LAWN TENNIS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 24 June 1937, Page 8

LAWN TENNIS

BLOW TO ENGLAND’S HOPES [By Air Mail—From Our Own Correspondent] LONDON, 3rd June. Hopes of a successful defence of the Davis Cup have been built on the possibility of H. W. Austin winning both his singles, leaving only one more victory in the three other matches to be gained, and his defeat in the final of the French championship by H. H. Henkel, the German, was a disturbing surprise. Tt was the most complete reverse Austin has ever sustained in an important match. As he confessed, he did not play badly. “If I appeared to do so,” he saio "it was because I only played as well as I was allowed. Henkel was much too good for me.”

But Austin has never been a good tournament player, and I am afraid he cannot yet last through a long succession of matches. His defeat came at the end of a fortnight's play ir. terrific heat, and though he had not previously been overworked, ’t is hard to believe that be did himself full justice. It is also true that he has always been most effective on the fast grass court at Wimbledon. ~ The hard courts in Paris are much slower, and on them it is harder to put the ball away for the winning shot. Still, excuses seem idle in view of the manner in which Austin was mastered. Not only was he beaten in straight sets, bqt he won only eight games to Henkel’s eighteen, the full score in the German’s favour being 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Henkel played so finely as to suggest that he may now have surpassed von Cramm as Germany’s leading player. His stroke production was magnificent, and he was even faster than Perry in racing to the corners to retrieve a wide placed ball. It was obvious that he had carefully studied the tactics by which he might succeed, and perhaps the secret of his victory was the astute way in which he slowed down the play. Two conclusions must be drawn from the match. Either Austin has gone back, or Henkel will be one of the most formidable challengers at Wimbledon. At the same time Germany’s chance of winning the Davis Cup has enormously improved. The cruel luck of the Australians in New York leaves America as another formidable contender for the prize, and it is now almost certain that they will meet Germany for the right to challenge England.