TENNIS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 September 1924, Page 11

TENNIS.

Australia will meet France in the final for the Davis Cup after the interval for the championships of America. In this latter contest all the great players of the world, except .1. O. Anderson, will he competing. The three great French players, Laeoste, Coehet and Borotra will play in America with Brugnon for the championships. There is no reason to expect that Tilden will not again emerge victorious; but before that there will be many magnificent contests towards the latteT end of the seeded draw when the great players commence to meet each other, and even Tilden is not certain of victory.

Willard and" Baylev have been doing well in Ireland at the “Tailteann Games.” After beating a number of unknown players with ease, Willard against Raymond, of South Africa, repeated his success in the Olympic Games after a good fight at 6 — 4,' 5 — 7, 6 —4- The courts were sodden, and both used spikes in their shoes. A French tennis player named Gerbaidt, who lias already crossed the Atlantic in a 10-ton cutter, is about to set forth on a long voyage in the Pacific with many books and chess problems for company.' He will eat salt pork and macaroni. Most of us would prefer to read the books he has selected on the Aquitauia or some other liner. The chess problems, too, could be solved with more comfort., one would suppose, in the state room of a large vessel than in the confined space of a 10-ton cutter in a gale in the Pacific. But this adventurous voyager evidently thinks that, like Ulysses, lie wall be “drinking life to the lees” when, after a meal of salt pork, he studies the compass and the weather, grapples with a chess problem, and quotes Colerido-e and Tennyson. . We will all hope that the voyager will enjoy liis trip and his salt pork and his books; but few, if any,, will envy him. When after his long voyage Gerbault comes ashore lie will not know liow to spend liis time. lie certainly will not want to read poetry or play chess. Tennis (and Tennyson) will be a doubtful pleasure, for after three yedvs at sea in a 10-ton cutter a tennis court would appear to him to sadly lack the heaving motion of the sea. Golf might afford some compensation, if be played on very wet days and took with him in his pocket round the links some salt pork and hard biscuits.

LAWN TENNIS AT WIMBLEDON.

In some preliminary remarks to an article oil lawn tennis at Wimbledon in the Press, Mr G. M. Butterworth says:

It seems but the other day that Mr Walsh, of the Field newspaper, offered the All-England Championship Tennis Cup, and Mr Julian Marshall (tennis silver medallist) and Mr Henry Jones (“Cavendish” was his famous pseudonym) staged the first' championship tournament.

Those of us who' wended our way to the All-England Croquet Lawns in W'orple road, Wimbledon, found the centre terrace laid out for croquet, and four tennis courts had been marked out on the top and bottom terraces. .Awaiting us was E. C. Evelegh (Bonham Carter Evelegh), who had just won his 14th croquet- championship— deemed to be the last until he returned to the game 20 years later (1897), to be champion onc-e more. The All-England Croquet Club had appointed Mr Evelegh, who was the Field representative for coursing and croquet, to report the tennis matches. The competitors numbered 22, none of them destined to win enduring lawn tennis fame, but the winner, Spencer W. Gore, was a good all-round athlete, and fine royal tennis player, and he won the championship by sound ground strokes and excellent volleying. Next year, 1878, he was easily beaten in the challenge round by -f- P* Hadow, who broke liim up by lobs. 1879 produced the Yorkshire parson—now Canon J. T. Hartley— who reigned _ supreme till Wm. Benshaw ousted him. By 1880 the championship had fairly caught on, and 60 of us entered the lists, of whom eight like myself hailed from Marlborough. Of these B. T. Biehardson was the best player of the year, though the winner, H. F. .Lawford, defeated him very ■ flukily in the second round. Lawford beat me in the semi-final, and then beat in the final my old schoolfellow, O. E. Woodhouse, who had defeated the two favourites, William and Ernest Benshaw. But Lawford could not give Hartley a good game. 1881-4 saw Wm. Benshaw champion, and on July 12, 1884, he and Ernest only defeated Wilfrid Milne and myself in the first championship doubles played at Wimbledon after we had, been within a stroke of the match, we taking the first two sets and the score standing five games to four in our favour in the third set,| wind 30-40 being called against the famous twins in the tenth game.