LAWN TENNIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21264, 19 February 1931, Page 4

LAWN TENNIS.

By Smash. EASTER TOURNAMENTS. Canterbury Association (hard comt), at Christchurch. - Otago Association (South Island cham-pionships).-at Dunedin. Wellington Association, at Miramar. REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES. February 21. —Otago v. Southland, at Invercargill. March 14. —Otago v. Canterbury, at Logan Park. OTAGO v. SOUTH CANTERBURY. The annual match between Otago and South • Canterbury, played for the first time on the Logan Park courts, resulted in a sweeping victory for the home players by 19 matches to five. All the games were, however, keenly contested, and a fairly high standard of play was maintained throughout, rising in some instances to really good tennis. The Tiniaru players in most cases hit out freely—sometimes rather too freely, perhaps, for matches of this kind are not won by swinging the racquet at every ball—and their play was never lacking in brightness. As a general criticism, however, it may be said that they lacked the control, steadiness, and patience of the local players, these qualities being due in large measure to the greater experience of the latter, whose methods, though, perhaps, less spectacular, were more effective than those of their opponents. There were, of course, notable exceptions to this general statement in the Timaru team, but some of the younger players tried to score winners with every shot, and that style of play has its limitations. In the morning the weather conditions were decidedly unpromising, but towards mid-day the weather cleared and it was found possible to make a start at 1 o’clock. The afternoon remained fine, and had it not been for a rather troublesome wind on some of the more exposed courts the playing conditions would have been practically ideal. THE TIMARU TEAM. Except for the aUience of W. G. Robertson, who was unable to make the trip, the South Canterbury team was practically at full strength, and Otago was also represented by just 'about its full strength. Among the visitors were several old friends, notably Warne Pearse, Mrs W. A. Scott, Norman Cramond, and Miss Doris Hart, the last three of whom learned a good deal, of their early teppia in Dunedin, and all.of-whom-were very welcome.

Pearse had the misfortune to sprain his thumb on the day before he left Timaru, and though the injury affected hia grip on the racket, he gave a good account of himself in all his games, and, at hie best, is probably playing as well as he ever did. He has been a familiar figure in South Island tennis for the past 20 years, and, apart from playing against Otago on a number of occasions, he has competed at many of our local tournaments. He plays the game with a fine earnestness and good humour, and though perhaps not so quick on his feet as formerly is still capabe of beating many of the younger generation of players. Mrs Scott is as well known in Dunedin as she is in Timaru. Some years ago she was a leading player in the North-East Valley Club, and her game developed to such an extent that she became champion of the province and, later, with Mrs W. J. Melody, she won the Doubles Championship of the Dominion. Mrs Scott is in the first flight of women players in the Dominion, and, at her best, she was capable of a class of play that entitled her to championship honours,, though these never actually came her way in singles. She is still a remarkably fine player, both in singles and doubles, v and in some of her games gave an exhibition of driving remdnscent of her former prowess. Her smashing is also very powerful, and so is her service, but her volleying lacks a little in decisiveness, and she gave me the impression of not concentrating so much as formerly. With good hard practice a New Zealand singles championship should ’ yet be ‘within her reach.

Cramond and Miss Hart are, both wellknown Dunedin players of a few years ago. The former still plays- the neat, elever game which used to - distinguish him in club matches here and he is producing as good a class of tenhie as ever. Miss Hart is an ex-junior champion of Otago and afterwards played for Coey Dell in the A Grade competition. Her play, based on a fine service and forehand drive and a good safe backhand, appears to be still improving, but she should study the methods of anticipation practised by some of the older players. Her strokes and speed of foot are valuable assets, and she would greatly enhance their value by paying greater attention to court position. ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY. An analysis of the play based on the matches, sets and games shows, in interesting fashion, the relative - strength and weakness of the two teams. Otago's allround superiority was very marked, but it was more definite in singles than in doubles, and the men were relatively stronger than the ladies. South Canter-bury-made its best showing in the Ladies’ Doubles and in the Mixed Doubles. The following table bears this out:—•

NOTES ON THE PLAY. It is not possible to describe the play in detail in the space at my disposal, but the paragraphs which follow contain notes on some of. the more interesting matches. M'Dougall, playing first for Otago, accounted for Innes-Jones, Timaru’s No. 1 man, in straight sets, but the latter made a much better showing than the score of 6—l, 6—2 -against him would indicate. Both men, indeed, were playing remarkably well, and in many respects this match represented the best tennis of the afternoon. Innes-Jones is a strong prayer with a low sweeping drive carrying plenty of pace and a powerful service, but M'Dougall handled these strokes admirably, and gave a very fine display. He met pace with pace, and the harder Jones hit the faster his shots canle back to him. M'Dougall’e accuracy and control were splendid throughout, and he gaye one more proof of his fine match-winning qualities. Guy and Renton had a protracted match on a rather windy court. Renton is a young and improving player with nice free strokes, who prefers the volleying game, but is strong all round. He has made good progress during the past couple of seasons, and should do even better yet, Guy took the first set with the loss of only two games, and led 5—2 in the second at which stage Renton began to go for his shots in good style and eventually took the set 9—7; an excellent recovery from a losing position. He could not maintain the pace in the third set, however, and Guy took this at 6 3. The meeting between the two veterans, Cox and Pearse, was in a sense historic, since it was some 18 years since these two players—rivals of a former day—had last met. the occasion being the Masterton tournament. As they went on the court Cox remarked to Pearse that he was “ one up on him ” in matches, and the Timaru man replied jocularly that he was going to square the account that day. His prophesy was falsified, however, for Cox_, playing nice smooth tennis, with deep drives and volleys, always held the upper, hand and lost only three games in the two sets. Pearse found his injured thumb a considerable disadvantage, but this docs not detract from the merit of Cox’s win, for he exhibited very fine tennis, and is still an outstanding singles Pl< Boddy, Pollock, and Pearse all won in straight sets, and each man gave a fine display of clean, hard hitting against opponents well worthy of their steel LADIES’ SINGLES. Mrs Scott began a successful day by boating Miss Pattison by two sets to one, and she remained undefeated throughout the day, participating in three of the

five matches won by South Canterbury. Against Miss Pattison she opened with a bombardment of powerful services and drives, which gave her the first set with the loss of only one game. In the second set the best tennis of the match was seen. Miss Pattison met her opponent’s drives with shots of - equal depth and severity, and, outplaying Mrs Scott, ran to a lead of 3—l. Mrs Scott'took the next three games and led but Miss Pattison was not to be denied, and by brilliant play she, in turn, captured three games and won the set, 6—4. In the third set Mrs Scott again took command qf the situation, and by a fine exhibition of all-i’ound play took the set to love. Owing to an injury to her knee Miss Pattison has not been able of late to obtain all the practice that is desirable, and her form consequently is not so good as it was at this time last year. In the circumstances, therefore, it was a good performance on, her part to take a set from so strong a player as Mrs Scott. Another good contest was that in which_ Miss. White beat Miss Poultney by the’ odd game in each set. The Timaru lady played a good class of tennis, and went for her shots courageously, but Miss White was just too steady for her at the critical stages. • Some very bright and attractive play marked the match between Miss Partridge and Miss Hart. After a close first set the Moana player had the better of the exchanges, and took the second, 6 —3. Miss Cox and Miss Cook each_ won in straight sets, both having a definite margin of superiority over their opponents. Miss • Cook has represented Otago with credit on • a number of occasions, in Saturday’s match she gave a good exhibition of well-placed driving, her sliced shots to the side lines and corners fre-’ quently finding her opponent out of position. Miss Barton, who is the personification of steadiness and accuracy, also won in two sets against Miss Bridges. The Otago girl does not possess many actual winning shots, but she covers the court splendidly, and returns nearly everything. She has made remarkable progress at the game, and with a little more enterprise should do even better yet. MEN’S DOUBLES. Some surprise was occasioned by the defeat of Cox and Boddy, the Otago champions, in the Men’s Doubles. In the first set good smashing by Boddy «nd well-placed volleys by Cox gave the Otago pair an easy win, but in the next two sets Innes-Jones and Cramond played with, great determination, and got everything back. Cramond was very steady, and lobbed well. Innes-Jones mixed fast drives and lobs judiciously. Boddy, in the meantime, had become less accurate with his smashing and many of his drives were finding the net. The score went to 3—all in the third set, and Timaru, taking the next three games in a row, gained a well-deserved victory. Guy and Pearce had a comparatively easy win against Renton and Satterwaite, the score in their favour being the remarkably decisive one of 6 —o, 6—3.

M'Dougall and Pollock, though they suffered somewhat frorq a lack of combination, always appeared tp_ be playing well within themselves against Pearse and Mackay. Mackay is a young player of decided possibilities, and he possesses some excellent strokes, but there are certain weaknesses in his game, and if he corrects these he should take a high place. He has a strong service and a splendid forehand drive, but his service is produced almost solely by arm action, and the result is that he is left flat-footed at the conclusion of the stroke, and loses valuable time in gaining the net position. He would probably correct this fault by pointing his right shoulder (he is a left-hander) more directly towards the net and by using more body swing with his feet as a pivot. His strength on the forehand also causes him to favour this stroke at the expense of his backhand, and he is inclined to run round the ball and take it on the forehand —a proceeding not at all to be commended. He possesses a good smash, but in this and other strokes he makes the shot so fast that he does not always think of direction, and his percentage of errors is at present too high. M'Dougall was serving and driving well throughout this match and Pollock also drove well. Otago won the first set fairly easily and ran to a lead of 4—2 in the second, after which they dropped several games and the score was called at five all. They regained the ascendancy, however, and took the two deciding games and the match. LADIES” DOUBLES. In an “ all Otago ” match Mrs Scott and Miss Hart gained a very meritorious victory against Misses White and Pattison, who seemed to tire when in a winning position. It was a very interesting match throughout, all four giving of their best, and many bright rallies being witnessed. MiSs Pattisoh was volleying and smashing ; remarkably well in the second set and MisS White's deep well-placed drives kept the opposition constantly on the move. With the score at set-all, Otago led 4—o in the third, and then suffered one of those unaccountable lapses that sometimes occur, losing the next six games on end and the match. Misses Partridge and Cox and Misses Cook and Barton both won in straight sets. THE MIXED DOUBLES. Some very interesting games were witnessed in the Mixed Doubles, and this section increased South Canterbury’s tally of matches from three' to five. Renton and Mrs Scott were at their best against the Otago champion pair, M'Dougall and Miss Pattison, the former volleying better than at any stage during the day, and Mrs Scott driving well and keeping the ball away from M'Dougall, who, however, won all his.service games. Pearse and Miss Poultnev proved just too good for Cox and Miss Cox in a long three-set match, in which all four were showing the strain towards the end. Each of the other four matches in this section was won by Otago. Following the match the members of the visiting team were the guests of the Otago Lawn Tennis Association at the Regent Theatre. LADDER MATCHES. G. Pearce beat Pollock, 4 —6, 6—3, B—o, for No. 4 position on the ladder. Both played bright, crisp tennis, and Pearce showed himself a good fighter, for Pollock had a lead of 4 —l in the third set. On Tuesday night M'Dougall regained second position on the ladder by defeating Boddy. 6—2, 6 —3. GRADE COMPETITION. Owing to the fact that the season is now becoming well advanced and there are a number of representative matches to be played, in addition to the Easter tournament, the Match Committee has decided to finalise the grade competition as soon as possible. The Otago Club has been declared the winner of the A Grade competition, and St. Andrews the winner of the BL In the 811 section the following matches will be played on February 28; —St. Andrews v. St. Kilda. Wesley v. Taieri. On the same day Balmacewen will meet Opoho in the Cl Grade, and in the CII St. Peter’s will play North-East Valley. No matches will .be played on Saturday. NOTES.

The following players have been selected to represent Southland in the annual match against Otago, to be played at Invercargill on Saturday;—Ladies—Miss Melvin, Miss Lawrence, Miss Guest, Miss Rein. Miss Blakie, Miss Wade. Men—H. K Sumpter. A, J. Deaker, A. Townsend, D.’ S. M'Lcod, G. Lindsay,-D. A. M'Donald. D. G. France must have been in line form in the Wilding Shield match between Wellington and Canterbury, for he accounted for both Angas and Seay in straight sets. Angas showed an improvement on the second day when he beat N. R. C. Wilson, the North Island champion. and it is apparent that he still needs some good hard practice before he regains the form which he showed at the end of last season. .

After Hopman took the first set against Crawford in the New South Wales Singles final, and was well on the way to winning the second, he went to pieces, and Crawford, reaching his best form, won three sets to one, 3—6, 6 —3, (3 —4, 6—4. It was an entirely different Hopman {says a Sydney paper) from the player who had defeated Moon in the semi-final. Mrs Crawford was too steady and methodical for Miss Valkenberg, who was certainly forceful. Mrs Crawford won the women’s title, 7 —6—3. Crawford and Hopman were far too clever for Jjm Willard and D. Thompson. Thompson, a colt of promise, was hardly up to the standard of the others as a doubles player. The champions won, 6—2, 6 —3, 3 —o, o—3.0 —3.

Matches. . Sets., Games. 0. S.C. 0. S.C. 0. S.C. Men’s singles 6 , 12 1 SI 43 Ladies’ 1 singles 5 1 11 2 67 49 ‘ Men’s doubles 2 1 5 2 38 24 Ladies’ ’ doubles 2 1 5 2 39 30 Mixed doubles 4 2, 10 6 85 64 Totals . 19 5 43 13 310 210