Lawn Tennis Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 29, 4 February 1939, Page 22

Lawn Tennis Notes

THE WELLINGTON TOURNAMENT

INCIDENTS EXPLAINED AND SUGGESTIONS MADE

While entries for the tournamen showed an increase on last year, and although all championship events were excellently supported, the lower &rade events were very poorly patronised, said Mr. Mantell-Harding. The presence of Misses Hardcastle and Rice, of Australia, who were on a holiday visit, created a great deal of interest both with the public and players. The standard of play throughout the tournament was exceptionally high, and some excellent matches were witnessed.

Mr. Mantell-Harding paid tribute to the work of the Wellington Umpires' Association and to Mr. L. T. Donovan, who was in charge at the tournament. The great majority of players had realised that they were expected to x do a certain amount of umpiring at tournaments, he said, and now did it willingly, but there were still a few senior players who considered that they should not be asked to undertake such duties, and were very ready to find excuses when approached. A little more willing assistance from those players, he felt, would be appreciated by the Umpires' Association.

"I regret to have to report that there were two unfortunate happenings at the tournament which have been yen-? tilated in the Press and apparently discussed and commented upon by players," Mr. Mantell-Harding con-

tinued. "The decisions in each case were made by myself as manager of the tournament, and I consider there were justifiable grounds in each case for such a decision. ... I feel that I should set the true facts out for the benefit of the members of the management committee who were not at the tournament, and also for some members who were there, and, I know, discussed these matters with both players and the public without seeking the true facts." MISS FORRESTER SCRATCHED. \ The first decision was his scratching of Miss J. Forrester in the women's championship singles, he said. On the Monday night a request was broadcast for all players to be in attendance at 9 a.m. on the Tuesday. The request was further repeated at 7.45' a.m. on the Tuesday and published in the paper. Unfortunately the Tuesday morning saw rain, but at 9 a.m. the grass courts were fit for play. At 9.5 a.m. an announcement was made! over the air that the courts were fit for play,l and all players were request- j ed to report at Miramar as quickly as possible.

Miss Forrester was to play Miss Rice, the match being a round behind all the others, and the winner was to meet Miss J. Douthett. Miss Rice arrived at 9.20 a.m., Miss Douthett at 10.15 a.m., and at 10.45 a.m., there being no 'appearance of Miss Forrester, and after an attempt had been made. to communicate with, her, he made his decision to scratch her, and called upon Miss Rice and Miss Douthett to play. Miss Forrester, who lived only five minutes from Miramar by tram, arrived at 11 a.m.

"The second decision," the manager said, "was the awarding of the FranceEdwards match in the'men's championship singles to Edwards after France refused to continue at the end of the first set which he lost 2-6. France was called at approximately 5.20 p.m. to play a semi-final match of five advantage sets against Edwards. Mr. H. N. Burns was the umpire, and in consultation with me it was decided to stop play at 7.30 p.m., if the match was unfinished, and continue next day. This fact was made known to the players before the match started. Mr. Burns reported to me that at the end of the first, set France walked up to him and said, 'Ihave had enough. You 'can scratch me if you like.'

"Under the circumstances and also the rules of lawn tennis I had no option but to award the match to Edwards.

"I should like to mention here that the conditions at this particular time were the best of the tournament. The wind had died down and the sun was shining brightly. At as late as 7.20 p.m. a mixed championship doubles was being played.

"The above are the correct facts in each case."

During the tournament several matters came before his notice which, in his opinion, required alteration, said Mr. Mantell-Harding. There was too much time lost in getting players on the courts after they.had been called. He thought this was caused by some players changing completely into civilian clothes after each match, and nearly all players drinking numerous cups of tea after, each mateh —taking their time in the process. -• Things were so bad on the Tuesday that Mr. Donovan timed one man and found he took 35 minutes from the time he was called to get on the courts. A further reason was the. unwillingness of some

Two incidents which occurred at the Wellington lawn tennis championship and handicap tournament, held at Miramar over Christmas, were referred to by the manager of the tournament (Mr. A. C. W. Mantell-Harding) in his report to the management committee of the Wellington Association last week. They were the scratching of Miss Joan Forrester in the women's championship singles and the awarding of the France-Edwards match in the men's championship singles to Edwards after France refused to continue at the end of the first set. The matter of players having a "knockup" during a tournament was also brought up in the discussion whch followed the presentation of the report. Mr. Mantell-Harding made several suggestions for the smooth running of the tournament, and these are receiving consideration.

players to answer to their names when called, and so causing unnecessary trouble to the officer controlling umpires.

has been a steady falling off in entries in lower grade events *with the result that they are now being poorly patronised, and I consider that C grade events should be eliminated from our future programmes," he said. "Consideration might be given to the Wellington championship tournament being confined purely to championship events and a separate handicap tournament being held at a later date. This would facilitate the running of the tournament, particularly where, as has been the case, one or more players come through in as many as five events. Further, I consider that our junior events should, in future, be the best of three sets, • last only advantage, instead of 17 games as at present."

Mr. Mantell-Harding submitted the following recommendations for consideration:—

That players be given ten minutes, from the time they are first called, to take their place on the courts. After the expiration of this time the player at fault to be scratched. He said he understood this system was adopted at all main Australian tournaments and had the desired result of speeding up the players.

That boys' and girls' singles in future

be the- best of three sets, last only advantage.

That C grade events be eliminated if a full programme of events is adhered to.

That a purely championship tournament be conducted as the Wellington championship tournament and a separate handicap tournament be held at a later date.

Referring to Mr. Mantell-Harding's suggestion that the handicap tournament should be held separately from the championships, the chairman, Mr. A. M. Pinkerton, said he thoroughly agreed with the idea. If the handicaps were held at a different time, he said, they would probably get much better entries. They would probably find that people who were frightened away by the championship atmosphere would enter for the handicaps.

Referring to the scratching of Miss Forrester, Mr. L. Wise said that, as the facts were set out, the manager had done the right thing. He thought that Miss Forrester was entirely at fault and should have rung the courts. As far as France was concerned, there were, no doubt, reasons for the match being put oh at 5.15 p.m. and the manager had said that the conditions were the best of the tournament at that time. Ordinarily, however, he did not think it'a good idea to put a five-set match on at that "time.

Replying to Mr. Wise, Mr. MantellHarding said that he had other matches ready for the players for the next day and he thought that that match would be over fairly quickly. Several persons had commented to him afterwards that the conditions were perfect at the time.

Mr. Pinkerton said that the position as set out regarding France was absolutely correct. France did not appeal to the umpire on the grounds of bad light or anything else. If he had, the umpire could have appealed to the referee. Referring to the time taken by players to get on to the court, Mr. Pinkerton said that the Australian players had told him that at home they were allowed ten minutes, and if they were not on time they were scratched. They were given a definite time to be at the courts and if they were not there it was.their own fault. He considered it a good idea to give each player a time to arrive, as wanted for play, instead of telling them all to arrive at 9 a.m. It would be in the players' interests.

Mr. Mantell-Harding had discouraged players having a "knock-up" during, the tournament, said Mr. R. McL. Ferkins, and this had led to an unfortunate incident when one of the Australian players had been told that she could not do this. He had made inquiries and had found that in other tournaments a "knock-up" was allowed. "I don't think our tournament should be unique in New Zealand on this matter," he said. It was decided that the question should be referred to the tournament committee for opinion.

The recommendations of the manager are to be referred to the tournament committee, and,, if thought fit, wi.ll be incorporated in the tournament rules for the future.

There seems to be some difference of opinion as to the duties of an appeal committee. It was defined at the meeting as a committee, not for players to appeal to against a decision, but for the manager to appeal to on any points. It was decided to have a full investigation into the rights of an appeal committee and to find out whether such a committee exists in other associations.