TENNIS TOURNAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13370, 27 December 1906, Page 6

TENNIS TOURNAMENT.

AUSTRALASIAN CHAMPION-

SHIPS.

SOME INTERESTING CONTESTS,

[BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Christchurch, Wednesday. The Australasian tennis championships meeting opened at Hagley Park courts this morning, and a number of events were got off during the day. During the greater part of the day the weather was favourable, and the light well .diffused, but during the afternoon a somewhat strong wind sprang up. The courts themselves were in very good order, but some of the visiting players found them slippery and a little slow, and their play was interfered with on that account. There was a record %ntry of competitors ofr the different events, and a large attendance of spectators at the opening day. CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES. In the Australasian championship singles, one of the principal events to be decided at the meeting, R. D. Harman and M. D. Fisher entered the second round, on ac- | count of the non-appearance of their opponents, and as all the other competitors had byes, play began in the second round. •A. Wilding, who has just returned to Christchurch, after .several years' residence in England, where he has been building up for himself a big reputation as a. tennis champion, met-, and defeated C. C. (/'ox, of Masterton : 6—2, 6—2, 6—l. Cox played up well, but was evidently suffering from want of proper practice". Wilding, on the other hand, was in the pink of condition, and played a very fine game. He has a very fast serve, which breaks and rises to'an awkward height, and some magnificent driving strokes, which he used to great advantage. He is also a master in the art of placing, and uses his head a great deal. . H. A. Parker, who has won many championships in his time, and who seems as fresh now as over he- was, met R. D. Harman. one of the Christ-church crack players, and beat him: 6—l, 6—2, 6—o. Harman played steadily and correctly, but Parker was much superior to him in most points of the game, and gave him no chance of making any headway. The surprise of the day was the defeat of R. Heath, of Melbourne, the present Australasian champion, by M. B. Fisher, of Wellington. The game* was most stubbornly fought, and the final score read : 2—6, 7—5, 6—l, 5—7, 6—2. Both players were affected by the slippery condition of the court, Heath much more than Fisher. Heath, moreover, has been accustomed to play a hard game on a fast court, and as he was unable on a grass court to obtain the necessary conditions he was unable to play his games. He did us much net work as he could, but was not up to form in the more open play. Both competitors, however, gave a fine exhibition of tennis, the driving at times being particularly good. Fisher was very successful with his fast serves, and altogether played very consistently. Wilding will now meet Parker in the third round, and a good game is expected. CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLES. In the Australasian championship doubles for men only one game was played, that between Fisher and Swanston and Wilding and Heath, the latter pair winning easily: 6—o, 6—3, 6—l. Heath and Wilding played a strong, dashing game from start to finish. Swanston's play was somewhat uneven, and the combined opposition forces were too much for Fisher. Cox and Parker and Wilding. and Heath will very likely meet in the final. NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIPS. : A few events in the first round of the men's New Zealand championship singles were played during the day. '• H. VV. Brown, of Wellington, who played a fast game, easily defeated P. Gray, of Dunedin, and L. Bonnington, of Christchurch, beat W. P. Dunlop, one of the- New South ales players. The most interesting game, however, was that'between H. A. Parker, the present New Zealand champion, and T. R. Quill, a leading local player. Parker and Quill have somewhat the same style of play, the former naturally being more accurate and the more finished of the two players, but the contest was a good one. Some hot work was witnessed. There were only two competitors in the first round of the ladies' championship singles. Miss Travers and Miss Williams, both of Wellington. All the other players had drawn byes. Miss Travers could not keep her feet on the grass court at all, and after slipping down several times she.changed her shoes, with better results. The two ladies were very evenly matched, both getting in some good drives and good place shots. Miss Williams was a little the steadier of the two, and she won by 6—5, 6-3.

Very little headway was made with the men's championship doubles and the combined championship doubles, but the matches in those events will be gone on with to-morrow.

A large number of handicap games were played during the day, and .the whole of the* 12 courts available- were brought into requisition. ■ The meeting will be continued to-mor-row.