LAWN TENNIS

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 79, 28 December 1925, Page 13

LAWN TENNIS

NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

OPENING DAY’S PLAY E. SMYTH DEFEATS N. WILSON The N.Z. lawn tennis championships opened at Christchurch on Saturday. The outstanding event ..in the opening contests was the defeat ot N. Wilson, Wellington, by E. Smyth, also of Wellington, and iate of Otago University.

Br Telpgrapu—.Specul .Correspondent

Christchurch, December 2tf.

Bright, sunsliino and a sweltering northerly made the first rounds of tho.. singles events-in the. N.Z. tenuis championships endurance tests. Players who were not trained up to the mark were limp when their matches were finished.Nothing unexpected happened, except that N. R. C. Wilson, Wellington’s first man, was put-.,Put in the second round of the men’s singles by his Brougham Hill clubmate, E. B. W. Smyth, who was formerly an Otago ’Varsjty crack. . Excellent progress was made with the men’s singles, and the second round was completed. All the good men, Ollivier and the - Francex brothers, Haege (the New South- Welshman), Wallace, Peacock, Lampe, Seay, Wheeler, Aitken, Uuyth, and Bartleet, are left in, besides Perkins, Parker, 13. B. Loughnau, and Sheppard. The day’s record for economy in games must be’.field by Miss May Speirs, lady qjiahipion of 1923, who has won three matches—a -singles and two doublesand lost only four games. The first rounds of both the ladies’ singles and the ladies’ doubles were completed, and a few games were played in tho men’s doubles and the mixed. The only firstclass lady to be put out of tho singles so far is Jliss Marion Macfarlane (Auckland), who went down to Miss Wake in three sets. All the seeded players in the women’s doubles are out into the second round, in which one of the best games should be that between Misses Travers and Tracy and Misses Balltuityno and Romans. The only players to get into the third round were Mrs. Scott (nee Misa McLaren) and Miss Speirs. Notes on the Play.

The Wellington champion, Noel Wilson, met his match in Smyth. Wilson seemed to get flustered at his opponent’s steadiness, and he was outplayed in each set, except the second, where Smyth was decidedly off his game. The ex-Otago man. drove steadily,, and lobbed judiciously, while Wilson, although he often made fine returns,. was weak overhead. Much of tho match was interesting tennis, hut tho result never seemed io be in doubt. Steadiness won the match.

One of the struggles in the first round was tho Page-Aitken game. . Aitkens doggodness won the match, . for Page played better tennis most of the way. In the fourth sot tho. Otago man led 5— but he was careless, and Aitken won 7—5, and took the match. Both drove strongly and accurately, and Page was brilliant; a) tho net, his volleying being exceptionally good. After a close first set, Wilson (Wellington’s first man) did not have much difficulty in bealinj? Burn in the first round. ’The Weilingtouian seemed to have a lot in reserve, and he was rather careless. Burn’s forehand drives often beat him though. The New South Welshman, Hill, took the first game from Smyth, the cxOtago ’Varsity man, whose hard lorehand drives were going strong, ami .then ho faded out. Smyth won 18 games running. The Taranaki veteran. V allace, had to fight hard against Hale to get the first set 10—8, but after that ho outplayed him, chopping accurately and playing with his head. L. France beat Greenwood 6 —l, 6 —2, 6 — 3 in the second round. Greenwood fought gamely and his clean hitting and smart overhead work were worth watching. France, however, wore him down, making him run for short cuts. Typ hard hitters played, fast tennis in the game between Haege (New South ’Wales) and Johnston (Christchurch). Hacge’s forehand drive is a stinging one and he was a. more experienced man than his opponent. F. S. Wilding was not steady against the Wanganui man, Wheeler, who although be has some awkward looking strokes, plays a good game. Lowry (Hastings), a brother of the cricketer, fought every meh of the way against the WellingtOnian, J. C. Peacock. ’The Hastings man nas unbounded energy and 11** covers th(< court surprisingly well. However, his back hand was a little weak, and his. court oraft was inferior to that of his opponent. Peacock’d tactics were clever and successful. The nearest approach to a Marathon was the second round match between Wallace (Taranaki) and Griffiths, who is at the top of the Auckland status. Both men stayed ou the back line and the fitter man won. Griffiths scored points occasionally with his cuts, but they, could 1 not counterbalance the .steadiness of the Taranaki player. In the last set Griffiths led 5—2 aud twice he needed a stroke to give him set points. Wallace came through the endurance test, Ibe score 'being 7—5, 5—2, 7- -9, 7—5. A battle between old and new styles resulted in Miss Reed (Christchurch) beating Miss Cato (Hawke’s Buy) B—4l, 4—6, 6—4. Jliss Cato played a fine spectacular game, but her opponent's persistent choniing worried her. Miss Ried had lost none of her fighting si tritpand her shots were accurate. Bot'n. Miss Speirs and Miss Tracy came through the first round with ease, each of them losing only line game. One of the interesting. games iu the first round was the. Miss Wake-Miss Marion Macfarlane match. Both played good solid tenuis, driving ,-tcndily and volleying well. At times there was a clear superiority iu the Canterbury girl’s play; Tho Misses Macfarlane and Misses. Wake ami ’ Buchanan provided a splendid match in the first round of the ladies’ doubles. Solid driving was varied with brilliant patches cf net play. Miss Marion Macfarlane in particular being os safe as a volley board at the net. The Canterbury girls drove strongly and accurately, their strokes having a finish .'.bout them which would do credit io most men players. The ’ Aucklanders liked the net and their success overhead had a lot to do with the result cf the match. Their long praetice together has made them a combination we l-nigh perfect, and they back each other up beautifully. They seem to have a big chance of winning tho event. Twenty-two gomes wore fought out in tho first set of the game between JITi-b. Page and ’ Mrs. Sharpe and Misses Ballantvne and Bonnins. Tlio C.a n tor'niry women, following tho province's usual tuefics. stayed on tho back line in the first set and drove nicely, while the Dunedinitcs scored winning points nt tho net. The tennis was ot a. good standard in tho second sei. Both pairs were content to stay back, on<] Canterbury. settling down, took it. The decisive factor in the third set was Miss Ballanlvne’s heady work overhead and her w.ell-plnced vo’leys. ihe sets went 12-19. 3-6 7-5 in myour of the women, who met the Auck'anders Misses Knight and Nicholls in the second round. The seeded players. Mrs. Scott and Mi,s Speirs. 1..-t two -ames in their fiml match <>f the ladies’ donb'es, and in the second fli-w mot Mrs. Wako and Miss Bow run and lest only oto game.