TENNIS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 8 November 1924, Page 10

TENNIS.

Though the afternoon was fine on Saturday, the heavy rain which fell on the previous day and in the morning was a good reason for the committee deciding not to hold the opening of the Hawqra coui’ts. The grounds look very well indeed and, speaking generally, the courts are in good order, though a trifle rough in parts. This, however, will soon disappear with, the regular work they are getting, and everything points to a good season. The old courts next the Bowling Club are down in potatoes, a drastic change for what used to be a series of three excellent courts and a very busy place during the season in the old days. The croquet lawns are looking particularly well, and should be in great heart for the tournament if it is decided to hold it in Hawera. It would give a great fillip to the game should this be arranged. In addition all these provincial events are good for the town. PLATED EVERYWHERE. ©WORLD-WIDE VOGUE OF LAWN TENNIS. (From Australasian Lawn Tennis.) Who, 20 years ago, would have thought that such hard-working and serious-minded nations as China and Japan would enter teams for competing in a mere game ? Yet we find that not only did Japan do so; but for the last 10 years the Japanese team has been one to be feared by those nations that seek to reach the dignity of challenging the champion nation. It is well within , the bounds of possibility, so serious is the attitude of Japan towards lawn tennis, and so well do its countrymen play the game', that in a few years those who wish to earn the title of champion nation will have to send their players to the land of the chrysanthemum and cherry blossom.

It will not be, however, on the skill and fame of the champion nation that the vogue of the game will become most universal. It is clearly realised by those who know the game best that those who play the game with no pretensions to great skill derive the most pleasure from it, and they all derive the exercise that s necessary under the conditions of modern city life in almost equal measure. A famous champion of America, Australia, England, or France has to win to be fully pleased, with his game. The country or city neophyte, or “mug” if you prefer the colloquial term, is quite satisfied at the end of a long day of play with his companions if he can remember one

or twp • strokes that for him are vivid i» the memory. He will recall this or that lucky backhand drive or volley, or the smash that just landed on the baseline, or the passing strpke that left his opponent stranded at the net with far more delight and satisfaction than the great champion will have with many strokes of far surpassing skill. In the same way the nations whose players have far less' skill will remain quite satisfied by merely competing in the Davis Cup. They will have tried themselves out against the great champion nations of America and Australia, and though they may not have even won one rubber, they mil feet satisfied with a set; or with so many games, and with the strokes they have learned from watching, which, in the coming year, their players will attempt to cultivate. After all, the real value is in. the striving, not in the result. Ah honest effort that fails may have more real value than the blase success of the great expert. How-often have We seen the gritty attempt of a loser to avert defeat gain more applause and praise than the success of the champion. It is given oiily to a few to succeed, hut all can do their best, and doing One’s best has the greater merit. The late King of Spain, was an ardent devotee of the game, and not only encouraged a big tournament every year in the capital city of Spain, in which, on one occasion, the singles championship Was won by H. A. Parker, of New Zealand and New; South Wales; but himself took part in the games. The present King of Sweden is still a keen player, and he recently invited our champion, Norman Brookes, to visit him and play in a tournament in Stockholm, which invitation Brookes had to cancel by permission of Hi's Majesty, when he was invited to join the Australian Davis Cup team in America. The Duke of York is also a keen player, hut the Prince of Wales is keen on the kindred game of rackets. Lord Balfour is still a keen player in spite, of his nearly 80 years, and Lord Beaverbrook, one of the greatest forces in English politics, gains all his exercise from playing laWn tennis, as' does his Wife. The donor of the Davis Cup, Dwight F. Davis, is now assistant secretary for war in the United States of America, and he has inveigled his fellow Statesmen' to throw aside .each day the cares of office for a friendly knock-up that enables each ofthem to carry his burden of work with greater ease. It is only of recent'years that the maxim, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy;” "has been realised to its full extent. Many a man has found that he works better if he plays better. Many a man, worried greatly to find an answer to some problem in his business or in affairs of State, his by throwing them resolutely aside for an interval of play found, when he resumed, an answer to his oroblems so simple that he wonders how he could have missed it before. It Was simply that his brain was overworked. ’ ,