LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1923, Page 17

LAWN TENNIS

[BY "HUKA"!

AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN

TO MEET

HAWKES IN GREAT FORM

AUSTRALIA y. HAWAII.

Australia has beaten Hawaii in the contest for the Davis Cup by four matches to one. The Australian pair, Anderson and Hawkes, won quite comfortably, although the soft courts must have been somewhat troublesome. Anderson especially likes the ball to bound fairly high, so that he can bring off his sweeping- drive, and the softness of the ground would hamper him; but for all that he had no trouble in beating Detrick. Anderson scored 18 games to 7, and 113 points to 83. The cabled placements, etc., give Detrick'e points as 80.

Anderson led 3-love in the first set, then his opponent took the fourth game, and the Australian took the next three, but Detrick made a great effort for the sixth game, and deuce was called six times. Anderson ran to 4-love in the second set, the third game being an advantage one of three deuces. Detrick then took three games in succession— the first at game-15, but the opposition stiffened and deuce was called twice before the game was won. Anderson was troubled by the wind at this stage, and Detrick took the seventh game. Anderson now led foiu- games to three, and, going on, took the eighth game at game-15, and the last after an advantage game, in which deuce was called once. In the third set Anderson won the first games after two deuces, but Detrick evened with a love game. The third j game was a repetition of the first, and 2-all was called by Detrick winning game-15. Anderson made the set and match safe by taking the fifth game at game-15, and the sixth at game-love. He led 5-2 after deuce had been called once in the seventh game, and Detrick here made a stand—three deuces being called before he took the game. Anderson made no mistake with the next, and won a love game. HAWKES v. ECKLUND. Hawkes led all through the first and second sets against Ecklund, and although the later led 2-1 in the third set, and made a desperate effort to make it 5-all, the Australian, seemingly, had his measure. After 2-all had been called in the first set, the Hawaiian could only gain, four points in the other four games. The second set saw Hawkes lead 3-love, then Ecklund took his only game by four points to one. Hawk«s won the nfth game at game-30, and the next two at game-love. Ecklund only scored nine points in this set to Hawkes's 26. In the third set the Hawaiian played up and led 1-love and 2-1, but Hawkes by clever work, led 4-2. Ecklund died game fighting hard for the remaining games, of which he took the seventh an 3 ninth, and very nearly the tenth, which was an advantage one. Hawkes scored 38 points to 32 in this set. The winner scored 18 games to 7, and 89 points to 54. The cabled placements, etc., make the points 86 to 49. THE DOUBLES. By winning the doubles, Anderson and Hawkes win the match, but although they took the first set by six games to love, they were hotly pressed to advantage sets in the next two. The winners scored 25 points to 9 in the first set, fu t0,? 7, 1n tlle second, and 40 to 34 in the third—the total of games being 21 to 13, and the total points 111 to 80. ihe cabled placements, etc., make the points 113 to 82. The first.set was a complete runaway, but the Hhwaiians, when leading.3-1, 4-2, and 5-3, looked good ior the second set. The Australians took the ninth game to 15, and the tentn and eleventh games likewise, ihey were within a point of set, 7-5, in the twelfth game, but Hawkes drove out,_and the Hawaaians eventually made it six-all. A love game saw Australia agarn leading, and the set was won at S-6, after a deuce game. With the match won, Anderson seemingly defaulted the other two singles, and played exhibition games. Schlesinger took Andersons place which he could not have done had it been a Davis Cup match. The writer is- firmly of the opinion that teams should play their matches out, as tW n?£ tV° $f tW, l'd day spectators that other than the advertised matches be played. Ecklund beat Schlesinger by three sets to 1, 22 games to 15, and 139 points to 121. The cabled placements, etc., make the points 140 to 120. Hawkes beat Detrick possibly somewhat easier than Anderson had done-the Hawaiian scored five games against Hawkes, whereas he scored seven against Anderson Anderson beat Detrick in the first set" 6-1 and scored 35 points to 25; Hawkes beat Detrick in the first set, 6-3 and scored 3d points to 26. Anderson in the second set beat Detrick 6-3 and score,! 43 points to 35, but Hawkes had a 6 1 win, and scored 29 points to 15 Hawket th ?h?'i W\ U agai"st A^erson's 63 in the third set against Detrick. The impression at first is that Hawkes is phv «g surer than .Anderson, but theVpirS ge ™ galled Shots avera S° out alike. The next match will be a-ainst Japan, and the opposition will before pull too^h" 16 ****** •""WTE FRANCE WINS EUROPEAN FINAL. So far the greatest thrills in the 1923 Davis Cup contest have been provided part gTIT eV n f Which t France fcSs tak n pait. ihe first excitement took place S n t o def CV VaS fig"ting Wd aII *o tack Lt !l a", unex Pec^d stern atPrance, won both his singles, defeating (le Gomar after a fairly close match of four sets and romped home fram Fla struggle by three sets'to two^rft Gomar evened the matches by defeating Blanchy by three sets to one. All d P pended upon the final singles, and Blanchy tnumped for France by beat mg F aquer. Last year M. Dupont beat Blanchy at Biarritz, 3-6 119 63 t the semi-final of the singles championship but Blanchy was successful h? the final of the doubles with J. Borotra 7 9 6 g2 8 6 IDai™ M" DWM: /-9, 6-2, 6-1. Blanchy must have come on with leaps and bounds this y\ ar ™o achieve Dav.s Cup honours, but he is hardly likely to be good enough to defeat Anderaon or Hawkes should they meet. J Brugnon has been the cham against Japan,. th c chance of being tho challenger against the United States is more favourable than it would hav 6 been had Spam defeated France

AUSTRALIA INVITES TEAMS. Australia, who of late has not boen altogether in love with sending teams

away after the Davis Cup, on account of the cost, has looked around for other means of getting big tennis in Australia. Seemingly the idea is to invite other nations to send teams to Australia, but America and Japan have reluctantly declined. Ajnerica is well satisfied with the one big event—the Davis Cup—and it pays her. A recent cable from England shows that Australia also approached the Homeland, and the authorities in England have given a favourable reply in regard to the invitation for a British team to visit Australia in 1924. Possibly Australia has contracted to send a team Home for the next Wimbledon championships, and would play a return teams' match against the Old Country when across there. A British team v/ould always be a draw in the colonies, but if they could not send a team to America last year to compete in the Davis Cup matches, what has induced them to view favourably the sending of a team thousands of miles further? From tho American point of view, these matches between nations must clash somewhat with the Davis Cup annual contest. Will it mean now that the big national contest is almost at its highest pinnacle, the downfall or the falling off in entries for the Davis Cup? One wonders. But, after all lawn tennis has now become so popular that possibly there is room for more such contests,'if big gates are to be obtained, the travelling expenses will not matter. Lawn tennis is the sport of the day with all nations, and bigger and greater matches are demanded by the ever-increasing enthusiastic public in all countries.

MLLE. LENGLEN, THE DRAW.

The French lady champion has been a great asset to Wimbledon ever since she arrived at the top of the tree—a greater draw than Tilden, Brookes, or Patterson if one goes by the crowd that attended this year to see her play against Miss O'Kane. At midnight the crowd has started to gather at the gates, and by 8 a.m. thousands were there. Seventeen thousand witnessed the match, and that surely is a record. The New Zealand Association should use all its powers to induce the famous player to visit our shores for ■ the 1924 season, and from what the writer has heard it should not be hard to persuade the Lenglen family toipay New Zealand a visit. The invitation should be sent this year, in fact there is every reason to believe that we can have a French team in New Zealand during the latter end of December, 1923 and January, 1924, if any early move is made. QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIP. Mrs. Molesworth, that splendid lady player, who ran Miss Nancy Curtis so close for the championship of New South Wales in 1922, has won the Queensland championship again. The final was a great match, and Mrs. Turner, the loser, fought splendidly to the last stroke. Mrs. Molesworth won 6-4, 7-5, but it was anybody's match, and it was in doubt until the last point was won. Miss Boyd, the Victorian champion, has gone to Brisbane to play in the Australasian championships, and there should be a great struggle in the singles between Mesdames Molesworth, Turner, and Miss Boyd, the last-named should win. Miss Boyd was to play against Miss Lance at Sydney in an exhibition match on her journey to the northern State.