LAWN TENNIS

Otago Witness, Issue 3782, 7 September 1926, Page 58

LAWN TENNIS

BY

SMASH.

By defeating Japan, France has entered the challenge round of the Davis Cup competition. That result was generally anticipated, but it was not expected that the Japanese players would prove quite so formidable as they did. France won three matches out of the five played, the singles being evenly divided and the doubles, upon which the fate of the tie depended, being won very easily by the Frenchmen. Interest now centres itself upon the challenge round, which will be commenced at Philadelphia on Thursday next, when the French players will oppose the United States defenders of the cup. The outstanding feature of the interzone final was the excellent showing of the Japanese against the young French players who have dominated the game in Europe for several seasons past. Harada came into prominence last year when he defeated O. L. Patterson, and on his showing since then he seems to have strengthened his game materially. On the opening day of the match he created a sensation by defeating Lacoste 6—4, 4—6, 6—3, 9—7, the Frenchman being quite outclassed by the speed and accuracy of his driving. The game was played from the back of the court—a style of play rather favoured by Lacoste, but in Harada he met his master, and broke down under the vigorous and sustained attack of the winner. Cochet was opposed by Tawara, and although the cablegrams credit the former with scoring a good win, they rather overlook the fact that Tawara won the first two sets against the French

champion, and carried the score to five all in the third set. This was a notable performance against a player of the calibre of Cochet, and had the Japanese been able to press home his advantage Japan and not France would have been the challenging nation. • In the doubles, Harada f and Tawara made a very indifferent showing compared with the display which they gave in the singles. Cochet and Brugnon, the Wimbledon champions, made short work of them in three sets, the first two of which they won to love, while in the third they dropped only two games. Evidently the Japanese were routed by the combined attack of the Frenchmen at the net. On the third day of the match Harada, by defeating Cochet, demonstrated that his victory over Lacoste was no fluke, and that he is a worthy successor to his great countryman. Shimidzu. He beat Cochet by three sets to one, but on the actual scores it was a more clear-cut victory than that over Lacoste, and it afforded convincing proof that Tarada is one of the leading players in the world, and that Japan is bound to be an important factor in the Davis Cup competition during the next few years. In the other singles game Lacoste scored an easy victory over Tawara. The absence of Boratra from this match is rather peculiar, but possibly he will participate in the challenge round next week.

The Auckland singles champion, Miss Marjorie Macfarlane, met with her first success in England at the Leicester tournament in July. Playing in the singles she went through without the loss of a set, defeating Mrs Morle in the final, 6—2, 6—l. Mrs Marshall (also of Auckland) was beaten in one of the earlier rounds by Mrs Milne, 6— 2, 6—l. Miss Macfar-

lane’s coolness and all-round skill gained many admirers. Vigorous complaints are at present being made in Sydney about night tennis. So great a "vogue has it attained that it has become a nuisance in some of the suburbs. The complaint is made that lawn tennis is now played until 11 o’clock and even later at night, with the attendant noise and glare ot lights which give to the courts and their surroundings all the brightness of day. The councils nave the power to control the use of premises so as to prevent objectionable noises, or noises at unreasonable hours. The power, although wide, is indefinite. So far the law courts have given no guide as to what can be classed as “objectionabje noises” or “unreasonable hours,” but it is considered probable that an embargo on the playing of lawn tennis after 10 o’clock at night would be within the section.

An impression of Senorita de Alvarez, the Spanish lawn tennis champion Her drives are full-blooded; her movements are those of the champion ice-skater—a sport at which she excels. Senorita de Alvarez stands well away from the ball when she takes it on the forehand; on the backhand, she hits it nearer to her body. Elegant, too, is her service delivery, but we have yet to see her as a volleyer. She drives early, hitting the ball on the top of its bound and giving to it length. Daring, she may be, but so fAr it has not let her down. Defiance Is her motto. A prized possession of this new queen of the court is her thoroughly natural behaviour and charming manner. She is genuine in her expression of joy or grief. The paid laugh of the actress is happily absent. “Mile Lenglen is as strong a personality on the courts as M'Loughlin used to be In America, but she appeals rather to the public's tense of the blsarre than its affection,”

Vincent Richard states. “She behaves more like a, great emotional actress than a woman who* is a leader in an outdoor sport. But all her histrionics are not important. What is important is that she is a great player. She has not lost a match since 1919. She first won the British title at Wimbledon in that year, and only twice since has she been forced into three sets. Those of us who look at her game through a champion’s eyes know that it is good, and we are, therefore, willing to forgive her her eccentric behaviour. If she used her mannerisms and her frequent refusals to play merely as a cloak for a weak technique I would be the first to condemn her, but that is not the case. She has a remarkable backhand stroke, a perfect volley, and an overhead smash that is worthy of the best men players in the game. Mile. Lenglen is not nearly so strong as she seems. She never lets down during a match, and will play up to her best form with strained nerves even when playing against an unimportant adversary. I am sure that much of the criticism that has followed her refusals to play because of illness is unjustified.”

AMERICAN NATIONAL DOUBLES. NEW YORK, August 30. At Brookline, Tilden and Chapin defeated Wallace Scott and Theodore M‘Donald, the Pacific NortTi-Weat title holders 6—3, 6—3, 6—4 in the first round of the national doubles. Other successful pairs were Lacoste and Borotra, Cochet and Brugnon, Williams and Richards, Johnston and Chandler, Alonso and Dutlin (Mexico). At Brookline to day Williams and Richards, the defending title holders, won their second round matches.

Other successful pairs were Tilden and Chapin, Lacoste and Borotra, 1,. White and L. Thalheimer, Cochet and Brugnon. September 1. At Brookline, Williams and Richards defeated Cochet and Brugnon in the rirter finals of the National Doubles, 1, 6-2, 1-6, 6—3. Tilden and Chapin defeated James Davies and Phil Neer, 6—3, 6—4, 6—4. Johnston and Chandler defeated Lacost© and Borotra, B—6, 6—l, 6—2. In the mixed doubles, Miss Sarah Palfrey and Howard Langley, and Miss Edith Signourey and Phil Neer won in the first round. Sefdember 3. In the semi-finals of the National Doubles at Brookline, Tilden and Chapin defeated Johnston and Chandler, 6—3, o—6. 2—6, 6-3, 6-4. Williams and Richards defeated White and Thalheimer, 6 —4. 7—5, 3 —o. 6—4, and meet Tilden and Chapin in the final of the doubles. September 4. At Brookline Williams and Richards retained the title, defeating Tilden and Chapin to-day, 6—4. 6—B. 11—9, and 6—3. Misses Ryan and Wightman defeated Mesdames Corbiere and Chapin in the final this afternoon, 6—l, 6 —2. The latter pair eliminated Mesdames Mallory and Cole ir the semi-final ir. the morning, 4—6, 6—o, C—4. '