TENNIS

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 31 October 1925, Page 14

TENNIS

b TILDEN SELECTS WORLD’S BEST. AMERICANS HEAD LIST. NEW YORK, Oct. 9. "My selection of the ten best tennis players in the world,” writes W. T. Tilden, is: The American champion (W. T. Tilden), Johnson, Richards, Alonzo, Williams, Lacoste, Borotra, Patterson, Anderson and Howard Kinsey. For alternates in numbers nine and ten, I would suggest Harada, Flaqucr and Hawkes.

The placement of Lacoste, Borotra., Patterson, Anderson and Harada is badly complicated. Lacoste wins at Wimbledon, beating Anderson and Borotra, but loses to Patterson, Richards, Johnston and myself. Borotra loses to Lacoste several times, but beats Patterson and Anderson. Harada, after a bad year in tournament play, beats Patterson and Alonzo in the Davis Cup. Anderson beats Harada, but loses to Borotra and Lacoste, to say nothing of Wallace Johnston in the national championship. "Personally I consider Patterson and Lacoste superior players to Anderson, Harada, and Borotra, yet the records would show Borotra at least their equal, if not their superior. "Norton’s great five-set match with Lacoste in the singles championship gives him claim for consideration among the first ten in the world, yet his record all the year, like Harada’s, hardly brings him into the charmed circle.

"Every year the ranking list grows harder to do justice to the players. Competition grows keener, and the number of upsets increases with the number of rising stars to that of to-day. . If a player enters all tournaments he is almost certain to be spilled at least onec on an off day by a man not quite in his class.

"At any rate, that is my list. Take it for what it*is worth.”

A TENNIS COACH. PLAN SUPPORTED. The move made by the Lin wood Club to secure the appointment of a professional coach by the Canterbury Association is an experiment that will be followed with interest in other parts of New Zealand (says a wirter in the Otago Daily Times). It is y new departure so far as lawn tennis in New Zealand is concerned, and if it proves a success in Christchurch other centres will no doubt follow suit. Finance, of course, represents the greatest obstacle in the way of the proposal, for there are not many clubs which can emulate the example of Lin wood and offer their associations a guarantee of £SO. But, while the patroitio action of the Linwood Club is to be commended, the whole subject of coaching is one • that might well be taken up by the New Zealand Association, with a view to the appointment of a professional inkstruptor for each island. Such a project would no doubt commend itself to the local associations, for the cost spread over such a large number of players would be very slight indeed and would be fully compensated by the improved standard of play that would result. In fact, if the New Zealand body decided to husband its resources by not sending any teams to, Australia this year it could practically finance the project itself.

The art of lawn tennis does not l y any means solely consist of stroke production. Footwork, court position, and courtcraft generally play an equally important part, and it is in these directions that the services of a coach would be oirthe greatest value, for a man who understood his work would undoubtedly begin by putting first things first. To secure the best results it would be highly desirable, as Mr. Ollivier suggests, to obtain the services of an American professional, for they take the game very seriously in that country.