LAWN TENNIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21828, 15 December 1932, Page 4

LAWN TENNIS

By Smash. The following tournament dates have been approved by the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association; — Oamaru—December 24, 26, 27. Christchurch —December 24, 26, 27, 28. Invercargill—December 26, 27, 28. Timaru —January 2,3, 4, and 5. Dunedin—January 2,3, 4. Wellington—New Zealand Championships, January 17. Christchurch—South Island Championships, Easter. ROSLYN v. ST. KILDA The A Grade match on Saturday aftci - - noon between Eoslyn and St. Kilda (the only undefeated team) was played under unpleasant conditions and owing to the absence of two of the St. Kilda ladies, apparently through a misunderstanding, it could not be finished. At present Eoslyn is lending by eight sets to four and by 13 games. In the Men’s Singles M'Dougall gave an outstanding display of fast and accurate driving to gain a clear-cut decision over Pollock, who last season placed more than one victory to his credit over the Eoslyn man. In the main it was a duel from the base line, in which Pollock was quite out-matched, and when lie went in MTlougall generally succeeded in passing him at the net. ' Pollock brought off a number of good shots, but he could not cope with M‘DougaU’s wellplaced drives and volleys. Deaker began well against Black and in the early stages he used the lob very effectively to keep his opponent away from the net and was also driving well. When the score had reached 4 —3 in favour of the St. Kilda man. Black directed his drives to Deaker’s back-hand, and owing to the wind his lobs became less accurate and Black won many points by volleys to his opponent’s open forehand court. These tactics proved so successful that Black ran out a winner 9 —5, a very creditable performance against a player of Deaker’s calibre. Some thrilling tennis was seen in the match between Halsted and Swallow. Both men indulged in hurricane hitting, but the harder Swallow drove the harder they came back and the Eoslyn man was also volleying and smashing with refreshing vigour. Halsted led 7—3 and although Swallow recovered to B—s the ueNt game the match went to Eoslyn. By defeating Chisman 9 —-3, Eawlinson gained the distinction of being the only St. Kilda man to win his Singles. Some splendid tennis was seen in the first two sets of the Men’s Doubles between M'Dougall and Black and Pollock and Deaker. St. Kilda led 2—o in the opening set, but Eoslyn made it 2 all, only to see their opponents take the lead again. Four games in a row, however, gave the set to_ Eoslyn. In the second set the St. Kilda pair gave a fine exhibition of crisp driving and volleying and ran to a lead of 4 —l. Eoslyn recovered to 4 all, but the St. Kilda pair kept up the pace, and, in a good finish took the set by the odd game. The third set found the Eoslyn pair playing with machine-like accuracy, their opponents being allowed only one game. In the other Doubles match Eawlinson and Swallow showed excellent combination and led all the way against Halstead and Chisman to win in straight sets. A number of interesting matches were seen in tbe ladies’ events. Miss Pattison was driving in her best form against Miss Barton, and whenever the opportunity offered she advanced to the net and dealt effectively with Miss Barton’s drives, which by reason of .their .rather slow “lift” present excellent opportunities to a volleyer. Miss Rackley and Miss Harvey were fairly evenly matched, but Mis s Rackley’s driving was steadier than that of her opponent, who made more mistakes. In the Ladies’ Doubles Misses Pattison and Rackley beat Misses Barton and Harvey 9—6. Miss Pattison again gave a very fine exhibition of volleying in this match and Miss Rackley was driving very steadily. The St. Kilda ladies put up an excellent fight and drove well, but many, of their shots were cut off by Miss Pattison, whose returns found them out of position. In the Mixed Doubles Pollock and Miss Barton gave an outstanding display to defeat M'Dougall and Miss Pattison 9—6. Pollock was driving with great pace in this match, but equal credit belongs to Miss Barton, who bore the brunt of the Eoslyn attack and met it by driving. and lobbing of a very high order.. Altogether it was a performance on which the St. Kilda pair are to be congratulated. Deaker and Miss Harvey had matters very much their own way in the early stages of the match with Black and Mrs Hill and established a lead of 7—3. Black then commenced to force the pace, and by taking the net on every opportunity he changed the aspect of the match. After a hard fight Eoslyn took the eleventh game and went on to square the score at 7 —all. Another hard tussle gave Eoslyn the load for the first time at B—7, and they then won the last game and the match.

OTHER GRADES Balmacewen beat Eoslyn very decisively on Saturday in tbe Intermediate Grade match between these two teams. At present Kaituna is the only unbeaten team in this section while Balmacewen and Opoho have had one loss each. The last round of B Grade matches for this year w r as played on Saturday and next Saturday the final round of the A and C Grade matches before the holidays will be played. CHALLENGE MATCHES Falconer and Rawlinson beat Duthie and Guy, 2—6, 6—2, 6—l, and gained third place. „ _ . Pearce beat Pollock, 4 —6, 6 —2, 6 —4. Falconer beat Sherriff, 4 —6, 6—3, 6 —4. Miss Jolly beat Miss Rackley, 6 —4, 6—l. CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP In the semi-finals of the Otago Club Championship Stevens beat Boddy, 7—5, 6 —2, and Bray boat Robertson, 5—7. g 2 6 —2. At Kaituna, Dr Moody and Phillipps have readied the final. NOTES Intending competitors arc reminded that entries for the association’s Now Year tournament at Logan Park will close to-morrow with the secretary (Mr E. S. Wilson). . , Club secretaries are also reminded that the names of their club champions must be in the hands of the secretary of the association by Tuesday, December 20, It is the intention that the final rounds of the Cleghorn and Walker Cups should bo plavcd early next year. Special interest will attach to the Wellington Association’s Christmas tournament by reason of the fact that both C. 'E. Malfroy and E. D Andrews will be competing. Followers of the game in the Dominion will be anxious to compare their form with that of the players who were their rivals before they left for the Old Conn‘Henri Corbet, the French Davis Cup player, has joined the ranks of film stars. Coehet began making a demonstration film at the Stade Roland Garros in October, but work was stopped owing to rain. In the film Coehet, who has the authorise tion and encouragement of the French Federation, has to deal with balls which come across the net from an unseen and anonymous opponent.

CRAWFORD DEFEATS VINES Crawford, who always plays better in Australia than when he is abroad, created a sensation by defeating the acknowledged world’s champion, H. E. Vines, in the final of the Victorian Singles. It was a thrilling five-set match, and in the final set, for which Vines has a habit of reserving himself, Crawford outplayed the American to win 6—4. It has been suggested in some of the Australian papers that the United States players have not revealed their true form during the present tour, but the results scarcely bear this out and the closeness of the contest between Crawford and Vines shows that both of these great players were giving of their best. The result will have been hailed with great satisfaction in Australia, as it indicates that Crawford is entitled to a higher ranking than some of the critics arc disposed to accord him. Crawford and Moon also gave an excellent account of themselves in the Doubles, in the semi-final of which they ran the ultimate winners, Vines and Gledhill, to a very close five-set match. It is of interest to note also that Miss Joan Hartigan, who visited Dunedin Inst year and later won the New Zealand Singles, was successful in the Ladies’ Singles in which she defeated' the Australian champion, Mrs Buttsworth. LAWN TENNIS UNION A GRADE. Forbury v. Tainui. —This match was unfinished, and at the time of writing the teams were level, each having won seven sets and 00 games. The Tainui men won five of their six events, L. Galbraith being the only Forbury man to win, defeating 11. Eaton 6 —2. The surprise of the day was the fact that the Forbury ladies succeeded in winning all their £ix sets, each of the players showing a, return to something like last year’s form. The best game of the day was easily the first Ladies’ Singles between Mrs Ogg and Miss Garbutt, the latter winning o—3.0 —3. The winner played a very fine game, and sustained rallies were the order of the day. First Church v. Ravensbournc. —Duly 12 sets were played in this match, all of which were won by Ravensbourne. The closest gamovs were the first Men’s Doubles, Dr North and Salmond being beaten o—4 by L. Facer and Miller, ami the third Men’s Singles, in which R. Facer beat M. M’George 7—5. Dr North rather surprisingly succumbed to L. Facer o—3,0 —3, while Miss L. Page continued her unbroken list of wins in her Singles match by beating Miss Salmond 6—2. Kaikorai v. Knox. —Kaikorai defeated Knox by 10 sets to 6, the men especially proving too strong and winning all their six sets. The Knox team won four of the ladies’ events and two of the Mixed Doubles** The best game in the men’s event was that between Jones and M'Kinnon, the latter creating a mild surprise by running Jones Jo 7—5. Mrs Jones was the only Kaikorai lady to win her Singles, defeating Miss Naylor C—l. Of the 15 sets played in the five matches this year Mrs Jones has not lost one, being the only A Grade player with this record. In the Mixed Doubles Miss Howell and J. Hayward had another easy win, defeating Gourlay and Miss Walker C—l, while Miss Roscvear and M’Kinnon also won, defeating Jones and Miss Sligo 7—5. NOTES. Challenges played recently have resulted as follow:- —J. Laurie beat S. Gourlay 9 —5, F. Dixon beat W Gibson 9—5. The following addition has been made to the ladder rules by the Management • Committee:—“Any player who does not play at least one challenge per month shall automatically have his or her name removed from the ladder.” This rule, which has been introduced to try to make the ladders really worth while, comes into force immediately. Any players whose names now appear on the ladders should notify their club secretary or the union secretary if they do not wish to participate in such challenges.

Tlie Management Committee decided at its Inst meeting that as far as possible the second round of the A Grade should be seeded so that the leading teams would meet last. Matches to be'played this Saturday are as follow: B Grade. — Forbury v. Macandmv Road, at Forbury; Holy Cross v. Kaikorai, t Kaikorai. C Grade.—Kiwi v. St. Kilda Methodist, at Kiwi; Knox v. Ravensbourne, at Ravensbourne; Mornington v. Mosgiel, at Mornington.

D Grade—First Church v. Macandrew Road, at First Church.