LAWN TENNIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20316, 26 January 1928, Page 5

LAWN TENNIS.

By Smash. The visit of the French lawn tennis players to the Dominion has been a valuable and profitable event for two main reasons. In the first place it provided our leading players with some excellent practice against two of the loading exponents of the game in Europe, aiul secondly it acted as a great stimulus to the interest taken in the game in all parts of the Dominion. It is quite sate to say that on Tuesday and Wednesday last the French players made their appearance on the courts at Miramar the thoughts of followers of the game throughout New Zealand were fixed in W ellington; but more than that the visitois, and more particularly the spectacular Borotra, created a new' interest m the game among persons who do not usually follow the doings of the lawn tenuis world very closely. The courtesy ot the hiencliruen in consenting to play matches here will have been greatly appreciated, and the only regret of the other centres will be that through not being so fortunatelj placed at Wellington, they failed to see the visitors in action. ...... As to the lessons of the visit it is a little difficult at this distance to draw any very definite conclusions Judging by" the telegraphed reports the Frenchmen showed a very marked superiority over our own players,—so marked, indeed, that one is almost tempted to vomit, whether they were fully extended or not. If that is so, it is not very flattering to our players, nor does it indicate that we arc keeping pace with other parts ot the world in improving the standard ot our plav. Severity in attack seems to have been the keynote of the I remhmen s game, which they played at a faster pace than anything we are accustomed to seein" Always they seemed to seek tlie initiative, and once they had made an opening they clinched then-advantage w ith a shot that left no hope of recovery. One v-as verhaps rather surprised _ to learn that thev used the " punch ” drive, in the making of which shot the stroke is speeded up just before impact with the hall. Hus method of executing the stroke probably enables the player to concentrate mote definitely on his stroke at the moment of impact and thus place the ball exactly where he wants it to go. It may not be a very graceful affair to watch, hut it is a perfectly sound attacking weapon, as is demonstrated by the fact that it enabled Borotra to take the net with great success. Brugnon evidently p.ays a somewhat similar shot on the forehand, but made with more of a lift upwards and probably with more top spin. Ihose who saw Til den and Johnston and observed their flat sweeping drives, would be greatly struck by the contrast presented by Borotra and Brugnon. Another feature of the Frenchmens plav was their speed in traversing the court, which meant that their chief aim was to get into position in time to make their shot with the greatest accuracy. Moreover, both Borotra and Brugnon seem to be well endowed with the power of anticipation, a quality that has no doubt been fostered by their greater experience of match play and frequent contests with high-class opponents. Other points that stand put in high relief, as representing directions in which an improvement can be effected among the younger players of the Dominion, were the fine volleying of the visitors and their effective smashing of lobs from all parte of the court. Few things are more disconcerting than to have one’s best drives cut-, off in the bloom of their youth and promise as it were by being intercepted at the net and shot back into one s own court by means of a low sharply-angled volley. This style of play involves physical fitness of a high degree, a good eye, and the faculty of anticipation; but there is no reason why the young New Zealander, -with practice, should not become just as expert a volleyer as the Frenchman. Good volleying is an excellent weapon for placing an opponent on the defensive, and in the best class of lawn tennis the initiative is more than half the battle. As to smashing, also, the Frenchmen provided us with an example well worthy of emulation. They were not afraid to smash and to go for winning smashes from all parts of the court, and did not, as so many of our leading players do, w-ait for a short lob before dealing a death blow to that particular rally. Smashing is similar in its execution to serving, and when it is remembered that the service itself is delivered from beyond the baekline there is no reason why smashing from the back of the court should not become a more prominent feature of the game in New Zealand than it is at present. Confidence plays a large part in effective smashing, and the confidence to smash well can readily be acquired by practice. Of the New Zealand players one can only say that although they were outclassed they were not disgraced, and within the limits of their capacity they gave the Frenchmen a good fighting game. The selection of Ollivier and Bartleet in the singles and of Knott and Sturt for the doubles was a sound one, and so far as Boussus was concerned no more suitable opponent could have been found than Malfroy. Ollivier’s international experience dates hack to 1912, when C. P. Dixon’s team, which regained the Davis Cup from Australia, visited the Dominion. At Auckland, Dixon beat Ollivier 7—5, 6—3, and the next day Ollivier beat Lowe 6—3, 6—3. At Hastings, Parke defeated Ollivier 6—4, 6—l, B—6. At Christchurch, Ollivier heat Beamish 4—6, 2 —6, 6—3, 6 —3, 6 —2. Ollivier lost to Parke, 6—2, 6—2. Eight years after, in 1920, another English team came to New Zealand, consisting of A. E. Beamish and A. H. Lowe. Ollivier w-as again picked, and at Christchurch, on the first day, he beat Beamish 6—A, 2—6, 6—2, and the play was described as brilliant. On the second day Ollivier was defeated by Lowe 6—4, 6—2. At Dunedin, in a one-day match, Ollivier played again for New Zealand, and beat Beamish 6—3, 6—4. The only other match in which Ollivier has had a chance to prove his ability in the world class was when he met J. O. Anderson a year or so ago, in Wellington. It was played on asphalt, a surface that never suited New Zealand’s champion. Anderson won 6—4, 7—5.

The; A Grade matches were continued on Saturday afternoon in fine weather. Moana scored rather decisively against Otago, winning by 13 sets to three. Guy and Bray, playing first for their respective teams, had a well-contested match in the early stages, but Guy gradually took the lead, and won at 9—6. I'ield, who possesses a strong service and a good forehand and who can volley well at times, was the only Otago player who was successful in his singles, scoring an easy victory over Davis. Mrs Gale proved much too strong for Miss Hart, but in the second singles Miss Fiijch, who is an improved player this year, was only defeated by Miss Maloney by one game. In the men’s doubles Guy and Duthio gave a good display against Bray and Rawlinson, and Gale and Davis won rather easily from Haggitt and Field. Otago’s third and only success was gained m the second ladies’ singles in which Misses Ramsay and Finch defeated Mrs Guy and Miss Sherrilf, 6—4

North-East Valley did remarkably well and created something of a surprise by defeating Cosy Dell by a narrow margin of sets and games, and this success should encourage the north-end club. Mixed doubles play has not been a strong point at Cosy Dell tor some time past, possibly because this department of the game does not receive the attention it merits, and the loss of three of the matches was primarily responsible for the outcome of the match. The Cosy Dell men rather more than held their own with their opponents, but North East Valley made a somewhat better showing in the ladies’ events and also in the mixed doubles, these giving them the victory.

Cloghorn, the well-known Kaituna player, has gone north, and, I understand, will not take any further part in match play this season. _ One hopes, however, that he will return in time for the Easter tournament.

The ladies on the provincial ladder will resume their practices at Anderson’s Bay on Thursday, February 2. As a business meeting is to be held a full attendance of players ic desired. C. Angas and W. Goss played in the first round of the United Club’s singles championship last week, Angas winning 6—l, 6-y3, 6—3. Goas hit hard, and forced Angas into errors that he did not expect to make. Gass, , according to one of the spectators, could still beat half of the men on the Canterbury ranking list, ami his play seemed to bear this out. If he had had a little more of his ol t ] vigour, in drives and smashes, ho would have taken more games, but as it was, he took more games than some of the players who have outstripped him. Angas has made great progress during (he last couple of years (says the Christchurch Star). At the start of the 1926-1927 season he was thirteenth, and during the year seven opponents fell victims to his prowess. Thus he finished up No. 6 on the ladder. At the start m' this season ho met wilh his first defeat. It was at tile hands of P. G. Greenwood, and though Angas had two match points

and led 5—3, he lost 2—6, 6 —3, 12 —10. He repulsed a challenge by Glanville 6—o, B—6,8 —6, and then started upward again. His nest match with Greenwood resulted in Angas winning 6—2, 3 —6, 7—5. Ho then played B. B. Loughnan, 6 —3,_ 6—o, and followed it up by boating T. W. Patterson 6 —l, 6—o. It was a great win. Angas, driving a great length, came in and had Patterson completely at sea. Angas followed this by beating Walker 6—3, 6—o. Thus this season he has won 85 games in ranking matches to his opponents’ 46. These last two matches put Angas in Canterbury s Wilding Shield challenge team. A. C. Stcdman, the young Auckland player who has met with success at several recent tournaments in the North Island, evidently has a future before him. Apart from Knott and Sturt (says a writer in the New Zealand Herald) he is easily the most promising young player in Auckland at present, and it will not bo long before he forces himself into the forefront. At Palmerston North he defeated Bartleot and pressed Malfroy to a close three-set_ final. At the Nelson tournament P. Williams (Wellington) won the singles championship, beating Fodcn (Wellington), 4—6, 6—3, 10—8, 6 —l. Miss Tracey (Wellington) beat. Miss Grooby in the ladies’ singles, 6—o, 6—o. In the final of the ladies’ championship doubles. Misses Tracey and Tucker (Wellington) beat Mrs Nelson and Miss Grooby, 6—3, 6—3. The men’s championship doubles resulted in a win for R. and H. Nightingale, who beat Snodgrass and Hodgson, 9—7, B—6,8 —6, 6—2. The mixed doubles resulted in a win for Miss Tracey and Hodgson, who beat Mrs Whitwell and Whitwcll, 6—2, 6—2. G. L. Patterson. J. Crawford, and H. Hopnian have been selected to represent Australia in this year’s Davis Cup contests, and the fourth member of the team will ho chosen after the Australian championships. The team will leave Melbourne for Perth about the first week : n March, and there it will engage in a match against the French players on March 9, 10, and 11. It will join the steamer Otranto at Perth on March 12 for Toulon. The players will disembark at that port to enable them to obtain all the practice possible on the hard courts in France before playing the first round of the Davis Cup. As the draw will not be made until February 3, it will not be known whether the Australian team will participate in the first round or secure the bye. This round must be completed by May 8, according to regulations imposed by France. Again, according to these regulations it appears that the Australian team will have to undertake a considerable amount of travelling in Europe in order to complete the programme. The regulations provide that, unless it is mutually agreed otherwise, any nation outside the European zone which challenges in that zone must play its tie in the country of the European country against which it is drawn.