LAWN TENNIS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19196, 9 December 1925, Page 15

LAWN TENNIS.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENTS. AUCKLAND AND ROTORUA. Players are busy deciding which of the various tennis tournaments they will visit during the forthcoming holidays. The New Zealand championships at Christchureh will draw quite a good representation from Auckland. .Besides those players mentioned last week as certain competitors in the Dominion ovents, L. Knott, A. K. Turner and Misses Knight and Ramsay .will compete. Entries close next Tuesday. The annual Auckland open handicap tournament will be played on December 26, 28 and 29, at the Stanley Street coruts, tlie tournament committee being Messrs. Goldie, Ellis, Motrin, Richardson and Chalmers, honorary secretary. Entries close on December 21. This is always a favourite tournament and entries should be large. The Rotorua Club will also hold. its annual tourney during the Christmas holidays, on the ten grass courts in the sanatorium grounds. Championships and handicaps are included Jon the programme, entries closing with the honorary secretary, Mr. N. Smith, box 66, Rotorua, on December 23. Excellent contests have resulted in past years, the competitors including visitors from overseas and all parts of the Dominion, and the committee, Messrs. Shepherd, Ford, Ross, Brooker, Reed and Smith, intend to spare no effort to make this year's tourney a great success. Wilding Shield Players. Bartleet, A. C. Johns, Knott and Lamb, members of the team to represent Auckland in the Wilding Memorial Shield match, to be played at Christchureh immediately after the championship meeting, are putting in some hard practice. E. W. Griffiths, "another member, has had an attack of influenza, which has kept him off the courts during the last week. He has not shown his usual form lately and will have difficulty in getting fit before Christmas.. It is the intention of E. L. Bartleet to compete only in the men's singles at the championship meeting. He has usually entered for all events, but is a player whose game is seriously affected by a hard tournament. His decision may materially improve his chances of winning the principal event of the tournament. ** H. L. Robson and T. E. Clark, who will not journey to Christchureh, will compete in the Taranaki and Wanganui championships. Both are in good xorm and should give a good account of themselves. Players at Practice. In view of the hard tournaments before them, Bartleet, Robson, A. C. Johns, Brinsden, Clark and Barlow (Christchurch), visited the Titirangi courts during the week-end and indulged in useful hard play. The smaller membership at these courts enables umnterapted play, which is necessary if our men are to acquire representative form in time. Two interesting matches have • been played on the men's senior ladder. Brinsden (challenger) defeated Entwistle after a good struggle, and Bartleet warded off a challenge frorr V. R. Johns, the match running into three sets, the first of which was won by Johns. With the object of raising funds the Auckland Association, in conjunction w>ih the Maungakiekie Goli Club, will shortly launch an art union. At tho last meeting of the association the following affiliations were approved: — Bodney and Franklin sub-associations; Stanley Bay, Pukekohe. East, Avondale and Rangitaiki clubs. The following committee was appointed to control the Auckland championship tourney, to commence on January 28: —Messrs. Chalmers, Goldie, Hickson, A. C. Johns, Ohlson Russell and Thomson. Decisions in Tilden's Favour. W. T. Tilden's narrow wins from Borotra, Lacoste and Johnston have been the subject of much discussion in America. The matter was commented upon by the Australian Davis Cup players when they passed through Auckland, and they ventilated the opinion that Lacoste won the final point three times only to be deprived of it by some faulty decision or other circumstance. ! The publication American Lawn Tennis mentions three debated decisions. The first was a serve by Borotra which the champion struck, but the ball flew off his racquet. "That is a bad ball, call a let," said Tilden, and the umpire obeyed. This was at an important stage of the game. A player's right to instruct the umpire is open to query. In the Tilden-Lacoste match a ball which was hit by*Tilden and was going out, touched the Frenchman's boot. The decision was given in favour of Tilden, much to the surprise of the spectators, who failed to notice the incident. Yet another instance of close umpiring occurred when " a ball struck by Lacoste went out and Tilden half-vollevod it back. The umpire called "out," but the ss3Stators thought Tilden had volleyed ht. The most important incident was a serve by Lacoste which, if won, would have given him the match, but the ser- ' vice linesman called a fault. The ball was considered by many, including Patterson and Hawkos, to be a good one, but tho umpire claimed that it struck the , side line beyond the service line, and . was therefore a fault. , . These incidents show the importance of reliable umpiving and how the wmf ning or losing of an _important mju 1 may be influenced by decisions in which, r the remissions of an official possibly on„- . weighs the prowess of the perfoimci. 1 Mile. Lenglen's Prowess. ! Mile. lawn tennis courts, ;I P . , Nimble- . don, ha \ e , a l in aid of various charities, t turn matches in aid o doubles , and her appearance - he ' il r ie Uth Wished at Cromer re- ; Sly. vvalher first open tournament ven- . ture in E'.gla niJ p ar(neief ] J. Brug- > Bvhibition doubles against Colonel To" fives Si c. H. Kinney, aft-r L oP en "finals had been finished and the opei , : r i w hat would have ss ."AShW r-sr '"'h'.-fiSt love-30 m | the second set bV&le. flt thill was then called. Mile. Lengbm ~ iltuallv the best of the four, and this Ta SSt tribute | her munificent For a woman even to hold ! 61 ' three men is a feat m itself, but to-be toe (M "leading" player is indeed ie.n«i «