OLLIVIER WINS AGAIN

NZ Truth, Issue 1050, 7 January 1926, Page 12

OLLIVIER WINS AGAIN

Youli Fails m Dominion Tennis Championship Tourney

A MELANCHOLY SPECTACLE

■■'„'.., (By "Umpire.") , The fact that Geoff. Ollivier is singles champion once again is a tribute to one of the most fickle tennis players m New Zealand.

If ever there was a man whose psychological equipment was against his ever making a tennis piayer that man 'is Ollivier. ■ Yet he is capable of great things, and should get full credit, for his victory. ■ He • beat* Bartleet, th© Auckland hope, and D. JV France, two men named as likely to furnish our Davis Cup stars of the future, and he beat them both without serious trouble. j But it.i s a melancholy achievement, for'.aU, its merit, and though his win was prophesied, m "Truth" it must be regretted.. .We should have players — and ' young ones, too— who are capable of beating Ollivier. Don Fiance has done it, Seay has done it,- but" m the national championships the old-timer always seems to have his own ,way. Secret of Success. He , went through; his section of the draw with the loss, of three sets, and he met- three of our six best players— Bartleet, .L; France and D. J. France. .' lt /makes one wonder whether the champion doesn't possess some sovereign remedy' for tennis ills. As a of fact, he does. Ollivier never makes the mistake of, playing " himself . stale before- the national championships come along, and he is always brightly m form by the time .the . hard matches, arrive. The tournament, has borne out what was written about the erratic form of Wilson, Smyth, and D. J. France. Wilson's easy defeat by Smyth was as unexpected as was the hiding given the Otago 'Varsity man by J. B. Parker, who never was a match player of importance. . : France's" showing m the final ■ was not .what was expected of him ..after his form m the early. rounds. And there you are. The most reliable man proves to <be the unreliable Ollivier. It's a queer game. Wilson's Failure. : Wilson, I am convinced, -was off color. Nothing would have kept him and Miss- Tracy out of the mixed doubles filial' had the boy been up to form. •He is twice the player m mixed double's that D.J. France is, and has shown it' against him before to-day. • Of course, Miss Speirs made a difference, but, she would not have done so had the pairs clashed. So the Oxford man, Hill, and Miss Marion Macfarlane, beat the Wellington pairi only to •be 'defeated m the final.; ■" '■•:, . .: . •■■■•' Still, .if. the Wellington colt failed here, he pulled off the doubles. With J. ; :C. Peacock, his overhead play, was great to : watch, and.it was as: much Wilson's match as anybody's. | , r The'® p rß*'° O"' v l er did his share, when he slumped as he did while j '.'■ playing with Page two years ago. With two , sets, m, it looked as though Ollivier and - Seay would do wiiat v l; thought they would, but from then on tli^e. Wellington pair had the jump oh their 1 opponents; and Ollivier Jcould'»otl\old,.Jila s©cyjlca»A _ _ „

So Peacock gained yet another title and Wilson won his first. It was a great struggle. The, feat of Miss Speirs was, of course, the outstanding feature of the meeting. \ To win three titles is a thing which has been ' done by only two women m the history of New Zealand tennis —the wonderfully steady Miss Nunnerley and the brilliant but excitable Nancy Curtis. Miss Speirs Comes Back. Miss Speirs has retrieved herself. To fail as ignominiously as she did last year stamped her as a flashy player, but this year she came back with a vengeance. She has the stroke equipment and the fighting temperament, and the tournament unquestionably found her on her game. But she is brilliant rather than sound and inclined to risk a great deal m her play. In" other words, she is one of those players Who, when they are off, ARE off. And I shouldn't be surprised to see her come' another cropper next year when she is asked to play outside her j beloved Christchurch.