LAWN TENNIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22579, 18 November 1936, Page 20

LAWN TENNIS

PERRY AS PROFESSIONAL COMING MEETING WITH VINES WORLD'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP BV KIDFXINR Four questions of exceptional interest to lawn tennis enthusiasts arise from F. J. Perry's defection from the , amateur ranks of lawn tennis. These are:—Who will succeed to his crown? How will England's chances in the Davis Cup lie affected:-' What will be the result of the Perry-Vines meeting? Does Perry's turning professional bring the Open championship any nearer? The natural successor to Perry is G. Von Cramm, the famous German player. He defeated the gj'eat Englishman in the final of the French championships, and has now figured twice in the final at Wimbledon. Only two players seem likely to rob him of what would undoubtedly be a popular and well deserved success, and they are D. Budge, United States, and Adrian Quist, Australia. The former is seven years his junior and has been showing steadily improving form against Perry. Quist is five years younger than Von Cramm and he had a strenuous five-set match with the latter in the Austra-lia-Germany Davis Cup tie. Quist, however, has fallen to Budge on both occasions they have met In international sport success runs in cycles and without Perry it seems almost certain that Great Britain's run of victories since 1933 will be broken. Although perhaps not so consistent as Austin, Perry was the dominant figure in the defending team, and there appears to be no one really competent to take his place at the moment, although the success of Hughes and Tuckcy in last year's doubles contest was cheering and has done something toward answering the complaint that the lack of a really strong doubles combination is a chronic weakness in British tennis. Australia, United States or Germany appears to be the logical winner next season. MEMORABLE MATCH COLLAPSE OF AMERICAN The last and memorable occasion when Perry met Vines was in the fateful Davis Cup interzone final match of 1933 played at Stade Roland Garros, France, when the Englishman won. I—-6. 6—o, 4 —6, 7—5, 7—6, and 40-15 default.' Vines was trailing at 15—40 and was about to serve when he fell in a faint and had to be assisted from the court. The two players have both improved since then, and it is almost impossible to judsre what the result of their meeting will be. It is probable that more than one match will be necessary to establish the ascendancy of one or the other. It will certainly be the match of the year and few will agree with Tilden's opinion that Perry will rank only fifth among the professionals. The consensus of opinion is more likely to be that Perry will head the list unless and until Vines can demonstrate otherwise. AN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP POSSIBILITY OF COMPETITION Perry's going over to the professional ranks undoubtedly brings the holding of an open meeting nearer. Early this year Tiiden envisioned Perry playing Vines and an open meeting in two years' time. The first is about to come to pass. What of the second? It seems that public opinion may ultimately force the issue, in spite of opposition which will undoubtedly come from England—just another name for Wimbledon. Perry's defection from the amateur ranks is another step toward swinging the control of first-class tennis over to the professionals and, when that comes, then will result also the open meeting. It would certainly produce some wonderful tennis and would determine the true world's champion. AUCKLAND CLUBS' PROGRESS NGATIRA AND .MOUNT EDEN The origin of the Ngatira Club goes back a number of years to the days when a small number of players acquired a single court. The increasing popularity of tennis made one court insufficient to accommodate the expanding membership acid the club transferred to New Road, where it remained for a few years. Teams were then entered in the lower grades of the inter-club competitions. A transfer was next made to courts in Dominion Road, but in 1933 it was decided to form a still larger club and the Olive Road < courts were leased. When tho club moved to Clive Road the secretarial i duties were in the hands of Mr. <T. H. ! Mac Donald and Miss M. Needham, and I it is largely due to their efforts that j the club is in such a strong position ' to-day. During the past thrrt» years the stan-J dard of play has shown a marked im- i provement, a great deal of which is undoubtedly due to the advent of A ! grade players in the winter months to give the younger and less experienced members the benefit of their advice j and experience. This season's playing strength has been considerably tin- ■ proved by a number of new members. | notably H. Cousins, Mrs. Stafford and Miss Gemmell, and the B team should | make a good showing in the inter-club j competitions. '

Tho addition of another storey to the clubhouse and the resurfacing of the courts mark a further milestone of progress of the Mount Eden Club. Present indications point to this season being even more successful than last and thus easily the best in the history of the club. The standard of play has improved noticeably and the promise shown by the younger members augurs well for the future. This year the club has returned to the B grade, with teams also in the C, D and E grades of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association's interclub competitions.