LAWN TENNIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22101, 3 November 1933, Page 10

LAWN TENNIS

MATCHES BY ENGLISHMEN WILDE DEFEATS MALFROY (Per United Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, November 2. Exhibition lawn tennis matches were played here to-day by the British touring team, Perry, Lee, and Wilde, and the New. Zealander Malfroy. The weather was perfect, but the courts were very dead after heavy rain on the previous daj which affected the standard of play. N-verthclcss brilliant lawn tennis was seen at times, particularly in the Doubles, The attendance numbered 800. The results of the matches were as follows : Wilde beat Malfroy, 6—3, 6—4. Perry beat Lee, 6—4, 4—6, 6 —l. i Perry and Wilde heat Lee and Malfroy, I—6, 6 —l, 6-—4, 6—4, i The opening Singles between Wilde and Malfroy was rather disappointing to those who had hoped to see Malfroy display perhaps some of the form that enabled him to beat Perry at Dunedin. Wilde began very accurately, while the New Zealander was very much off his game. Malfroy grew more and more careless as the game progressed and threw games away In the second set. Had he tried, it is doubtful whether be vvonld have been able to pick up the leeway against an opponent who was maintaining an exact length with fast drives that just skimmed the net or angle shots almost impossible to reach. Three sets had to be played before Perry could dispose of Lee in the other Singles match, which provided a much better exhibition. Perry did not attempt to take the net, where he is at his strongest, but allowed Lee to come up more often than he would have done had the match been more serious. Lee made rather more errors in the first set than his opponent, being unable to strike his length and frequently driving out. Perry picked up/ Lee’s volleys from the uet wonderfully and often passed him. Lee continued to take the net in the second set, which he won with forceful tennis. In the third set Perry was definitely in the ascendant from the beginning. Leo made a great attempt to save the match in the eighth game, hut Perry showed his great class with magnificent recoveries that turned defence into attack. Wilde was the hero of the Doubles match, though he was off colour in the first set which Lee and Malfroy won rather easily. He shone brilliantly throughout the rest of the match, however, and with Perry made no mistake about the next three sets. His volleys were very accurately placed, but it was in overhead shots that ,he was most spectacular. Perry was quietly efficient always and scarcely ever missed an opportunity of taking advantage of an opening. Malfroy again appeared to be out of his class and off form. He was brilliant at times but more often made errors. Lee played his best game of the afternoon in the Doubles, and his stinging drives across court paralysed the opposition in the first set. After that he could do little to avert defeat, though he played splendidly.