LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1932, Page 19

LAWN TENNIS

By "Drive" MEETINGS BEGIN

SEASON

ROUSSELL IN FORM

The tennis season moved towards its peak this week when the major associations in al). parts of the country began their annual tournaments. TEe first local meeting to be hold was the East Harbour Tournament, ■ which was staged by the Murltai Tennis Club for the fourth year and proved of good standard. The very best players were not present, ;but the fields were good enough to present fine .contests, and some new talent was revealed. ■ The winner of tho singles was E. A. , Eoussellj' who seoma to have entered upon his most successful season so far. Eoussell did not strike form until the final' was reached, but in that event, when opposed, to William Hollings, he revealed deadly accuracy. He was1 not .stroking very forcefully off the ground,, but he was placing so cunningly that he held Hollings all the time, and at the net Eoussell was deadly. It is the marked improvement in his net attack that is transforming him into a newer and more formidable player; and it was apparent from what he did' at Eastbourne that there was1 not a player in the meeting who would have beaten him. With Sandral, Eoussell had' a comfortable win in the doubles, and Sandral also won' the ■ mixed doubles, so that the two men shared the honours/ Sandral did not find his feet during th • meeting, but he was able to win both doubles events by dint of his superior court-craft and still' excellent shots. • Wellington Successes. There were a number of Wellington successes at the Martinborough Tournament, where the South Wairarapa Championships were decided. Walter Hollings, the Newtown Club player, won the final after a sound display against Hodder, and as Hodder is one of the best players in the Wairarapa.it was a considerable feat on the part of Hollings to defeat him. Hollings won 6-4,' 7-5, and in the semi-final accounted for K. Dyer, a ■ promising Wellington left-hander, 6-3, 6-3. The doubles event was won by H. N. Burns and C. Watt, of Wellington, a pair which has' played together for a season or so and is marked by its sound work at the not. ' These men met E. A: Pearce and'G. Plank, 'also of Wellington, ia the final and won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 after some bright exchanges. Mrs; Mc'Master, who, as Miss Doris Fenwick, was once emergency for a New Zealand team, won all three events, sharing the honours in the doubles with Mrs. Campbell, of Newtown, and Walter Soilings'. Mrs. Campbell was matched with Mrs. McMaster in the final of the women's singles, and took.:her' to 8-6 in the first! set, but thereafter got only a single game. In the handicaps also local players scored handsomely. A Good Chance. The Wellington tournament which is taking place 'this week was not marked by as good an entry as was expected, but the three grades which the Management Committee' decided to. introduce proved an excellent beginning and certainly will encourage a larger playing list in future seasons. .'. The.standard in the men's first grade _ singles was especially high, and "the' finals, which are due to-day, should give some ideas of the form-that players maybe expected to show this season. The tourney .will be a golden chance for | some of the younger players, who have been busy polishing up their strokes ; | in preparation for an encounter with some of the better-known men; There may be some surprises before the meeting is, over. Stedman's Views. In view of the possibility of the visit of a New South Wales team to New Zealand some comments by A. C. Stedman are of interest; Writing of his experiences in Melbourne championships he says that except for a little wind .the :weather conditions were absolutely perfect. "As you know, I was beaten by Hawkes in the singles, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. I found him difficult to play, as he cuts and slices everything. He can make his service break either way, and I could not tell which way it was going. I am told that ono gets accustomed to his methods after having played him several times, but that was not very much use to me. "I played in the doubles with Aubrey Willard and we were beaten in the third round by Hawkes and'J. Willard, 6-2, 8-6, 4-6, 7-5, so that we gave them quite a good fight. I was also beaten in the third round of the mixed doubles by Crawford and Mrs. Crawford, who eventually won. "In the inter-State match, Victoria versus New South Wales, Sproule was playing' fourth and Donohoe sixth for •New South Wales. They both did very well and won ■ all their matches, New South Wales being successful by a fairly large margin. Donohoe has improved considerably since he was in New Zealand, especially in doubles, and he and Kay Dunlop are a great pair. "Hopman beat Crawford in straight sets and played very well, although Crawford was far from being at his best. Hopman makes the net his objective, and, although his ground shots afe very sound, he goes to tho net for his winners. Oood Volleyer. "Dunlop in an out and out volleyer. His ground shots are not so strong, but he goes to Ihe net on anything aiid everything, and, when he. gets hold of a volley, ho puts the issue beyond doubt. He was beaten in both his singles in the inter-State inateh, but got to the semi-finals of the championships, beating WiUard after bein* 1-4 down and saving "three match points. "Donohof. had a good win over Clemenger (Victoria) in the third .round. It went to a five-set, match, and they played for three hours. He. was beaten the next day,' however, by Crawford in three straight sets, although two of them, were long advantage ones. ' "Sproule -was beaten in the last eight by Hopman in three straight sets, two of them being advantage. He led 5-4 in both; and had two set points in one. Crawford beat Hopman in tho final of the singles in four sets, losing the second. In the last two ho played absolutely perfect tennis. There is no doubt about it that when he is right ou his game ho is a great player. "Patterson and Hopman won tho doubles, which was a very good effort as they had the difficult side of the draw. They beat Crawford and Sproulo and Dunlop and Donohoe, and thon Turnbull and Quist in the final, all matches being four sets. Patterson was somewhat erratic, although he played some great shots at times. He has a perfect service, and whenever a point was really needed on his delivery, ne usually got it with'an unplayable ser-: vice. .Turnbull played vary well, Hopman defeating him in four sets. If a, Davis Cup team is sent away it is generally expected he will get in."

■• It is' reported that the- Auckland Centre has.in-hand a scheme for the .assistance of athletics;in the Waikato; The; jWaikato Sub-centre endeavoured to have the Auckland provincial;.championship meeting held at Hamilton, but this will take giaoo |n Auckland on sth