WIMBLEDON, 1929

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 232, 27 June 1929, Page 17

WIMBLEDON, 1929

MECCA OF TENNIS CHAMPIONS

THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS TOURNAMENT

Last Monday marked the commencement of , the All-England Club’s, fiftythird championship meeting at Wimbledon, the Mecca of tennis players the world over (writes “W.J.M.”. It has been said that Wimbledon, the spirit of which has pervaded the whole world, owes its phenomenal popularity to several reasons, chief of which are its fixed date (it commences on the Monday following Ascot and preceding Henley); it is essentially a family affair, because it knows no barrier of sex; it is essentially international in character, attracting as it does the giants of the game from the leading tennis nations throughout the world; and finally the achievements of these famous players in their own, and in other, countries, after they have set the hall-mark on their fame at Wimbledon, have given the game a publicity from which it has received a tremendous impetus. Whatever the cause or causes, the lure of Wimbledon is to-day greater than ever; its cosmopolitan aspect is more pronounced than ever; its popularity so tremendous tlfat over twenty thousand unsuccessful applicants for four-guinea season tickets for this year’s gathering had their money returned to them several months ago. Honoured indeed are the fortunate few (128 men and 64 women), whose entries have been accepted for this year’s singles, and privileged, too, are the fortunate 20.000 who have been successful in the ballot for season tickets, for spectators and players are alike well catered for. Fourteen thousand people can be seated in comfort round the famous centre court, whilst another ten thousand can do likewise round each one of courts one and two.

The competitors’ quarters, whilst not luxurious, are exceedingly comfortable. Players can take their choice of oil or, mustard baths; a masseuse is always in attendance for the women players, and the champions of each sex have the privilege of a cubicle to themselves. Wimbledon, too, is par excellence the place where, for two short weeks, the fairplay spirit of sport reigns over international affairs. It is appropriate, therefore, that the following words from Rudyard’s Kipling’s “If” should be found painted on the door leading to the famous centre court from the players’ quarters: “If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two impostors just the same.” ,

These lines were painted on the door at the request of the late Marquis Curzon of Kedleston, who put up the money for the purpose. As for the courts! Fourteen billiard tables covered with green velvet, each enclosed by a wall of dark green—the envy of the world and fit home for the most international of all games. Green, too, are the memories of the many giants who have been cradled there —the famous Renshaw twins, who were the “Real Fathers of Lawn Tennis”; Pim and Baddeley; the immortal Dohertys; our own Tony Wilding, supreme from 1910 to 1913; the Victorian wizard Norman Brookes; the great little American W. M. Johnston, and his fiery countryman Maurice McLoughlin—all these are still names with which to conjure, names whose brightness will never be dimmed to ineffectual twinklings. Nor must the immortal Suzanne Lenglen, to whose magnetic personality and phenomenal achievements more than to any other influence the Wimbledon vogue is due, be forgotten. At the moment Suzanne is settled for the spring season in Paris, where she has taken a flat with her mother, and where her fiance, Mr. Baldwin, happens to be. With her fortune and the fame that her racket has won for her, Mlle. Lenglen seems well disposed to retire into the relative privacy of married life with an American husband.

Bridging the gap between the past and the present comes the evergreen Tilden, comparatively young in years albeit a veteran of the courts. He is still a most formidable opponent; but it would surprise most people if he could “come back” sufficiently to stave off the deadly varied attacks of the two B’s, Borotra and Brugnon, and the even more dangerbus Coehet. Lacoste is Not Defending his Title. Having named the above players we have also named the winner, for it is assuredly to one of them that the palm will go. Karel Kozeluh, the highest paid professional in the world, who is also the world’s greatest professional player, was emphatic in picking Coehet to win the championship this year. “Coehet,” he said, “he is the best player in the world. Sometimes, as when lie lost to P. Landry on the Riviera, he can be very bad, but at his best Coehet is the best player in the world.” “Tilden?” he continued, “Ah, he is too old 1 A great player, of course, but at thirty-six a man is too old for a five-set match at Wimbledon.” New Zealand’s- interest in the men’s events - centres round E. D. Andrews, who last year brilliantly defeated the American, Francis , Hunter, in the first round, only to go down to the hardhitting, left-handed French colt, Christian Boussus in the second. Andrews js partnering Jan Kozeluh, the Czechoslovakian champion. The latter, who is a brother of Karel, is ,a magnificent filayer, and the Maoriland-Bohemian combination might effect a surprise. Your correspondent maintains that neither the dazzling play of the determined, but brilliantly erratic, type produced by Coehet, nor the cyclonic, acrobatic play of Borotra’s, could win right through at Wimbledon were each pitted against the maehine-like precision of Lacoste, who is the embodiment of orthodox perfection. But Lacoste is not playing, and the result will thus be more open. , , ... "As for the womens championship, Helen Wills looks to have a mortgage on the event and should not be really extended even by the rapidly-improving youngsters, of whom Betty Nuthall, Eileen Bennett. Miss Heine (South Africa), Kea Bouman (Holland), Fraulein Aussem (Germany), and the laughing Senorita Lili de Alvarez (Spain), all of whom will draw the crowds when play appears on the courts.”