HUMOURS OF TENNIS

Evening Star, Issue 22880, 11 February 1938, Page 11

HUMOURS OF TENNIS

TEMPERAMENTAL STARS The excitable temperament of the Latin race has caused several disturbing incidents in the lives of Australian Davis Cup players, but a share of humour has balanced the account, says Harry Hopman in the Melbourne ‘ Herald.’ _ , In the doubles of the Austraha-Cuba match of 1932. Jack Crawford and 1 were playing Ricardo Morales and Gustave Vollmer. We won the first two sets, but the Cubans, much to the delight of the gallery—a section of which was perched on a. brick wall that divided the tennis court from a Jai Alai (Pelota) court—made a breakaway in the third set. At three-love there was a loyal outburst as we changed ends. Four-love increased the din, and five-love brought a crescendo of excited cheering. Crawford and I were not worried, for w© thought we could win comfortably when we spurted, so we were greatly amused when, as the umpire began to call the score at the end of the fifth game, Vollmer ran round the net, grabbed the balls, and stood ready for service before we had got as far as the net post. Was he excited ?_ I’ll say he was—and he showed it by immediately serving two double faults. Incidentally, we gradually overhauled their five-love lead, but there came another occasion for the gallery to show its patriotic lung power, for our opponents took the set at 8-6. _ jOne of the greatest laughs Vivian M'Grath has had on tour came during a recent match in Italy. Jack Crawford was playing Francisco Romonoi, and they decided to go on playing without the usual 10-minute spell after the third set. But the Italian trainer had other ideas, and rushed on to the court, pulled Romonoi’s shirt off his back, and left him shirtless while another shirt was being procured from the dressing room. Vivian adds that Mussolini’s daughter, Countess Ciano, appeared to enjoy the diversion as much as anybody. A pen-picture of “ Bitsy ” Grant will help you appreciate the following incident. The “ Atlanta Mite,” as he is known among many other nicknames, is sft 4in, but an energetic little bundle, with a fund of American wise-cracks and a keen sense of humour. He is a wonderful retriever on the court, takes his game very seriously, and usually has marvellous concentration. ' Well, there had been several bad decisions against Grant in a match at Southampton in 1934, and finally “ Bitsy ” hit a ball right down the line. This ball was also called “ out ” by the linesman. At this point Grant walked over to the man on the line and_ said: “ What’s the matter, buddy? Did the chalk get in your eyes ?” It seems fitting that Americans George Lott and Johnny Hennessey should be concerned in some of the incidents that come first to my mind, for both were humorists.

Never a tidy person on the court, George gave the gallery around No. 1 court at Wimbledon a treat on a hot day of the 1934 tournament. He was perspiring so freely that he decided to keep a small towel with him to wipe his face in between points., It was too big to fit in his pockets, so he flapped it through his belt at the back. Every time George took a, step, about two feet of towel, hanging behind him like a tail, flapped up and down. The galleiy rocked with laughter, and finally his who was losing concentration, asked' him to find some other place to keep his towel.' Another escapade of Lott’s was told to me by Ellsworth Vines, world champion in 1932. During a tournament at New Orleans in 1931, he was playing against George Lott, andin the course or a rally Lott’s pants ripped open at the back as he was stretching for a low volley. Instead of stopping and changing trousers George put on a heavy over-size sweater, pulling it down over the exposed part, and, much to the delight of the gallery, continued on and won the match, .8-6, in the fifth set. WORRIED TILDEN OUT OF FORM. I’ll let Johnny Hennessey, former American Davis Cup player, explain in his own words how he beat Bill Tilden on one occasion. “ We_ were down to meet in a Davis Cup trial on a scorching hot day, and, when changing, I noticed Bill put on a polo sweater,.so I took a little notice. . Bill had the reputation of being able to beat most of us without getting unduly hot. Well, after a few games I pulled off a thick sweater. A few more games and off came another. As each of the four I was wearing came off, Bill became more indignant that I had played him in four sweaters, and finally he worried himself out of his form to give me a win.” “ Bunny ” Austin, England’s leading player since Fred Perry joined the professional ranks, told me the funniest incident in his tennis career was when someone walked up to his wife, as he walked on to an outside Wimbledon court with the Japanese Davis Cup player Ryuki Miki, and asked: “ Excuse me—which is Austin?” At least One of Roderich Menzel’s escapades must be included in this, for the big Czech has caused more laughs than any other player I know. One, I think a gem, happened at Sammering, a holiday resort in Austria, where Menzel and his wife played Jack Crawford and his wife, who were an excellent mixed doubles combination. Menzel’s wife could not compare as a player with the other three on the

court, so as soon as the hall vu in play in a rally she would run to the side of the court and sit on -a seat near the net, while Roderich would carry on playing singles in a doubles court. Mrs Menzel didn’t get. much tennis, but she got a lot of exercise, and fun, in dodging Roderich and the ball as she made a bee-line for the seat each rally. Bill Tilden told me this one when I was in America in 1928. The brothers Myrick, well-known tennis identities in the United States, were playing doubles. One, Mike, playing near the net, always scored several points a set with angled volleys off the wood. In this particular veteran doubles, Mike was in great form, and his opponents were upset that such good fortune should go all his way. Mike scored another, the ball going away from the wood of the racket at a winning angle. His brother went to serve tne next point, but Mike held up the game—there was something in his eye. The brother fished about with a handkerchief, and finally said: “ It’s out.” “What was it?” queried Mike, “an insect?” But an opponent got in first with the answer; “ No, you old fool. What else could it be but a splinter £”