MR. A. F. WILDING'S TOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13453, 1 June 1907, Page 7

MR. A. F. WILDING'S TOUR.

A PERSONAL RECORD.

COMMENTS ON HIS OPPONENTS. Mr.' A. F. Wilding thus writes of his, present tennis tour in England and.the Continent.': — - ':"'"'

It is many months ago that the S.B. Maheno steamed clear of Lyttelton wharf, and thus commenced the first stage of my journey back to Europe. Our ship was absolutely ,full. Among our passengers were Lady and Miss Ward and Mr. C. H. Izard. The Maheno was four days in Sydney. Hicks, the genial secretary of the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association, and .various players were kindness itself to me. I had several most enjoyable games on the Sydney cricket ground courts, with Wright, Kidston, and Dr. Pocklcy. I played with the latter up to about half an hour before the Mongolia sailed, and he ran mo down on his motor just in time.' Norman Brookes and his brother met me in Melbourne, and we spent most of the day motoring. 1 had a couple of singles with Brookes, 1 both of us being in pretty good form. Our next port of call war Adelaide. Here several of the local players were kind enough- to meet me, and I had seven sets with Taylor, a promising player, likely tc develop into something first-class. Clem Hill was at the courts all the morning, and is, I hear, quite an expert at tennis. He seemed very keen on it. at any rate. At Perth I had five sets with Kelsey, a good sportsman, to whom;. players in West Australia. are enormously indebted. Of all places, in the world, I should think tennis has the strongest footling there. Although a comparatively small town, Perth can boast of, no fewer than ninety odd grass tennis courts. They have "a large tournament at the end of October, and my present: intention is to try and play in it. I was very ;much, struck, both at Adelaide and Perth, by the. supreme excellence of the courts. With the exception, perhaps, of one court at Wimbledon, no tournament courts at Home can compare with -thorn. After leaving Perth, a Sports Committee was formed on board, with Sir Joseph Ward as president. 1 was elected treasurer, an office entailing miioh work and no remuneration. During ' the voyage we expended about £100 on dances, prizes for various sports, bridge | tournaments, etc. Perhaps our greatest j success was the fancy dress ball. Miss Eileen Ward easily carried off the first ' prize. She looked splendid as a Maori, girl. Another important fixture in our j little world on board ship was the cricket matchfirst saloon v. second saloon. We easily won on the first innings. Arthur Lewis (Canterbury) made most of the runs, and I actually bowled most of them out, 'j The eleven clays we took crossing the Indian Ocean soon went, and we found ourselves ono brilliant morning steaming into Colombo. They had kindly arranged a game of tennis for me. One of the players Called at my hotel, and.motored me out to the Garden Club, which contains a splendid modern pavilion, with restaurant, attached,' and 19 excellent courts of the sand; Continental; type. I played seven sets, of doubles with Mitchell (the second best player in Ceylon) and David, the native marker. David . was., the best player,: although his figure was not adaptable to quick movement; nevertheless, his strokes , were natural and good. On arrival ■at Marseilles it was too rough to go in, so most of the passengers landed by tender, and by this means I was enabled to catch ; ,th Cote d'Or express to Nice, arriving ' there about half-past eleven p.m., with ■ one day-(Sunday) to practise- for the big I tournament. A few words as to my life on board may interest a few, as I played much better immediately on arrival than ,I have since, -Throughout the voyage I kept moderately fit in the following - way. A .short walk and occasional skip before breakfast. A fast walk with Captain Preston for one hour and a-quarter, followed by about 115 minutes' skip (not continuous). Of 'course, ono had a certain amount of oxerI ciso playing deck games and an occasional i jga mo ,of cricket. I also "amused myself by hitting a tennis ball -against a wall on board; but, alas! all my balls very soon disappeared into the Indian Ocean. '. The tournaments at Mentono and Monte Carlo did not produce; anything very remarkable, -."either'.as regards play or results, 'with,' -however,"'one : " notable exception. In the final the jingles at Monte Carlo, Mr. J. G. Ritchie played a remarkably fine game, and quite easily defeated the champion of the world, H. L. Doherty, by three sets to love. Laurie Doherty has of late been devoting himself rather too closely to golf, and his tennis has thereby, suffered. Two more points must bo taken ! into consideration—firstly, H. L. Doherty is far from his best on these courts, as he finds great difficulty in volleying, especially overhead, in this brilliant light. Personally, I find it well-nigh impossible ,to smash with any degree of certainty or severity, j .Ritchie's style, on the. other hand, can be likened to that of an old woman. He hits the ball- back' every time, keeping an excellent length, and if 'you go up to tho ! net he sends tho ball in the air, and you either find it dropping; just inside the back line, safely'out of reach, or you smash the I ball with the wood instead of the gut of your racket. Ritchie's is not an attractive game, but the one that wins without fail when his opponent, . however, good, is a. little bit off. My first tournament was at Nice, and as I only arrived the clay' before it commenced, I was not very hopeful. However, I had no very important matches tocommence with, and by the time I reached- : .-the semi-final against Decugisi three days j later, was playing moderately well. Do- j eugis is tho French champion, and is a very j lino tennis player. Two years ago; he won j the covered court championship at Queen Vj Club. I beat him two straight sets: 6—4, I 10—8; really quite a close match. In the final I met my old opponent, Ritchie, and somewhat to. everyone's surprise, including my own, beat him: 6—o, 6—o, 6— I started well, and in twenty minutes from commencing had .two love sets to my credit. This event is the South of Prance championship and tho Blue Riband of tho Ejiviera tournaments. Beals Wright, the, American champion, and his brother were competitors, but both were out of practice and their play 'very disappointing. Ritchie defeated Beals Wright by 6—o, 6—o in the other semi-final. However, when in form and on grass, I bracket Wright with Brookes, as being the two finest exponents of the single game in the world. • The arrangements of the Nice tournament 'were almost - perfect. They have an ' excellent stand ; erected, and . at each end of the courts is a high green background, thereby enabling a player to seo tho ; white ball against the green, which gives the best result. There is -a delightful little clubhouse and terrace, in addition to spacious! dressing-rooms. An order of ■ play is always prepared and published in the morning papers, so anyone desiring to see certain match or a particular player perform may always arrange to turn tip at the right time. "Mr. Bird, a member of tho Nice Lawn Tennis, Club, invented a splendid scoring-board, which he zealously works all day throughout the entire meeting. By this means any spectator can see at a glance the exact state of the. game, and people no longer have to rely on an umpire with a stentorian voice. A great interest is taken in tho tournament, and a great number of -people 1 -watch the play, many automobiling from Monte or Cannes. Amongst those taking a great interest in the play almost every day were: Prince and Princess Battyany-Strattman, the Grand Duchess Anastasia of 'MecklenburgSchwerin, mother of the Crown Princess of Germany, the Prince and Princess of Meck-lenburg-Schwerin, Princess Duleep Singh, Countess Torby, Countess Longee, Lord and Lady Granville Gordon, Sir Lewis Mclvor, and the Rajah of Johore. Miss, Eastlako Smith and I beat Laurie Doherty and the Countess Schulemburg (6— 6—3) in the final of the open mixed. In the doubles final, Max Decugis and I had one set up and four games to one, at which point our combination collapsed entirely, and Doherty and Ritchie forged ahead and won. We were unfortunate in having a, disgraceful decision, and French players, when once collared, might just as well go homo to bed.- Throughout the Nice tournament I was very careful, and trained hard in, denying myself such luxuries as dinner-parties and late hours, my usual bed hour being about half-past ten.

Two days following the Cannes tournament commenced. 1 motored over from Nice in a 100-h.p. Itala car of Bostwick's, the finest car, I think, I have ever ridden in. Bostwick is quite a good tennis player, but is better known in the financial than the tennis world. He is a great motorist, and keeps four cars at' Iviee, three .in Paris, and four in America. Ho is* altogether a good sportsman. I am afraid I did not do New Zealand great credit at.

Cannes. To commence with, I danced until four a.m. at a fancy,dross ball, a .form .of. amusement; I seldom indulge in. When I came to play Ritchie he beat me by two sets to one. - He was in really good form, and perhaps I was a little below par In the. championship doubles Ritchie and;l. opposed the Wright' Brothers in the final. After a good match, we ; won by three sets to two. ./Beats Wright was not famed :.:for 'strict. training; .ho was seen motoring at nine o'clock one sunny morning, the dulcet waltz having occupied him since ten o'clock the evening before. I lingered on at Cannes for three days after the conclusion of the tournament, and had some delightful motor picnics. The surrounding country is ' exceedingly fine. One place we • visitedthe Gorge dxi Loup—reminded me of our own gorges in Canterbury. How-' ever, .ours arc easily first. Like "all good thing!, my- visit to Cannes eventually came to an end. I travelled all night, and arrived in Paris about ballast eleven a.m., and spent all the afternoon playing in the Paris covered court championship. It was frightfully hot, and although I won the three championship events, and got second in two handicaps, I did not enjoy this meeting. At the conclusion of the Paris tournament I journeyed south once moreto Lyons. Lyons is now the great centre of the motor-car industry. The tournament here is always delightful.! The people are perfectly charming, and entertain us. English visitors right royally. Their courts are covered, and are second to none I have played on. This tournament is one which is certain to become more and more popular year by year. I won the championship singles and doubles for the second consecutive year.'■'.. :.-.,'