LAWN TENNIS

Evening Star, Issue 21007, 22 January 1932, Page 5

LAWN TENNIS

[By Recorder.]

TOURNAMENTS. _ January 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30. New Zealand championships at Auckland. February 5 and 6.—Vincent tournament. Easter.—Auckland tournament. Easter.—Wellington tournament. Easter.—Canterbury tournament. Easter.—Otago championships and handicap tournament at Logan Park, Dunedin. , Easter.—Tuapeka Sub-association tournament at Roxburgh.

The occasions upon which Australian lawn tennis teams come 'to Dunedin are few and far between. That this is a matter for deep regret will be admitted by all who saw the magnificent display given at Logan Park last week by Miss N. Lloyd and her team. It was tennis of a standard rarely seen in New Zealand, and was unquestionably the finest exhibition of women’s play in its more modern phase than has ever been witnesed in this city. On both days play was bright and interesting throughout. On Saturday, with conditions entirely favourable, the spectators were treated to a brilliant display, especially in the two exhibition matches, and in' the thrilling contest between Miss Hall and Miss Partridge.

The lesson of the matches for Dunedin players was that of controlled speed—controlled .by various devices in tho making of the stroke—and also speed of movement on the court.

The visit of the New South Wales ladies should do a vast amount of good

to tennis in Dunedin. It has given many of those present a new perception of the game and its possibilities. Moreover, too high a, tribute cannot be paid to the personality of the visitors, which impressed everyone with whom they came in contact. Quiet and unassuming in their bearing, they had practically no mannerisms on the court or off it, and their sportsmanship and delight in the game for the game’s sake will long be remembered. Their visit to Dunedin can be written down as one of the most important events in the history of lawn tennis in this city. The B grade matches will be resumed to-morrow, and the A and C matches, which were postponed last Saturday, will, if necessary, be played at the end of the season.

The grass courts at Logan Park are in good condition just now, and it is expected that next Saturday will see a large number of the A grade players availing themselves of the opportunity of gaining grass court experience. As Otago has to play both Canterbury and South Canterbury on grass this season it is necessary that those players who are likely to represent Otago should obtain all the practice they can on grass. It is to be hoped that the Selection Committee will make an early announcement of the personnel of the Otago team, and that some definite arrangement for pi'actice will be made. The draw for the forty-second New Zealand championships, which are to be held in Auckland, commencing on Monday next, has been published. With the exception of I. Seay (Canterbury) all the leading dominion men players will be competing. A. C. Stedman, the present holder of the title, is in the top half, while C. Angas is in the bottom, and on the form the latter has been showing this season he should have no difficulty in being able to reach the final, when these two will meet. 0. A. K. Deaker is the only Otago entrant, while R. A. Court, who played in Central last season, is also playing. After the fine display; given by the latter player, in winning l the North Island championship he is quite capable of causing one or two upsets, and his play in these championships will be followed with interest by local tennis enthusiasts. The first challenge for the Wilding Shield Tby the combined Southern Associations resulted in an easy victory for Canterbury by 12 matches to 0. While the result was more overwhelming than was expected, the southern players gained some valuable experience. Of the combined team W. G. Robertson, of Timaru, gave the best account of himself, and on the second day against Angas he showed brilliant form to run the Canterbury champion to 7-5, 6-4. Of the southern players Robertson has had the most experience of grass court play, but even he was at sea on the hard Wilding Park courts in the earlier stages of the match. He, however, along with the rest of the team; got the feel of the courts better on the second day and gave better displays. Robertson started well against Angas, playing with none of the uncertainty which had marked his games against Barnett. Robertson was driving deeply, angling his shots well, and recovering well—a contrast to Angas, who at the start made many mistakes. Robertson’s neat placements won him applause and points. He led 2-1 and 3-1. After dropping two points in the next Angas came to light with a display of forceful driving to pick up 2-3, tout again Robertson delighted the gallery, playing a clever game in which hard-hit corner drives and well-angled stop volleys at the net were a feature. He led 5-3. Angas then began to show real form, capturing the next, and with splendid overhead work taking wellearned points. He took point by point to clair the set 7-5. Angas was well in command of his game in the second set, and after gaming a 3-0 never looked like being headed, taking the set at 6-4.

After creating an excellent impression on the first day G. A. Pearce showed a falling off in his matches against H- A. Barnett. There was a fairly ' large gallery watching this match, and Pearce undoubtedly suffered from an attack of nerves. . The hard drives which had kept Angas on the run the first day were entirely lacking, and his fast service, another telling feature of his game, was on most occasions netted. His game was a succession of miss-hits, and inside half an hour Barnett had taken the match, 6-0, 6-0. As was expected, S. M'Dougall gave good displays in all his matches, and on the second day against Glanville he was driving accurately and confidently. Although Glanville was placing his shots to both corners, the Otago player got across in quick time to return them. In spite of his improved showing, however, M'Dougall had no chance against Glanville’s steady and accurate placements. On the first day, playing against Glanville and Patterson, both Pearce and M'Dougall gave a good display, but against Angas and Barnett Pearce could not get going. Clever play by Barnett and Angas, who many times outwitted their opponents, gave them the first set, 6-1. The second set saw the Otago pair making a better fight of it, and for a time they were on top. Canterbury led, 3-0, but then a space Pearce struck form, and with him and M'Dougall crowding the net they forced Angas and Barnett •to faults and gradually crept up to 3 all and 4 all. Angas and Barnett led 5-4 and 30 love, but some nice anticipation and smashing by Pearce again evened, 5 all, the Canterbury pair, however, taking the next two games for match. Winning 19 matches to 4, South Canterbury overwhelmed North Otago in the annual representative tennis fixture, which was played at Maori Park, Timaru, last Saturday. The surprise or the day was the defeat of Timaru’s leading lady, Miss M. Gibson, by North Otago’s first player, Miss D. Miller. Renton, playing first for South Canterbury, easily accounted for Brvan, 6-0, 6-3. A. Feathers was the only North Otago man to win his single, defeating Innes-Jones, 7-5. 3-6, 7-5. The other matches won by North Otago were Miss D. Blaike, who defeated Miss D. Hart 9-6, and Bryan and Gallagher, who defeated Renton and Crammond, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

The Japanese players who are visiting Australia opened their tour with a match against New South Wales, the latter team gaining a victory by 8 rubbers to 2. The outstanding feature of the match was the decisive victories of Crawford, who accounted for Satoh, 6-0, 6-4, and Harada, 6-3, 8-6. Harada stated that Crawford, on the form he showed against Satoh, would have de-

feated Coehet or any other player in the world. \