TENNIS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 September 1924, Page 9

TENNIS.

WOOD v. BOROTRA

BY, CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION— COPYRIGHT Received Sept. 5, 11.5 a.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 4. ,Iri the first set Wood, serving, lost the third arid fifth games, giving the frenchman a quick 3-1 lead. The Australian lost liis service also in the seventh game, and the Frenchman took the set at ease by six games against one. Wopd:,seenied shaken; by his. team inate s defeat and ‘he was unusually inaccurate, netting,the softest,of shots and offering Borotra every opportunity to cross-court his shots for placements or pass, the Australian when the latter ran up to the net. '

J?, second set Wood offered an exhibition- of indominable courage and skill under adverse circumstances. Me: stood’ or 3; when serving, in the second game; and he pushed his way through With masterly shots, taking the -following eight points. 'He broke through the Frenchman’s service in. the third..game and led 2-1. His service was perfection, the edges of the court. At 3-2 : _he; re-established his control beyond question, lining hi s . returns close and parallel to. the line of the court, m winch he received the service and ran out the set by. winning the. alternate games, by six against four. In the third set, his nlaj r again becoming patchy, Wood tost the service m the second, -and Borotra quickly amassed athree.lbye lead. The Frenchman .was playing a. high,. game of tenius, his work at the net heingfaulUJess. He volleyed- with precision' and snowed ,an instinct for angling his shots into placement. Wood again, lost the; service in the fourth game at 6—4 but. retaliated,, and the Frenchman also lost the service in ,the fifth "at 'y°°« T lost the -service, a - K - ; ?P r 9* rsi Jod, 5-rl, eventually winmug the set by six gfimes against, one. In the fourth, set the games alteruatecl without great incident until the when Borotra lost the service W 2 * " il- ■, wils - vi tal game, the loss of which might . snell the Aus«waiV S ¥ the frenchman d weH-balanced, all-round tennis, and pulled-vout, ■ the score standing Vn r i a L : however’ bided his chance, and, lobbing the frenchman into errors, broke the latter s service in the tenth, and won 6-4.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn In the fifth set Wood again p’aved gieat tennis. The Frenchman’s ciever nlamngs left the Australian losing the game- on the service, biit Wood won the last five points arid, saved the game. _The Frenchman, tHy TomHC riid, virtually-the sa-m© Llrng, winiiriri -roin 2--3 points. - Wood was fighting Ins? hardest, and when the .odds were greatest he -invited-' his ouooncnt into n volleying duel, in which be broke Jirough, the Frenchman’s defence in the sixth and led 4—2. Hb was ribiy not to, .he. denied. Overwhelming liprotra an d ..tearing, through - tliei Tat fer ’« service, he .won the eighth 4’—l" and the set 6—2.

The doubles xbranv i j Brugnoh and Lacoste against Wqod and ‘Pariorsen; —A.NiZ.C.A.

DAVIS CUP MATCH. Received Sept. 5, 10:30 a.m. ' NEW YORK, Sept. 4. In the first set Xjacoste in serving offered an opportunity for Patterson, to break through in the third game, and the Australian immediately took bad 3—2. The Frenchman’s inability to return Patterson’s fast service seenied to shake him, and the contest quickly resolved itself into a battle an exponent of excellent backhand and ground strokes and a hard hitter. Lacoste breaking through Patterson’s service won the sixth, a love game, and winning the seventh, also a love game, took the lead 4—3. Patterson attempted to mix his game by slicing and lobbing, but the Frenchman’s unerring returns from the backhand and keen drives to Patterson’s backhand quickly brought victorv in the first set.

In the - second • set the games alternated with - the service until Lacoste broke through in the fifth, leaving by 3—2. The Frenchman sought always to advance to the net, the Australian making efforts to lob or drive him away, but Lacoste’s uncanny accuracy and apparently intimate knowledge of how to develop his opponent’s errors by driving to Patterson’s backhand were piling on the points. Patterson again lost his service in the seventh, and he now determined to receive the Frenchman’s service at midcourt. This did not disconcert. Lacoste, who ran out winner of the set by six games against two. In the third set Patterson strove mightily to pull himself together. His service had suddenly weakened. He double-faulted continuously, and one could see him making an‘heroic effort to Tegain control. It seemed to be a day of had tennis luck for him, and lie could create few opportunities for near the net or overhead kills. The games- now alternated in a tense struggle, most of the games going to deuce. The Australian by might and main pulled his service out again and again after standing 2—3. In the tenth game he again attempted to receive the Frenchman’s service in midcourt, hut unsuccessfully. In the fourteenth came the Frenchman, serving, stood twice within a point of losing the set, but he pulled up from I—3. and at the seventeenth game broke through Patterson’s service, also winning the eighteenth by 4—l and the set hv ten games to eight.