KEEN SINGLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23251, 21 January 1939, Page 18

KEEN SINGLES

ANGAS' FIRST DEFEAT GUNN PLAYS SPENDIDLY BEDFORD IN BRILLIANT FORM The outstanding features in connection with the singles matches were the return to the court after an interval of almost an hour of A. D. Brown, with his dislocated shoulder strapped up, to continue and win his match against •!. T. .Mayson, and the first defeat suffered in the series ol ilding Shield matches over a period of I<s years of Angas, captain of the Canterbury team. The fact that Canterbury had lost, the other three singles matches induced Brown to resume play, and his win under the conditions was a highly meritorious one. His contest with Mayson was very even, the tennis being steady and played at good pace. It was mostly a hard baseline driving duel, with Brown maintaining the better length. He was very severe overhead, smashing on innumerable occasions for winners. When he was leading 4 —2 in the second set Brown chased a ball along the baseline, but slipped and dislocated his shoulder. Upon resuming he played in stockinged feet and had to be careful in his subsequent dashes. He played remarkably well and earned applause for many beautiful passing shots. He was accorded an ovation at the end of the match. Trying Encounter The match between Angas and Gunn was a trying one. both players having to do a tremendous amount of court covering. Gunn gave a sparkling exhibition in the first set, when he dominated the net position. His smashing and volleying were excellent, forcing Angas into making a succession of errors. The Aucklander gave a very line all-round exhibition in this set. In the second, however, he made the mistake of changing his tactics, allowing Angas to maintain the net position. So accurately and well did the Canterbury captain volley and cut off fast returns that it took an exceptionally brilliant shot to get past him. Whenever Gunn elected to follow in he had his opponent running from side to side and the latter earned frequent applause for miraculous returns from all angles of the court. Angas led o—l and had set point at 40-30 on his own service, when an out ball was called against him. He should have won the set at this stage, but had then to fight for further points before clinching matters. Intense Excitement The Canterbury representative started badly in the final set, the first two games going to his opponent, Gunn had further inspired moments, going to 3 —l with a love game on his own service, and then winning that of Angas with the loss of but one point. Both men were fighting for the net position, where the winning shots were mostly coming from. The versatility of Angas, combined with his ability to make an uphill fight, of it, enabled him to draw level at 4-all.

The excitement was now intense, the players, as well as the onlookers, being keyed up to concert pitch. Every good shot was applauded, and the spectatook a hand so far as umpiring errors were concerned. Gunn went to a 5—4 lead with a magnificent passing shot, and in the last game Angas had a double fault called against him, which more or less decided the issue. Thus Angas went dowp for the first time in his competition singles for the Wilding Shield, and he went down gallantly, there being loud applause as the pair walked off the court. Bedford's Inspired Play Some of the best tennis of the contest was provided by X, F. Bedford, who accounted for R. G. Pattinson in straight sets. The games were equal at 3-aIl in the first set, and then Bedford adopted aggressive tactics, going to the net to obtain winning shots almost at will. In the second set Bedford drew right away to lead 5-love. Pattinson then made an effort by winning his own service, but he was thereafter quite outplayed. The Canterbury man was not permitted to call the tune, as he had done the previous day against Sturt. Pattinson served well and scored occasionally with good forehand shots, but Bedford won the majority of the points with accurate volleying. Bedford confirmed the opinion of many good critics as being in the top flight of New Zealand's sincles players with more consistency. His was certainly one of the outstanding exhibitions of tho tournament. Captain Recovers Form Auckland's captain, N. G. Sturt, played much better tennis yesterday than on the preceding day. His matcn with A. R. Cant was keenly contested throughout, as the score of 7 —5, 7 —5 would indicate. Cant served well and played strongly to his opponent's backhand in the first set. He advanced to the net and cut off many returns cleverly and, by changing direction, he often manoeuvred the Aucklander out of position. After winning the first sot Sturt played inspiringly in the second, and ran to a .1 —1 lead. Then he had lapses bv frequently netting returns, and Cant held a 4—.'l lead. With the scores at 4-all Cant was a little unlucky with some drives, which were just, outside the lines. It was a keen battle to o-aII. Sturt bad three match points off his opponent's service before he led fi—s, and he finished the match with a spectacular straight backhand drive.