LAWN TENNIS

Evening Star, Issue 21523, 22 September 1933, Page 5

LAWN TENNIS

[Bt Ricohdib.]

Club Openings. Ideal weather conditions favoured the clubs which held their official openings last Saturday afternoon. Mr E. D. Duthie, the president of the association, paid official visits to several of the clubs, and at each club found a large and enthusiastic gathering of players and friends, indicating a successful season. . _ The two largest clubs m Dunedin, North-east Valley and St. Clair, _ are both reported to have a membership of over 100, while the. latter club’s membership list is full. Anderson’s Bay is in the happy position of being able to show a large increase in its membership this season, and an added strength to its A team will be E. A. Pearce, who has joined up with his old club. Kaituna had a big turn out at its Opening ceremony, over 100 players and friends being present. Among the visitors was Mr S. T. Whitcombe, an honorary life member of the club, who can, surely lay claim to the record for Dunedin of having played active tennis Jill he was seventy-eight years of age. Moana, Nga Maara, and Opoho Clubs tre-' holding their openings to-morrow, tfhilo Cosy Dell and Caversham, whose pourts are being top-dressed, will not Open till September 30. Kota*. St. Kilda will be without the services pf Miss R. Barton, its first lady, for three months, as she left last Saturday on a trip to Suva. Interclub matches will be commenced on September 30 ? and the entries of teams must be in the hands of the secretary of the, association by Monday next. While one or two clubs may -be effected by the early starting of matches, the majority will welcome an early start, especially when it is considered that Easter, which invariably marks-the close of the season, is_ a fortnight earlier next year than this. With the week earlier, start it should also be possible to make a break _of three weeks in .the matches at Christmas time. Last year many clubs complained of having to start matches on January 7.

The association ladder will open for competition on October 15,, and the indications are that competition on these ladders will be as keen as last season. The same procedure of selecting representative teams as was followed last season is to be adhered to this season. Teams for major representative matches will be selected from the ladders.

Visit of English Team. The three English players, T. J. Perry. H. G. N. Lee, and F. Wilde, left San Francisco on September 17, and are due to arrive in New Zealand shortly. They will stay here three •weeks, and, although no official itinerary has yet been issued by the New Zealand Association, every- endeavour is being made by the local association to see that Dunedin is included in their itinerary. Although the visit-of these players is to be snort, there seems to be no reason why _ Dunedin should not be included, especially when it is considered how badly it Has been treated ns regards visits from other overseas players.

_ Some of the members of the Australian Davis Cnp team will also be visit-ing-New Zealand next month, and it is hoped that they may be seen in action in Dunedin. -j

Davis Cup. The eliminations in the European zone leave France. Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Czecho-Slovakia to contest the 1934 ties. France, Australia, Japan, and Czecho-Slovakia won their rights' by reason of their positions in last year’s competition. Italy. Switzerland, Austria, and Germany have qualified to meet the first-named four. Australia and Japan appear to have the best chances.

Volleyer or Baseliher. The following extracts are taken from an interesting article by A. V. Doyle on the volleyer versus the baseliner:—

“ Every player has his own ideas of how'to play the game to get the best results from his own style with regard to his strokes and his physical capability; and it would be ridiculous for one who cannot low volley well or for one who is slow in body or mind to come to the net. “ With a tennis player who can only drive and toss it is better to , rely on those strokes than to attempt to play the volleying game. Likewise the volleyer would be ill-advised, to adopt baseline tactics simply because he sees baseliners successful. “ There are those who say that a hack court player can drive past the volleyer or toss over him, and so he can, "occasionally; but that is not the lino of argument that helps one to arrive at a decision. The player'who can low volley well and is quick on his feet can cut off the drive in a big majority of instances. He has the whole court, or nearly so—i.e., 156 square yards—in which to play the return. The baseliner has a very limited area—a strip on each side or perhaps only on one side of the volleyer—into which he can drive without giving the volleyer a chance to make the winning shot. It is true that he can toss, but if the volleyer cover that toss and is able to smash or even block volley into position the tosser will have little chance. “ It will be obvious to everyone that S marksman shooting at a big target has a decided advantage over the person who is limited to a small. target. If’the latter defeat the former it is not a proof in favour of shooting at small targets, but rather evidence of very superior shooting, and that is a fair way to regard the case of a volleyer playing a baseliner. The volleyer has the bigger target, and by reason of limiting his, opponent’s court area and being up ready to cut off his drive, the haseliner has to play more accurately, with greater speed and in less time. He has to play at the greatest height of his ability and continue to do so or else fall into the trap of the volleyer. " I am satisfied that a good volleyer has a big advantage of a good baseliner, and the greatest volleyer of all time, Norman. Brookes, would beat the greatest baseliner, past or presnt, if be could oppose him with bis youth and skill of 1907. / “Norman Brooks followed his service and sought finality in the quickest way by volleying. “ William T. Tilden, the greatest player since Brookes, writes: ‘ A player should leant to serve so that he can follow it in and volley.’ “ Mile Lenglen, the greatest woman player the game has known, advises women to learn to volley, adding: ‘lt is THE game.’ ”