LAWN TENNIS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 63

LAWN TENNIS.

BY RACQUET. The Match Committee of the association roust be' congratulated upon its selection of the team that met Canterbury on Monday, Bth Lnst. In -only one instance could the teajn have been improved upon', inasmuch as Miss Lester might have been playing in place of -Miss Bauehop. Then,' again, Bundle would have improved Otago's chances had he been playing in the Mixed Doubles in place of Braithwaite. The latter player is not by any means a combination jxntua. On the whole, however, as before stated, the team as chosen was a very good one, and gave a splendid account of itself. ' It was generally expected 1 at the outset that Otago would claim the majority of the giames that ladies were engaged in, but, efrrange as it way seem, the provinces shared the honours in this department. In the men's events, again, it was anticipated tha>* Otago would get a big drubbing from their opponents, but the southern players showed "exceptional form in most of the events, and, generally speaking, were little inferior to the Canterbury representatives. On reviewing the whole day's play it is not too muoh to state that Otago witfh just the slightest slice of luck would have won the match. As it was.. Canterbury only won 196 games to Otago's 194, 19 sets to Ocago'p 18, and If matches to Otaigo's E— one unfinished (Otago man leading). So it will be readily admitted it was far from a runaway match. The Otago players deeerve every credit *or their meritorious attempt to wrest the honours from Canterbury The idea to include ladies in the teams wa* a very wise one, and made the match very miK* more interesting from a spectator's, as well as from an 'nterprovincial, standpoint. As far as the personnel of the men in the Canterbury team ie concerned the. only alteration to that of last year was that: Bonnmgton, the present champion of Canterbury, replaced Lawrie, the Tedoubtoble hitter of the 1908 team.. - i The ladies were a good, average, even team, none of -them being star players, yet j none of them weak. In fact, they might I be suuuned up as a very solid quartet. j Coming bo play, it was apparent through- ! out the day that Otago's standard of tennis as compared - witb that of last year had improved considerably. It might be regretted that Otago were without the services of B. S. Brown and Miss Lester; still, on the other hand, Canterbury would hay« also been greatly strengthened by the Inclusion of Quill and Jennings, not to mention the famous Anthony Wilding. Interest, of course, centred round the single between White and Ollivier. The latter had previously beaten White, but it was expected that the. Otago representative would on this occasion give his opponent a harder task. The anticipation, however, was not realised, as the Canterbury player left no doubt in the minds of the spectators from the outset what the final result would be. White was kept running continuously from x>ne side of the court to the other, and rarely got the chance of making a winning shot. Had he not been so agile and active on his feet — enabling .him to return almost impossible bails at times — the margin in Ollivier's' favour would have been ntuoh larger. The break-back services of OUivier's were very I troublesome to White. This is surprising j when you consider what an experienced player the Otago captain is. He did not seem to know how to meet them, and consequently j>ut them out repeatedny. These services cam only be played by attacking them boldly. CSoss, who played such brilliant tennis on Canterbury's last visit, seemed fo have lost a considerable amount of his dash this year; yet he played correct, careful tennis. He is deadly overhead, but does not appreciate low hard drives below the net. It was mainly through these shots that Steve Brown made such a good showing against him. Another shot that seemed to. make

him uncomfortable, and won for Brown a good many aces, was the 3hort .ob just out of reach. Had Brown played more of these the result might easily have been reversed 1 . _ Braittowaite was the moss disappointing mail on the Otago side, it is a significant fact that this player nearly always fails in big tennis. Favourable reports reach one as to his prowess before an event, yet his play seldom' justifies those reports when ■ he is called upon. In the Mixed Doubles he was a failure, and his play was not better than B Grade. It was sad to see short balls thrown up to him at the net being gently returned, instead of receiving their quietus, and thus ending the rally Hie single with Bon-nmg-tcm was also very tame, and it was clearly- shown that unless Braithwaite gets a m£un to run up to the n«t .on medium or short length balls he will seldom win. If has opponent drives the ball hard on to the back line and comes up the passing game is of very little use. Bundle had his revenge against the veteran Borrows on this occasion, and althouyh he started off badly- — having 5 love against him in the first set — he managed to wear bis opponent down, and took the remaining 'two *ts. His double with Ewen was also a fine effort. To beat two suoh players as Borrows and Pearse is ho easy task, and great- credit is due to tiie Otago pair for the way tSbey outgeneraled the opposition. There has been much uncalled-for discussion in certain circles as to Sinclair's right to' be in the team, but his play against ' Canterbury cleanly 'proved beyojbd 1 all doubt that his inoluaior. was perfectly Justified. Although he did not win any of bis evenis, he played splendid tennis throughout the day. He was somewhat poorly supported in both double events, and he was leading in bis single against Kiver when the match was stopped by the rain. This player must, on present form, always secure a place <n an Otago team. Ewen, the colt of the Otago side, made his debut in first class tennis in this match, and it must be admitted he came out of the ordeal with flying colours. Bis overhead work and forehand driving in his double with B/indle was very deadly and effective. He also played » wonderful single against that good-natured sport, Warne Pearse, although ii? fairness to Pe<u-se-wiit has certainly gone off his game-it might be stated he h»d been suffejnng witn so&ica latdy. Ewen would have dbne well i* tihe Mixed Doubles, as he is a very nice combined player. His backhand , however, like that of many others, is his Wlnk"htW In k "ht' Men's Doubles the Otago players ; more than held their own. White and Brown played brilliantly against Goss ana Kiver— White particularly; his driving, lobbing, and hittansr shots were all excellent. T3roivn found the net rather fre- , qu-ently with his backhand drive, but otherwise he wa< safety personified. It was surprising that Goss did not play with Ollivier in this event, as their combinal'on of last year was something to remember. Goss is 'brilliant at the net, and Ollivier s reverse service gives him abundant chances of smashing across court, which he does to some purpose . , , . Ollivier and Bonnington were paired this year, oat are not quite a happy combination. Sinclair and Braithwaite, with a little nbre dash, might reasonably have accounted for this match. It might be mentioned here tha* in double nlay all fchovt shots aeav. the net must be killed— that is, won outright. It is ridiculous to play them softly, as an active opponent will invariably get them back. The ladies on the Otago side, with the exception of Miss Campbell and Miss Marks, did not play up to expectations. Miss Hislop, who had previous to the match been playing in tip-top form, faifcd to get going in any of her matches, tone ( made the best showina'in her single against Mrs Berry, only losing on the seventeenth game. In her combined game she %vas badly supported, consequently could not stand up to Kiver's hard drives and • smashes. On several occasions, through want of a proper understanding with her • partner, the ball was hit at by both of them. This shows a weakness somewhere. I should say the fault lies with the nar* in not calling . I Miss Ba'ichop also was unfortunately oft, j sho.viug little or no opposition in her i games. Botu the 'adies mentioned arc in- j dwcri'iiinate hitters, and when playing against steady players like Mrs Berry and Mm Angus — who return nearly everything --they usually end the idly by finding the net or going out. Miss Campbell had little difficulty in accounting for her single against Miss Goodman, likewise her double with Miss Marks against Miss Goodman and Mrs Berry. In the combined pvent with Whi.e also she was brilliant. Tim«* i aad again when White ran across the court to get a ball and it was returned out of h:s reach Miss Campbell, quickly realising the position, would run hard from her corner right over to the other, and return the bail pa&t the man at the net. She gave Ollivier little or nothing to do. Her greatest difficulty was returning Olhvier's services: they lbafßed her considerably. Muss Campbell this season has never been In better form She appears to have given up the usual 3oft, steady game for more aggressive and vigorous play. Her volleying at the •-•et is very accurate ; in fact, her present forn". would entitle her to be numbered in the first six ladies in the Dominion.

Miss Marks more than Justified her inclusion in the team, and might be easily termed one of Otago's headiest combined plajers. Although of nervous temperament, when she has confidence in her partner ehe can do nothing wrong. She gives the opposing gentleman very little to do, lobbing and- passing with great accuracy. Mies Marks also supported Miss Campbell well in the Doubles, and the combination between this pair was in perfect accord.

The Canterbury ladies, as before .stated, although not brilliant, were all triers, and played careful and steady tennis. Two their number — Miss Goodman and Mrs Angus 'nee Crawford) — were botb members of the Kaituna Club gome three year? ago. Mrs Ballantyne we have also " had tije pleasure of seeing on a previous occasion. None of them have what might be termed winning shots, but they get everything back and allow their opponents to make the mistakes.

It is qaite obvious that the different styles of pay of the two provinces will greatly assist each of them in improving their weak strokes and further strengthening their strong ones, and generally will greatly -mproye the. §tandard of th,e game.

The Otago team, although beaten, were by no means disgraced. At the same time the province of Otago offers its heartiest congratulations to the sister .province on its splendid win