JACK CRAWFORD

Evening Star, Issue 21570, 16 November 1933, Page 4

JACK CRAWFORD

TENNIS CHAMPION OH PROFESSIONAL GAME Jack Crawford, in Melbourne, expressed the view that there was a big chance of professional tenuis competitions being widely accepted on the Continent and in America. .He confessed that ho had received many offers to turn professional, but said that he became weary denying rumours that he had decided to turn. “Australia should plan her 1934 Davis Cup campaign with great care and with optimism,” he said. Crawford said that the professionals, Vincent Richards, Francis Hunter, W. Tilden, Hans Nusslien, and Bruce Barnes, were playing such sterling tennis in America that they were attracting Ing galleries. Induced to talk of Australia’s chances of winning the Davis Cup, Crawford expressed the view that the test matches with the British Isles team must be used to build up its personnel. He selected Quist, Turnbull, M‘Grath, Hopman, Moon, and Dunlop as the most likely candidates for the 1934 quest of the Davis Cup. M'Gratli, Quist, and Turnbull, he said, had improved much more than the public would readily recognise. “ In Sydney,” he said. “ enthusiasts were disappointed in M'Gratli when he did not show marked improvement in his stroke making. They have not yet seen the new M,‘Grnlh, however, for his

improvement in tactics, temperament, fighting qualities, and mental balance have been missed. They are not so apparent in exhibition tenuis.” Asked whether he should be reserved for singles, Crawford favoured the idea, but said that if he paired successfully in doubles there was uo reason to doubt his ability to play three matches on consecutive days. , Crawford will pair with M'Grath in the New South Wales doubles, with Moon in Victoria, and with Harry Hopman for the Australian national title. Tlie English stars will spend a week in Tasmania, and it has been tentatively arranged that they open their Tasmanian tour at .Launceston on January 4. They will play at Hobart cm January 5 and 6, and at Burnie on Wednesday, January 10, leaving the same night oq return to Melbourne.