TENNIS ALL THE YEAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 23 October 1913, Page 3

TENNIS ALL THE YEAR

Hard court tennis is to be the great winter vogue in England as well as im Europe. The Duke of Westminster ha* just had a hard court laid down at the back of Grosvenor House—the most exclusively situated hard court m tn» world—and the orders generally for hard courts are so numerous that a single hon which specialises in this type of court has made nearly 600 in the last three or four years. "It is no exaggeration to say that during the present year hard courts have been made in England in hundreds, and we are expecting a great many applications for hard-court tournaments during the coming season," said Mr B. Sabelh, secretary of the Lawn Tennis Association, in an interview on 3rd September. "The grass season, which has been verysuccessful, closes with September, Eastbourne and Hyde tournaments practically ringing the curtain down en grass lawa tennis for the present year. The hard court season, which is in this country ot recent growth, begins wnen the grass season ends and lasts until the ending or April, thus making tennis as the result of an insistent popular demand, an all-the-vear-round sport. "Apart from other advantages, tlie hard court is considered to De a very excellent training ground. The game is faster and more accurate- than on grass, and the players acquire an. easy, vigorous style. In fact, to playing on 3 hard- courtC probably, accounts for the brilliant stvle of the Cahfornian players. 1 have just returned from a small hard-court tournament in Germany —there is practically nothing else buj hard-court tennis onthe Continent —and I was surprised to see the way quite young bovs last out." Covered courts, where players can indulge in their favourite game by niffht, are'also becoming immensely popular, and in many quarters it is believed that the opening of a large covered court in the West End and properly lighted for tennis by nigbfc would be widely appreciated.