ and,"once- learned, e'xplains'why age cannot-wither nor custom state .itsinfinite' variety. . /'•' Stray l.tems. J. It. Veen* onciß a. popular member of tlie Brougham Hill Club, after some time in South Africa, is again" in Wellington, and, it is to be hoped, to:stay. The Kilbirnie tennis players are moving in the matter of . forming new courts. •Wellington is none too rich. in this Tespcct, and it is to be honed that the Eil- : birnie Club .will succeed.