TENNIS TOURIST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26614, 10 November 1947, Page 6

TENNIS TOURIST

DAVIS CUP PLAYER MR J. E. ROBSON RETURNS OVERSEAS IMPRESSIONS “I have seen it written that English athletes and sportsmen generally, have not ben affected by the food shortage. This is contrary to my observations,” said Mr J. E. Robson, a member of the New Zealand Davis Cup team, who returned to Dunedin on Saturday after an absence of seven months on tour. “English players did show a lack of stamina, and from my own experience, the food seemed to contain little nourishment,” Mr Robson continued “ I remember that the first meals, which the three of us in the team had in England, satisfied us for about half an hour, after which time we were ready for more. At times we were billeted, and the, people would share their meagre ration so that we would be at our best in our matches. J. Kramer, the Wimbledon men’s title winner, was evidently warned realistically about the shortage, and he took with him from America about 651 b of steak to last him during the tournament.” Mr Robson said that the team had had little opportunity for sightseeing Of the countries on the Continent, he had found Norway the most interesting and enjoyable. Czechoslovakia, on the other hand, he said, was pervaded with gloom, long and dismal faces being the rule rather than the exception, and as fewer people spoke English than in Norway, the tourists had a greater difficulty in finding their way about Prague,. A Bad Mistake It was a bad mistake, Mr Robson thought, that the team had arrived in England only a fortnight before its first Davis Cup match against Norway and although that game was won, the tourists might have done much better if they had had time to accustom themselves to the very different conditions, All the courts in the continental countries were en-toute-cas and were much slower than grass, causing players to develop a base-line game of steadiness in contrast to the attacking type of match. Comparing tennis in England with that in New Zealand, he mentioned that the system of running tournaments was much better in the former country. Professional referees compiled a schedule of play each evening and from this a competitor could judge when he would be required for his match. Although this involved more work for the referee, it saved time, taking the over-all view, because players did not have to wait about for hours before their game could be started as in New Zealand. Wimbledon, he declared, was the mecca of tennis players—it had the atmosphere that other places lacked. “What to Strive For” Viewing the tour retrospectively, Mr Robson remarked that it was not possible to realise how much one could learn from such a trip. The New Zealanders had been taught much by the various styles of play in the tournaments in which they participated and knew now what to strive for. New Zealand tennis would benefit because the Davis Cup players could pass on to others much which they had learned. It was difficult to decide whether his own standard of play had improved, he said, but he hoped to put into practice the ■new ideas he had learned. Mr Robson agreed that the visits of players to other countries would provide the stimulus that tennis required, and added that a knowledge of the finer points could be gained by merely watching the outstanding men in the game. He thought the visit of Cernik and Drobny, the Czechoslovak players, to Australia and New Zealand, which had been projected, would have been a great success, but the visit of some of the top Australian players would be equally valuable. Mr Robson concluded by saying that towards the end of the tour he had been playing with a feeling of “ staleness,” and said that “ one becomes tired of travelling out of suitcases.” Life in the ship on the homeward voyage had invigorated him, and he was now looking forward to his exhibition matches with McKenzie and Barry.