ATTACK AND DEFENCE

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 10 March 1934, Page 8

ATTACK AND DEFENCE

RELATIONSHIP IN TENNIS SERVER’S UNDUE ADVANTAGE. EARLY HISTORY OF GAME Lawn tennis, like cricket, is at present exercised about the relation of attack and defence. The place of the body-line bowler is taken by the can-non-ball server, whoso licence under the rules to discharge a second cannonball if his l first goes astray is declared to give him an undue advantage over the striker-out (says a writer in the London “Observer”). Why, it is asked, should lie be allowed a first fault? Why indeed was he ever allowed 1 it? The genesis of this concession to the server at lawn tennis forms quite an interesting episode in the early history of the game. One explanation given of the motives which induced the first legislators to allow a fault is that they were players of tennis, or real tennis as it is now called, and' that their code was adapted from that game. In the interests of accuracy it may be pointed out that tlie original rules of lawn tennis followed those of rackets, not of tennis, and that these rules did not permit the first fault as we know it. A short account of what actually happened may not only be of interest, but may also form some guide should any modification of the present rules be required. In the spring of 1875 Major Wingfield, the inventor of lawn tennis, had already framed rules, but these do not seem to have been regarded as authoritative, and there was much uncertainty about the implements, court measurements, and so on. To, correct this chaos Fitzgerald, the secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club; suggested that the Tennis Court Committee of the M.C.C. should issue a set of laws, so that there might be some uniformity of practice among those who played the new game. By the end of May, 1875, this revision was completed', and when it was published Major Wingfield announced that he was willing to accept the IM.C.C, code and to withdraw his own.

EARLY LAWS. The Tennis Court Committee decided that the game should be 15 aces up, with hand in. and hand out, in the regular racket fashion. The rule as to service was that if you served into the net, or out of court, you were not allowed another shot, but lost your innings at once. 'lf your first service pitched in the wrong court, over the service line, you were allowed another try. The argument used was that as a Stroke into the net, or out of court, counted against you in a rally, there •was no reason why it should not count against you when you were serving. A stroke over the service line, or into the wrong court, was only an iD-. accuracy, and might well be called a fault, to be condoned by alowing another attempt. It may be added that under the M.C.C. rules the court was of hour-glass shape, the net sagged like a tennis net from five feet at the posts to four feet at the centre, and the service line was 26 feet from the net. These laws, which may be considered the earliest laws of lawn tennis, were signed on behalf of. the MU.C. by Spen-, cer Ponsonby-Fane, E. Chandos-Leigh, J. M. Heatheote, W. Hart Dyke, and C. G. Lyttelton. Before long, as lawn tennis grew in popularity, various amendments of the M.C.C. rules were suggested, and there was much correspondence and discussion on the subject. Special interest in the new game was taken by Henry Jones, who, under the name of Cavendish,, was the accepted authority upon whist. The most important change, which Cavendish advocated was the abolition of the 15-aee game, with its complication of service and striking out and the introduction of the 1 tennis system of scoring, with one player serving all through each game. Nothing, however, was done until the spring, of 1577, when the All-England Croquet Club at 'Wimbledon altered its' name to the All-! England Croquet and Lawn Tennis. Club. The establishment of this new* body affected the position of lawn ten-: nis for the game now had a central: organisation of its own. The Wimbledon Club, which possessed! the neces-t sary lawn space for a number of courts, lost no time in announcing the first lawn tennis championship for decision on July 9, 1877, to be played under AllEngland rules, a copy of which would be sent to intending competitors.

TEMPORISING. It was in these rules that, with the substitution of tennis for racket scoring, tho allowance of a .fault to the server, however bad his first service: happened to he, made its first appearance. The contention was that under tennis scoring the loss of an ace was too severe a penalty on a server whose first service failed to clear the net. Other changes were the adoption of a' rectangular court, and the towering of the net at the centre to three feet three inches. The service-line was placed, as before, 26 feet from the net.: The championship proved a popular success, and after it was over Cavendish, the secretary of the Club, published l a report, chiefly with' the object of showing how (the new rules had worked. One of the points under consideration was, as it is to-day, whether the service enjoyed an •undue advantage. Of the 601 games played in the championship tournament, 376 had gone to the server, and 225 to the striker out, showing a balance in the 1 server’s favour, of sto 3. This balance was thought to be too heavy, and there were three ways of adjusting it, one to raise the net, another to move the service line closer to the not, and the third to do. away with the fault allowance. Each of these reforms had its advocate. ■ . During the following winter Cavendish, whose methods' seem to have been very thorough, noted the results of a series of games played with the service line three feet nearer the net, and m tlve spring of IS7S a conference took place between representatives of the Ail England Club .and the M'.C.C. As the outcome of this conference revised rules were agreed up-on. The service line was drawn at 22 feet instead of 2b feet from the net, which was towered, to three feet, in the .centre. Of 4oi o-ames played under these conditions in the 1878 championship, 229 were won -bv the server and 202 were lost, so that a’fair balance had been reached. fn the modern lawn tennis court the service line is drawn .at 21 feet, and, if the service is still considered too severe, future legislation may move the line closer to-the net. , ~ It will thus be seen that the allow-