LAWN TENNIS

Northern Advocate, 13 June 1931, Page 12

LAWN TENNIS

IX ENGLAND AND FRANCE. Borotra, for the fourth time, has won the covered courts championship of the U.S.A., which he had previously secured in .1925, 1927, and 1929, This year he had to work very hard in the final to dispose of Berkeley Bell, winning at 6 —4 in the fifth set. Piquancy was added to Borotra’s victory as last autumn the Frenchman was defeated by Bell in the first round of the U.S.A. championship singles. Bell has not been included in this year’s “Davis Cup squad” of the U.S.A., though he boat F. X. Shields, -who is considered, to be the next best American to Doeg, and is, of course, a. member of the squad. Covered court tennis has not appealed to the Americans, To the French it comes as second nature owing to the facilities offered for playing it in Paris. In the various encounters be-

tween Borotra and Tilden for ex-

ample, Borotra, always successful indoors on wood, has never been able to win in the open air, either on hard or grass courts. F. J. Perry, who has been playing brilliant tennis this season, added to his laurels on Saturday by beating in the Paddington tournament W. H. Powell, 6—3, 6—2 in the semi-final, and R, Miki, the Japanese, 6—3, o—o0 —0 in the final. He is now considered a potential champion and is confidently expected to win further honours in the Davis Cup matches. Perry is the son of Mr S. F. Perry, Labour M.P. for Kettering, who a couple of years ago gave him twelve months away from business in order that he might improve his tennis. He has utilised his holiday to good effect. Tennis stars like Tilden and Borotra have said that Perry is of the stuff that great players are Last year he created a sensation by defeating the redoubtable Italian player, De l Morpurgo, 10—8, 4—6, 6 —l, 6 in the

Wimbledon championships. .As he sent down the winning ball Perry ' jumped the net and rushed up to shake hands with, his opponent. De Morpurgo was obviously mortified by his defeat by sueh a young player. Still holding his racquet in his hand, he extended two - fingers to meet Perry’s friendly grasp. THE PROFESSORS. BIG GATE TAKINGS. (By Harry Hopman, in the Sidney “Referee.”) The first detail results of the Til : dcn-Kozeluh professional matches reached Australia a few days ago, and some of the “scraps’ * are particularly interesting. Attendances were excellent, ‘ 14,000 people really paying tribute to former amateur champion, which shows u« that professional tennis, just as any other professional sport can be a huge success if properly managed. Tilden evidently thinks so, as last week’s cables reported an. agreement between himself and Vincent Richards for a series of five matches, Richards being guaranteed £SOOO and Tilden £7OOO, with the winner taking an extra £2OOO. These two players should be a. wonderful draw.

Tilden is claimed as the greatest base line player of ail time whale Richards is a marvellous volleyer. All the American tennis fans will remember a grand battle between these two players, mastser and pupil, for the American championship of 1924.

Those lucky enough to witness the match assert it was the finest match they have seen.

The first two matches as professionals ha\e been played, Tilden winning both—the first in straight sets, and the second running to five. Tihlon beat Richards for the fourth time on May 17, winning a stirring five-set struggle. Scores were: 7 5, I—(s, 4—6, 6—l, 6—4. EUROPEAN NOTES. Miss Betty Huthall, as if to confound her critics, staged a brilliant comeback in her fourth and last Riviera tournament last week by defeat’ll? Mine, Mathiou iu the singles final after a long and fluctuating fight. The scores in Miss Huthall’s favour wore 6—o, 3—6, S—6.

Tlio Lawn Tennis Association’s roacliing scheme is proceeding satisfactorily. Already about thirty counties have signified their willingness to co-operate. Wales has also fallen in with the scheme. The, main problem ■uill be to supply the coaches with the requisite qualifications. There is also a conflict of ideas as to the best aa ay to coach. Too often there is a tendency to try the same theories on all kinds ot pupils without regard to the special aptitude of particular individuals. “Jt would never do for. tlie game to become too stereotyped,-” writes the editor of “Tennis Illustrated,” “and we have in mind players in the front rank who have positively I been ‘retarded' by untimely ‘corrections.’ Sometimes, when players with the acumen to work out their own salvation are making good, it is a mistake to call upon them to remodel the whole of their game because of a weakness’ that may be more apparent than real. It is, of course, a different matter to taking them in hand when they are at school and serious defects are the easily eradicated, and might not even arise.”

Marcel Bernard, the junior champion of France, is making his first appearance in England at the Dulwich covered courts tournament between a French team and London this week. Though only sixteen he is a star in the making, and has already beaten a number of first-class players and won two international tournaments at Le Touquet. ,At present he is ranked fourteenth in France, but is expected to climb much higher in the ranking ladder before the season is out.

The United States Lawn Tennis Association has nominated seven players for the Davis Cup “squad.” Youth is the predominant ! note, three being under twenty years, and the other four well under thirty. W. Allison, G. M. Lott, J. van Ryn, and G. S. Mangin were in last year’s team which visited Europe, and the under-twenty newcomers are (says English “Lawn Tennis’’) F. X. Shields, S. B. Wood, and C. A. Sutter, second, fourth, and fifth respectively in the American ranking. J. Doeg, the national champion, was omitted from the team at his own request owing to the claims of business.

In New York recently, Jean Borotra stated that he would never play lawn tennis as a professional. The ranks of the professionals were closed to hirn, he said, solely because he plays the game for fun, and the element of pleasure would disappear if he were paid for his efforts. Borotra paid a compliment to Tilden when he said he regretted that he would never have another chance “to take another tennis lesson from the master of them all.”