LAWN TENNIS

Otago Witness, Issue 3886, 4 September 1928, Page 54

LAWN TENNIS

NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION. REPORT ON DAVIS CUP ENTRY. WELLINGTON, August 29. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association was held to-night. The following officers were elected:— Patron, his Excellency the GovernorGeneral; president, Mr J. C. Peacock; delegate to the Lawn Tennis Association, London, and International Lawn Tennis Federation, Mr F. H. Woodward; Management , Committee-—Messrs M. F. Denniston, G. Gore, H. I. Graves, A. G. Henderson, W. D. Irons, S. A. Longuet, P. White-Parsons; lion. : auditor, Mr F. Q. Austin. ■ ' The forthcoming visits of teams of international ~ players- to Australia and New Zealand were referred to by the chairman (Mr A. G. Henderson). The Australian -Association, he said, had. been negotiating with a view to a visit from another French team, including Cochet. If New Zealand had an op- ; portunity of getting that-team to-come here, he thought it should not-'be missed. -With -Cochet, " he had ixo doubt, there would,? be some of :the. leading younger ;players.of France. • Reference was also maide to the-British team which was expected in ;New Zealand shortly. ; The . team-, would comprise Austin-,. Collins, Gregory; and Higgs, who .werasamong- the leading players, at. Home. If-.(New, Zealand- could: make a good showring against such a team-it; would .do 'well.

Matters relating to New Zealand’s entry in the Davis Cup were reported up0n..... Advice of this country’s entry came from Mr Woodward, the association’s representative in England, on January 20, 1928. The committee knows, it was stated in the report, that Mr Woodward Would have good reasons for sending such advice. It was known that E. D. Andrews and R. R. T. Young were showing good form in their college matches, and Mr Woodward mentioned Andrews as one of the New Zealand team. Then it became kno-wn' that J. C. Peacock, an officer of the association, and a man of recognised sound judgment, was to be in Europe during the competition and would be available to select the team and, with Mr Woodward, to watch the association's interests. The report indicated that Portugal insisted on playing on May 11, 12, and 13. “This was very awkward for us,” reports Mr Peacock. “We had only four days’ practice in Lisbon.” After defeating Portugal, New Zealand was drawn against Czecho-Slovakia, and, in connection with the forfeiture of that match, the quarterly report gives extracts from Mr Peacock’s report: “The third round,” Mr Peacock says, “ was to be completed by June 13. Young advised that he could not get away for the trip to Prague in any circumstances, and it was doubtful -whether Andrews could obtain a second leave of absence in the same term. After more than a fortnight’s delav, the Czechs refused our request to play England, and requested that the match should be played on June 7,8, and 9 at Prague. I communicated with Andrews, who said that he had difficulty in getting leave, and certainljcould not get away at once, and felt that he could not do himself justice without preliminary practice in Prague, with which I was in agreement. There was the further matter of expenses which conI cerned him. The expenses of a trip of this nature over and above actual fares I are very considerable. The Czechs -would not give any guarantee as to expenses, and quite properly stood on the rules governing the contest. They had a very strong team, and in my opinion we could have no reasonable expectation of success, especially in view of my poor form; and even if Andrews could readily have made the trip I would have hesitated in the circumstances before involving the association in a possible financial loss. After consultation with Mr Woodward we very unwillingly felt that there was no optio.i but to abandon the match. The result of the entry and subsequent events will be of inestimable value to the association when considering future events.’ The report was adopted. GIFT TO ASSOCIATION. MISS NUNNELEY’S TROPHIES. WELLINGTON, August 29. handsome casket, on which is mounted the numerous gold medals she won during her distinguished tennis career, has been presented to the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association by Miss K. M. Nunneley, of Wellington, for competition between ladies’ teams on the lines of the Anthony Wilding Memorial Shield competition for men. Miss Nunneley’e victories included 13 consecutive wins in the ladies’ championship singles, 10 successes in the ladies’ championship doubles, and nine successes in the mixed doubles championships. At the annual meeting of the council to-night, Miss Nunneley handed her gift over to the association. “ I am very glad to do this for the association,” she said, “ for the association has done so much for me in the past. I could not be more grateful to any association than the New Zealand Association, and it is’ a pleasure for me to give it back my medals for competition •among lady players.”—(Prolonged applause.) Mr G. N. Goldie remarked that Miss Nunneley’s career had been a . most glorious one. She was the pioneer of women’s tennis in New Zealand. In thanking Miss Nunneley for her gift , on behalf of the association, the chair- '• man (Mr A. G. Henderson) said that she ; had done more for a higher standard of play among women than any other lady player in the Dominion. The gift, he said, was the most handsome that had . ever been made in the history of New • Zealand lawn tennis. The competition ; for which she had suggested the trophy . be awarded would undoubtedly raise the » standard of play among lady players in . this country.

As Miss Nunneley left the meeting room she received three hearty cheers, followed by the singing of “ For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” The association later placed on record its keen apprecia-, tion of Miss Nunneley’s generous and spontaneous gift. DEFEAT OF AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS. AUSTRALIANS OUT OF FORM. NEW YORK, August 29. A brief history of Lott and Hennessey’s victory oyer Crawford and Hopman showed that the Australians, were off their form. Lott was erratic, and, if pressed, the Americans would have been defeated in the first sot. There was evidence of this when both of the Americans could not maintain their service or handle shrewdly placed returns. NEW YORK, September 1. The Australians’ defeat to-day constituted one of the strangest upsets in the -history of American lawn tennis. Patterson and Hawkes, brilliant in the doubles throughout the. European season and brilliant throughout the American season, had seemed assured of winning the doubles championship, hut it took only 42 minutes for the Australians to defeat themselves in a match which, upon g'Jalyqis, seems to defy Cve'sy’logical,'element in lawn tennis form. The first set shows that both teams made: the same number of placement aces and service aces, but -the Australians ’-made - eight motar errors than the Americafis,. ? . The . Secbpd seL which had not a Single game at'deuce,?shows that the. Amerrcahs.'made four more earned points than the.'-,Aus-

tralians, and 10 fewer errors. The third set indicates that the Australians made four more errors than the Americans, but the latter made seven more earned points. The first set was won by a margin of seven points, the second by fifteen, and the third by thirteen. The whole match had only three deuce games. The Americans, in short, literally overwhelmed their opponents. At the last Patterson was fighting hard. He started the third set witn four serves that the Americans could not find with the racquet, but the next five games were taken by the Americans at whirlwind pace. They angled their shots, and smashed their returns, '”ith full sweeping forehand and backhand drives that they seemed to touch with uncanny accuracy. They kept the ball in play a* all costs and when they were on .he defensive thes were compelled to lob back to Patterson’s overhead smashes. Their returns were always within the back line, but near it.

Hawkes won the seventh game when it stood at match point his own service, but it was all over. Lott’s service gained the deciding game at love. In the mixed doubles at Brookline Hawkes and Miss Wills defeated Borotra and Miss Morrill, 6—2, 6—l, and in the final Hawkes and Miss Wills defeated Moon and Miss Edith Cross, 6—l, 6—3. In the final of the < oubles Lott and Hennessey defeated Patterson and Hawkes, 6—2, 6—l, G—-2. Play in the men’s singles resulted: — Van Ryn defeated Austin (England), 6_o, 2—6, 6—5.. Gregory (England) defeated Hunter, 7—5, 6—4. A Chicago message states that Hagen defeated O’Farrell, 5—3, at Forest Hills, and that Doeg and Coen defeated Higgs and Collins, 4—6, 6—2, 6—3.—Australain Press Association —United Service. At Forest Hills, in the first international match to-day, Allison defeated Edward Higgs (Britain), 6 —l, 6—l. PROFESSIONALS AT PLAY. THE WORLD’S CHAMPIONSHIP. LONDON, September 1. It is unofficially stated that in the contest for the world’s professional lawn tennis championship Karel Kozeluh beat Vincent Richards, at Queens’ Club, B—6,8 —6, 2—6, 6—4, I—6,1 —6, 6—2. -.