AMONG THE IMMORTALS

Evening Star, Issue 21821, 10 September 1934, Page 2

AMONG THE IMMORTALS

CRAWFORD AS SEEN BY PERRY TRIBUTES TO AUSTRALIA Tie great English lawn tennis champion, F. J. Perry,'in London ‘Evening News,’ pays many tributes, personal and as an artist in the game, _to J. H. Crawford, in the following article on June 29 and just' before- the Wimbledon semi-finals: — • Jack Crawford, the present holder of the Wimbledon men’s singles title is . one of the greatest of champions. Last year he startled the world by winning ; the Australian, French, and British titles in succession, and only failed to complete a grand slam in America by sheer bad luck. As it was, he led. by 2 sets to 1 in the final, when his stamina, which had been severely undermined during the week by a bad attack of asthma, gave out. There is no doubt that Jack Crawford, the tennis player, must be . ranked among the world’s best ever. As a man he must also be placed in that same category; VERY MODEST TENNIS CHAMPION. There are many people in the world who have done wonderful things and can be forgiven for talking about them. But my friend Jack has done all these things, and does not talk about them. That, indeed, is an accomplishment. To talk to him you would think he could not play tennis at all, and, in fact, he is much more interested in cricket and bridge when engaged in a . serious tournament. He certainly > knows the way to relax after strenuous matches. It has been my pleasure to know Jack Crawford for some four years, and ■ during that time I have never heard . anyone say a bad word against him. To- be able to sit on top of the world and maintain your friendliness with 1 everybody is indeed an achievement. And I take off my hat to Such a great sportsman. His road has indeed been a hard one to tread, but he has come out on - top in the face of many odds. Even in, Australia, his own country, he has ' not always been given a square deal. • In fact, things got so bad at one time ' that he was forced to turn round and take action, and he told his critics just what he thought of them in no uncertain terms. MONOPOLY OF- AUSTRALIAN TITLES. The result was gratifying to both parties. They left him alone, and he carried on in his own sweet way without interference. _: His achievements .since then have been wonderful. Let us take a look at his record. , , , ~ Born in March, 1908, he started his lawn tennis on the grounds of the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Club, which has some of the finest courts in the world. Has represented Australia in the Davis Cup since 1928, and won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, with Miss Ryan, in 1930. The same year he won the German doubles championship with E. F. Moon. He has held a monopoly of most oi the Australian titles for many years, for he has been national champion since 1931, and only lost the title this year. For the last four years he has been captain of the Australian Davis Cup team, and played against the American and British touring sides in his own country in 1932 and 1933. JACK CRAWFORD’S NOTABLE VICTIMS. The fact that he has won the Victorian singles championship for the past six years shows that he is by a long way the finest player Australia has had since the great Gerald Patterson, who won the title in Victoria for seven years —and it was only after a great scrap last November that Jack failed to equal that record. He has beaten, among others, Allison four times, Borotra twice, Austin five times, and Vines, while he also has a victory over Rene Lacoste to his credit. His record on Australian soil may never he equalled, as I cannot see anyone in that country capable of staying “on top ” for so long n period as Crawford has done. It will years before his great record in Europe last year will be successfully challenged, and his name will go down among the lawn tennis immortals. During our last trip to Australia we were fortunate to spend a great deal of time in company with Jack and his wife. I have never seen anyone looked after so well as Marjorie looks after Jack. Her influence has been mainly responsible for bringing out that worldbeating lawn tennis which everyone knew Jack possessed. Whenever they are at a party or ; dinner it is amazing to see the dexterity with which she steers the conversation from the subject of lawn tennis, and before you know where you are vou are talking about something quite different. They are very keen bridge players, but I do not think they ever succeeded in defeating the brilliant combination of Pat Hughes and Harold Lee. It is true we were defeated in the tennis tests out there, but I think we can safely say we took all the bridge honours. LESSON IN HORSE RIDING. But I must return to Jack Crawford. Immediately following the first test match in Sydney last year we spent a few days on a large station or ranch, some' 300 miles up _ country; among other things we wereinitiated into that difficult pastime of riding. None of us had ever been on a horse before. In fact, we didn’t even know which end was which. So we asked Jack. He didn’t appear to be a particularly good horseman, as he wouldn’t say very

much about it, and told us not to watch him, because he was bad. Imagine our surprise, therefore, when they produced the largest. and fieriest horse they could find, and Jack redo it just as easily as if it had been made of wood. It was only after some intense third degree methods that wc discovered he had lived most of his life on a station such as the one we were on. AVhat he didn’t know about horse riding wasn’t worth knowing. RIGHT TYPE OF FELLOAA*. As late as yesterday I was sitting In a stand with a well-known lawn tennis player while Jack was playing down below. AVithout any warning this man turned found to me, and, pointing to Jack, said: “ Out.there is my idea, of a good-looking fellow. He is my idea of the perfect, strong, silent man, and the type of fellow anyone could fall for.” That was indeed a great compliment, coming, as it did, from one of the best known players in the world. And his sentiments are mine. In the words of the Americans, Crawford is a “ swell feller and a dandy tennis player.” AA r c wish him all luck in the championships, but not too much luck if he plays one of our own hopes!