Lawn Tennis Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 48, 26 February 1938, Page 23

Lawn Tennis Notes

ACTIONS OF GALLERIES

CAN HELP. OR HINDER

Probably few of the people who form the gallery at a tennis match realise how or to what extent they influence the play of the competitors. Apart from the fact that their cheers may, spur one man on or discourage another, their very presence is of importance to many players, and may mean the difference between victory and defeat. They become part of the atmosphere and are even an aid to concentration..

Commenting on this in the "Sydney Morning Herald" Donald Budge says:—

'I' have never' played in a country where the gallery takes its tennis as seriously as in Australia. I am not complaining of the reception I had in Sydney, when I was badly beaten by Gottfried Cramm. Rather is my statement a compliment.

In Sydney I played very badly and I admit I did not exert myself, and so, when I learned that the gallery had come along, anticipating Budge to serve cannon-ball deliveries and outpace Cramm on the drive, I did not blame them for showing their disappointment. I might say here that I was exceptionally sorry I did play that way, and expressed my regret by playing Jack Crawford in an exhibition two days later. It was very decent and typical of Jack to give me a chance to redeem myself. In America we usually fool around when /we play exhibition games, and the gallery expects nothing more. It comes prepared for a laugh, and that generally comes through the champion biting the dust, but taking it easily in the process. Our Forest Hills galleries also go. to see tennis and they can be critical. But their criticism is seldom about the standard of play, and usually is aimed at individuals in some good-humoured fashion. WIMBLEDON DIFFERENT. Now Wimbledon is different. Wimbledon is on the London social .calendar, and many of its devotees go along to be seen rather than to watch the tennis. A favourite with a Wimbledon gallery is likely to receive all the applause, regardless of the prowess he may show. I understand that Jean Borotra was Wimbledon's especial favourite. I have been told that more than half the inquiries—telephone and otherwise—that reached the Wimbledon office concerned France's famous "Bounding Basque." Jean would have been'lost without a gallery for important occasions. A good-humoured gallery was a spur to him, and few galleries could fail to be good humoured when Jean set himself to amuse them. He has had Wimbledon crowds almost groaning when he has been down, and wildly cheering when he has come out on top. It was unusual if he did not have the gallery in hysterics at least on one occasion a match.

Applause was a tonic to him and, regardless of whom he opposed, he always had the gallery with him. I must qualify that statement, for I understand that a gallery of his own countrymen was never as appreciative as foreigners.

"Dodo" Bundy has a similar complex to Borotra. She likes nothing better than to ..put the crowd in good humour, and she plays her best when the crowd is her way. Fortunately for her, she

has a charming personality that "fetches" the crowd, and she is one of the most popular figures on the courts today. CRAMM A FAVOURITE. Normally the gallery does not worry me. It takes me all my time to concentrate on my own game and my opponent, and I try to ignore outside influences, but recently I played before a gallery whose attitude spurred me on to greater effort. It was my match with Cramm in the Davis Cup at Wimbledon. My German rival is a firm' favourite with the Wimbledon gallery, and this day, practically all the applause was for him. I could not help noticing it, especially when I was going down hill in the vital final set. But it only served to make me try harder. Mind you, I don't hold anything against the Wimbledon habitues for showing preference for Cramm. If Gottfried was born with personality and appearance more pleasing to the Wimbledon gallery, I just can't help I that. I was there to play tennis and to beat him if possible, and so long as I could play him in . the same sporting fashion as he always shows, I did not have to worry about trying to please with my appearance. A crowd can be of considerable help in other ways to some players, especially those of international rank accustomed to playing before galleries. They can concentrate on the job in hand more closely.than if on an outside court, where distractions are usually more numerous and where frequently the background is continually changing as people pass at the back of the court. CROWD MAKES DIFFERENCE. A splendid example of the point I wish to make came around in the Australian championships. Without belittling George Holland's success over Henner Henkel I think Henkel would have defeated the Victorian lad had their match been played on one of the centre courts instead of outside. Henkel won the first two sets, but lost the next three. He lost the third set because of lack of concentration and the following two through lack of confidence against an opponent who had improved very' considerably on his play during the first two sets. Had ithe. on a stand-court before

a gallery, I think the crowd noises of applause would have sustained Hen : kel's concentration in that third set which he began confidently and on top. One of the greatest tests of a player's concentration is a match on an outside court in a big tournament where the crowd overflows the stands and wanders round the outside sampling a bit here and a little there. Usually all is well for the first set, for the crowd is interested in watching the individuals and studying their games; but when a set score is called, many of the gallery will begin to move, deciding they have seen enough. As the crowd starts to go the player's concentration is easily broken, for the people packed close around the courts have become part of the atmosphere and, in their going they break it up.

The part the tennis player acts in the tennis world is not as simple as it appears to the majority of the gallery. It is not just a matter of walking on the court and playing. The player is not a machine and many outside influences can affect his game, and he suffers just as many reactions as any member of the watching crowd, perhaps more.