TENNIS TESTS

Southland Times, Issue 22159, 30 October 1933, Page 8

TENNIS TESTS

PLAY IN WELLINGTON ’ MARRED BY WIND AND RAIN NEW ZEALANDERS BEATEN * (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, October 28. Rain delayed play in the exhibition tennis matches in which F. J. Perry, H. G. N. Lee and F. H. Wilde (England), C. E. Malfroy, D. G. France (Wellington), and D. Turnbull and A. Quist (Australia) were taking part and only the doubles were played. The court was on the heavy side and the weather bitterly cold, a very strong northwesterly wind interfering greatly with the standard of play. The Englishmen and the Australians were superior in all departments to Malfroy and France. Perry made most of the openings by angled shots and from these openings Wilde left the Wellingtonians standing. The visitors were also superior overhead. Turnbull and Quist out-played Malfroy and France mainly by brilliant serving and smashing, while Quist was an adept at lobbing. The results were:—

F. J. Perry and F. H. Wilde beat C. E. Malfroy and D. G. France, 3—6, 6—2, 6—l.

D. Turnbull and A. Quist beat D. G. France and C. E. Malfroy, 4—6, 6—l, 6-3.

D. Turnbull and A. Quist beat H. G. N. Lee and F. H. Wilde, 7—5. Opening Match.

France and Malfroy started off against Perry and Wilde as though they would win quickly. Neither Englishman could get into his stride, netting the easiest of shots. Malfroy’s kicking service gave France at the net brilliant openings on weak returns and he made few mistakes. The second and third sets were quite different tales. Perry moved rapidly about the court and covered effectively shots that in the first set had beaten him. He upset the Wellingtonian combination by drives and volleys at acute angles and gave Wilde every opportunity of displaying his volleying and smashing abilities which are of a high order. Perry’s service, too, was well placed and Wilde showed cleverness in anticipating the return and cutting it off. As the Englishmen came on to their game so the Wellingtonians fell away, France in particular being less reliable in his ground strokes and in his service. Wilde showed cleverness in lobbing, forcing Malfroy and France into mistakes overhead. Brilliant rallies with all four close in were scarce.

New Zealand v. Australia. Malfroy and France won the first set against Turnbull and Quist mainly because Quist could not hold his service and was netting drives and volleys. Thereafter the Australians were not seriously challenged. Turnbull frequently aced France with his fast service placed to the forehand side line and Quist, who served with a heavy slice, forced France and Malfroy into making weak returns which Turnbull at the net killed. Before the end of the third set Malfroy and France showed signs of tiring. The Australians never let up and when forced from the net resorted to lobbing, Quist being brilliant. Their smashing when Malfroy and France tried lobbing was brilliant. Quist played coolly all through and his fleetness of foot enabled him to make many wonderful recoveries which succeeded because of the element of surprise. Quist’s smash across court was unreturnable and he caught the Wellingtonians down the middle line time and again with fast drives. Turnbull’s cross-court drive from the back hand court which keeps low and shoots beat the opposition almost every time. In the final set the wind rose almost to a gale and lobs with it were taken yards out of court and those against it scarcely reached the net. Quist was exceedingly clever in picking up half-volleys and he always seemed to anticipate the direction of the return. His lobs had a fairly low trajectory so that the bounce was well away from an opponent chasing the ball.

A Hard Fought Set. In the final match, which had to be abandoned with only a set played Lee and Wilde opposed Turnbull and Quist. Wilde was the outstanding player by reason of his brilliant volleying and smashing. He was not so strong off the ground, however, or in service. Lee was better at driving but not so reliable in volleying. His placed service gave Wilde at the net golden opportunities to cut off weak returns. It was really Quist’s sliced service and crosscourt smashing as well as his short volleys and judicious lobs which gave the Australians the victory. Wilde was inferior to Lee in return of service nor did the Englishmen have as good an understanding as the Australians who are considered a combination of world class. All four players were palpably affected by the wind. Despite this, however, Turnbull and Quist missed very few smashes but Turnbull netted many volleys and short returns from easy positions. Wilde earned applause with sharply angled drives from the backhand which the Australians found absolutely impossible to counter. Rain stopped play after the first set.