Lawn Tennis. [By Huka.]

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1909, Page 14

Lawn Tennis. [By Huka.]

I Tito proposals submitted' by \ the New Zealand Association to Australia in re- ( gard to a council made up of the two ecrantri«s to control the Davis Cup corns petitions has beou oonsid>»rpd by the Vie- ! torian Association, which suggests that - four Australians and two New Zealanders ■ , should compose the committee of manago- | ment. The New Zealand rjroposal was ' thai; for every 4000 players in each country s respectively rher© should bo one delegate, i That was a weak link in the Dominion's j prpposal, as it did not even go as far as I I to say the players should be recornisod t affiliated play«rs. The writer still conr tends that by the rules of the Davis Gup the Dominion has equal rights with Australia in all matters conooruinff the Davis " j Chip, and should have held to them until ■ I the other side proved that the views of • I the Dominion woro wrong. But instead i I of that New Zealand hus done all the ( ' baoking down, where any has been done, , J and naturally will only bo given just i that little that will 6uit Australia's case. ' j It may bo said that Australia has come to } our way of thinking ; that may be, now , that New Zealand has so placed its case -as to give Australia all the advantage — . she would bo unwise not to grasp tho i "good tiling." Victoria _ will agree to ' tho contest Doing held in New Zealand (should thero over be one) after the 1 next one is played in Sydney. New Zealand's proposal was for the contests to bo held twice in Australia, then once in New Zealand, and co on. With respect to the , funds, or any that may be left, should , the agreemsnt be determined, bwo-thirds will go to Austrulia and one-third to New Zealand. That was practically New Zealand's offer. _ "Huka" agrees that the suggestions in regard to ploying the contest twice in Australia to once in Now Zealand, and the division of unexpended funds, are quite just, for the simple roa- , , son that biggor gates can be secured 'in • Australia ; but that is no reason for giv-' I ing Australia, who is placed on an ! equal footing with Now Zoaland as one of two partners focming" the firm or nation of Australasia, four delegates to New Zealand's two. Victoria, wishes for the headquarters to be in Australia. Why not jay Melbourne right out ? The New Zealand Association (should Victoria's ideas be carried by the Australasian Astsoci'ation) may or may not agree to sink all differences and join in happy harmony again, but should she ogvao, ie should be only on the condition that the case (without prejudice) goes before tho other nations, asking them to finally sa> whether Australia is to have double the representation of New Zealand, or tha-t the rule co reads that both countries are to be equal in controlling and managing the contest when it is held in Australasia. if Australia is not taking an unfair advantage of the rule, auroly she can have no objection to that stand. Moro oannot bo said until tho actual report as to what the Australasian Asso~ j ciation has determined is mado public, ' Still New Zoaland is no better off, with 1 two delegates to Australia's four, than she was when affiliated to the Australa- , sian Association — for ehe can still be beaten on the matter of voting, and that . is praotically all it amounts to — Austrat Ha can still do us she likes. One point stands out clearly, and that is : Victoria seems to have grasped ' that an Australian Association is re- , quired. For that alone New Zealand's protest has done some good — to Australia. Ono wonders if there wero to bo a loss on any of tho Davis Cup contests, what position the New Zealand Association would be in. Possibly share , tho loss, and it would be quoted that as ; she thought she was an equal, it was only a fair adjustment. _ A oablo this week shows that the English Lawn Tennis Association is acting in the same way as it did last year • about the nreliminary contest for the 1 Davis Oup. Last year America asked the English Association to send its team to contest the tie in America, as tho Americans had repeatedly travelled to England, but England asked for a guar- '. j antee of the probable gate receipts. America replied that such a thing was i . unusual in international matches. Still | , arrangements wero made, and a guaran- ! tee of about £300 was given. The English Association passed a vote of apI proval to the proposition, but did not I reply to America. Tho latter cabled i I asking for a reply, and received an i i answer that a team oould not be sent. ■ j During this time England, was trying to \ \ got Australia to give a guarantee, and < | if a suitable one were given, a team \ would bo seni, out, but Australasia re- I fused. Then America threw the glove down by asking England to meet her in Australia for the preliminary contest a l i weeic before the date fixed for the chal- < | lenge round. England at once asked if £ I the former offer at a guarantee for the ( match in America was still open, and ' i being informed that it was, accepted and ! , sent a team. It all looks like seeking i \ for the best offer. O£ course, since the \ | cup left the shores of England, that coun- \ J try ha 6 felt the loss of revenue, and ■ | wants the cup back somehow. America l this year accepted an invitation to send t a team to England if expenses were guar- | anteed, but England would not risk it, t and asked for a guarantee of £400 to \ send her team to Philadelphia. A little more of this money-fiddling over the oontest, and the Davis Cup, which, . by the way, must be a great advertise- l ment for some ono, will die a natural death. It cost A/nerica, quite £480 to "3 send its team to Australia last year, and J yet after paying another £300 to the a English team for the American contest, I c there* was a profit to America of about ' a £60. , It is clear that a visiting nation i playing in a preliminary tie can claim I , half tho profits of the contest, as the , rule does not say that it is for the challenge^ round only. The reason seem* ingly why the neutral ground for pre- t hminary ties is not popular is because i i tho visiting nations only get one-third ' f of the profits each, the other third going < to the nation in whose country the tie is played. I At the last annual meeting of tho Eng- r lish Association a resolution moved on behalf of Now Zealand, that regulation J jNo. 17 for the management of Lawn i lenms prize meetings ba altered bo hb c to enable tho draw to be arranged in I competitions, was referred t« the coun- f r ' Txr „ c idea of & e t fc ™s the opinions „ of all fully affiliated associations, clubs, and committees. The committee had a letter drafted and submitted it to tho council but the latter body decided not F to send the letter out, so it will possibly I 2 allowed to drop. Tho voting was I about 8-tfl 6 xa favour of etioking to the v

rule as it stands, therefore the arranging of the draw must be conducted as provided for under regulation 17. The association has also set up a committee to deal with the definition of amateur. One member said that it would be cosier to define what a "professional" was. The^ covered court e.TXmpionehip at Queen's Club has been secured by Mr. T. ii. Ritchie, who beat A. W. Gore, tho holder, and All-England champion, m the challenge round 7—5, B—6, 6—3. Eitchie had previously beaten K. Powell in tho final, 7—6, 6—l, 6—3. A. F. Wilding won this event in 1907. Miss D. Boothby won tho final of tho ladies' event, beating Mrs. O"Neill 6—l, 6—3. Mrs. Lambert Ohambers, tho holder, did not defend. Goro and "Leave" won tho doubles final. Wilding and Ritchie wero the holders, and of course could not defend. F. W. Rahe, the young German player, and Miss E. L. Bosworth won the combined final. Wilding and Miss G. Esmtlake Smith were the holders. The challenge round could not bo played for the same reason a 9 in the men's doubles — Wilding being horo in New Zealand. Goro and "Leave" played a gTeat match in the men's doubles against Ritchie and Dixon, winning three sets to two, as follows:— 2— 6, 6—4, B—6, 4—6, 11—9. "Volley," in the Canterbury Times, states that the quarterly meetings of the council aro mainly to "force" the Management Committee to give some account of its doings for tho period, and also to allow it to bring forward mattsrs of importance that could be voted upon direotly by the csntros. If that is so, no wonder the quarterly meeting was so poorly attended. <r Volley" goes on to ask "Huka" if ho expects associations to ho called together with record-breaking haste in •answer to a notice of meeting for i 31st May. gent from Wellington on 25tu May? That was seven days' notice, and as there was no benefit to be gained by those who received notice in calling a meeting of their association, ono can hardly see why .Volley" filled up so much space. Suroly he must be aware that definite notice is pTescribed by the rules of the New Zealand Association. As there was no businers on the order papei, seven days' notice ?^ T ths jnootinp should havo satisfied even •. c~i=jf. Tho Canterbury AbSoclarioii gives eevpn days' notice of its annual and «il OLiier general meetings. One point is very clear, the Canterbury Asecciati.on has not complained to the New Zoaland Association about short notice, -and "Volley's news looks like a "false alarm," i. .i%r PP n in * ;, moro: "Off-Beason" is quoted by Volley as a reason for associations not torwardmg business for the quarterly meeting. Now, "Volley" must know, by experience, that the "off-sewon" is the timo to bring matters up for consideration and if any benefit is to be gained all plans should be matured and brought into working order by the beginning of the season Why wait until tho season opens to brins up progress motions? In answer to "Cheviot's" question aa to the make of ball adopted by the Canterbury Association^ the writer does not Imow if the Canterbury Association adopted a make of ball officially or not, but on it* ohamp'onship programme passed by the New Zealand Association it was officially stated that "Sykes"' E'.D.B. colonial ball would be used. The "Sykes" ball was the make wed -at somo thirty tournaments held in New Zealand, and the Otago Association was the only body to uso a different make.