LAWN TENNIS

Southland Times, Issue 22214, 5 January 1934, Page 6

LAWN TENNIS

DOMINION TITLES NEARING THE FINALS SPROULE BEATS ANGAS (Per United Press Association.) Christchurch, January 4. The New Zealand lawn tennis championships were continued at Wilding Park in weather that varied from fine and warm to wet and cold. Heavy rains set in towards five o’clock, causing a postponement of play at that stage, but prior to that good progress had been made in the various sections. Many brilliant matches were witnessed during the day and the competitors likely to fight out the finals are now in sight. In the men’s singles championship, the semi-finalists are C. Sproule (Australia), E. D. Andrews (England), C. Malfroy (New Zealand) and C. Donohoe (Australia). The meeting of Sproule and Andrews in the top semi-final will be one of the big events of the tournament. Sproule, with one set in from the previous day had sufficient range of shots and knowledge of courtcraft to defeat the former New Zealand champion Angas in four sets, full of speed and scintillating rally. Angas fought from start to finish and captured the third set by punching everything hard to the corners. Sproule however dominated the fourth set. This was the star attraction of the day. Donohoe was superior to Barnett in most departments and never lost a set. He is not expected to beat Malfroy, however. Similarly, Andrews was too vigorous and aggressive for Dymond who had some good performances to his credit. Malfroy, as expected, was able to dispose of Sturt who nevertheless resisted stoutly and made 10 —8 of it m the third set. ' Sproule and Donohoe have also entered the semi-finals in the mens doubles and will probably play Seay and Malfroy for the title. In the women’s singles championship, the semi-finalists are Miss Bickerton (Australia) versus Miss Marjorie Macfarlane (Auckland) and Miss Vai - kenburg versus Mrs Dykes (WellingtOFor the second time Miss Jessie Burns (Wellington) has won the girls’ singles championship. To-day she beat Miss Joan Senior, a promising young Canterbury player, fairly easily.

The finalists in the boys’ singles event will be J. W. Gunn (Auckland) and I. J. Corrich (Canterbury), each of whom won their semi-final match in impressive fashion. The results were: —

MEN’S SINGLES. Fourth Round. C. Sproule beat C. Angas 6—3, 6—2, 3 ~C.’ Donohoe beat H. A. Barnett 6—3, 6~E.’d. Andrews beat H. Dymond 6 —2, E. Malfroy beat N. G. Sturt 6—4, 6—3, 10—8. MEN'S DOUBLES.' Semi-finals. C. Sproule and C. Donohoe beat C. Angas and H. A. Barnett 7 5, 6 4, and Seay lead Rhodes-Wil-liams and Dymond 6—2, 6—4, 2-all. Further play was postponed owing to rain. WOMEN’S SINGLES. Fourth Round. Miss L. Bickerton beat Miss N. Hall g 95 7 5 Mrs H. M. Dykes beat Miss M. Wake 3—6, 7—5, 6-3. WOMEN’S DOUBLES. Second Round. Misses I. and T. Poole beat Wake and Rudkin 5—7, 6—3, 7—5. Third Round. Miss D. Nicholls and Mrs W. J. Melody beat Misses Marjorie and Marion Macfarlane 2—6, 6—l, 6—o. COMBINED DOUBLES. Second Round. Miss Fleming and D. C. Coombe beat Mrs Napier and F. W. Patterson by default. Third Round. Miss Fleming and Coombe beat Miss Bickerton and Bartleet 7 —5, 23. The latter pair then retired. Miss Valkenburg and Donohoe lea Miss Nicholls and Sturt one-love, further play being postponed. GIRLS’ SINGLES. Final. Miss Jessie Burns (Wellington) beat Miss Joan Senior- (Christchurch) 6—3, BOYS’ SINGLES. Semi-finals. J. N. Gunn beat C. F. Penfold 6—5, g 2 I. J. Corrich beat R. J. Rossiter 6—2, 6—l. JUNIOR COMBINED DOUBLES. Semi-finals. Miss S. Anderson and P. D. McGregor beat Miss R. Barry and Gunn 6—4, 6-4. In the other semi-final Miss Dickey and Corrich lead Miss Burns ana Morrison 5-6, 6-5, 3-1. Further play was postponed. MEN’S PLATE. Second Round. E. A. Roussell beat D. F. Glanville g 7 04 G—4. T.’ Rhodes-Williams beat E. Fouhy g2 g 3 E ’ L. Bartleet beat K. W. Walton 6—4, 3—6, 6—3. Semi-final. Roussell beat Orbell 6—l, I—6, 6—2. WOMEN’S PLATE. First Round. Miss D. E. Scott beat Miss S. Goss 8-6, 11—9. v x tut- r. Miss N. M. Smithson beat Miss C. Reese 6—o, 6 —l. Miss D. Miller beat Miss I. Morrison 6-1, 7-5. Second Round. Miss D. Miller beat Miss J. Ramsay 6—l, 3—6, 6-2. . Miss Newton beat Mrs Napier I—6, Mrs Fisher beat Miss D. E. Scott 2—6, 7—5, 6-0. Miss Gould beat Miss Smithson 6—2, 6-3. NOTES ON THE PLAY.

The leading Australian, Sproule, who is a warm favourite for the championship honours, had his first severe test of the tournament when he met Angas, the 1929 and 1931 New Zealand champion. At the outset it was apparent that' Sproule’s flat drive with concealment of pace and direction would be Angas’s biggest obstacle, and the New Zealander was frequently caught on the wrong foot, though at the net he appeared Sproule’s equal. His agility there earned him many points. Sproule however was master of the drop volley

and slow sharply angled drive. His cross court work close in was a model of masterly execution. There were times when he used a slightly chopped forehand to work his opponent out of position and then finished off the rally by clipping the other side line. At the same time, Angas often recovered in a spectacular manner and the Australian was able to take no risks with safety. Beginning with the advantage of a set won 6—3 on Wednesday, Sproule took the second set at 6—2. He was both accurate and deadly. In the third set Sproule appeared to slacken slightly. At any rate Angas punched harder than ever and cracked on the pace. It was 3-all in quick order, though Angas was fighting desperately. Angas led 4—3 from his service and again infused fresh life into his game. His forcing play and judgment and accuracy of cross court drives and volleys made it 5—3 and from his service he took the first set 6—3. The fourth set was contested every inch. Sproule got away with a lead of 3—2. He now turned Angas’s attack with alternate short and deep drives into defence, and won to the net position with Angas scrambling in the forehand corner. Sproule led 5—2. Angas was playing a splendid game and several times won applause with wonderful recoveries, but he was up against his master. Angas had the service in the final game and was leading 40-love, but lost three points in succession and Sproule then hit the corners twice after deuce to win the set 6—2 and the match. Though Barnett played a plucky game, attacking as much as he could, Donohoe was always his superior. The players exchanged drives of almost equal strength from the back court and each resorted t- line finding, lobbing when the net position was held too strongly by the other. Each of these tactics was well executed by Barnett who, however, was shaded in everything. He had not quite the same deliberative stroking and suffered from a larger margin of error. Over the last two sets the game moved at a hot pace. Donohue, after magnificent lobbing, raced to the net. In the final set Barnett lobbed for relief, but Donohue’s reach defeated these efforts and he smashed his way to victory 6—3, 6—3, 6—l. Sturt and Malfroy. Sturt’s sizzling forehand drive was his main asset against Malfroy, but he was forced to defend persistently at the outset though the rallies provided bright tennis. Malfroy was fighting all the way to reach the net position with Sturt trying to keep the game deep. Malfroy was a shade more decisive in his stroking and was more accurate in his variety of strokes. Malfroy won the two first sets by a fair margin. In the third set it was a battle royal with Sturt stroking prettily to pass Malfroy at the net. Games were equal at 4-all, 5- and 6-all, and Malfroy broke through Sturt’s service to 7—6. From his own service Malfroy dropped three easy volleys and it was 7-all. Malfroy had the lead again at 9—B and raced Sturt with a drop volley to win the final set 10—8 and a brisk match. Playing Dymond, Andrews, holder of the title, went away with the first set 6— The twist he put on his service won him many points, mostly . by throwing his opponent out of position, but the second set saw Dymond steadying down his strokes and going hard for position and angling for winners. He led 3-love and his taqtics showed that Andrews is not at his best form by any means. He was stroking imperfectly and when pushed, made mistakes. Then Dymond fell into errors and served double faults and dropped strokes when in a good position for a kill, and from 3—4 Andrews went ahead to win 6—4 and Andrews regained almost perfect touch. In the third set he put speed into everything. His strokes were deliberate and decisive and his form generally was of the highest standard. Whether it would last a stiff five set encounter is another matter. In the men’s doubles match m which Sproule and Donohoe vanquished Angas and Barnett, the volleying and smashing duels were thrilling to watch, and the first two sets were very close. Sproule showed himself master of what might be called trick shots. He would saunter casually to retrieve a bounding lob, lift his racquet slowly and then suddenly put all his power into a shoulder high smash down the centre line. , ■ r. i So far as the other doubles semi-final has gone, Malfroy and Seay, two sets up should easily eliminate Dymond and Rhodes Williams. They are a formidable combination and it will be a great match between them and the Australians in the final. Many good judges believe the New Zealanders will retain the title. There was sparkling tennis provided by the Australian ladies, Misses Bickerton and Hall, in a singles match. Theie was artistry about their strokes lacking in most New Zealand women and only Mrs Dykes at her best can rival them in ability to cover the court and mix overhead slams to the corner with accurate driving Their match to-day was a feature of the tournament. Miss Bickerton won the first set 6—3, but Miss Hall captured the second 7—5. She frequently used a short chopped shot to draw her opponent to the net and then beat her with a well placed passing shot on the backhand. The pace was on all the time and there were no dull moments. The fast serving was particularly accurate. Miss Bickerton started serving in the third set and soon led 3—o. Miss Hall fought hard, picked up to 2—3 then, after vigorous driving rallies with smart net play, Miss Hall forged into a 5—4 lead. Now Miss Bickerton threw all her resources into the fight, evened to 5-all and secured the last two games decisively and the match. „ , <■ In the other quarter final ot the women’s singles played to-day, Mrs Dykes managed to defeat Miss Wake, but only after three gruelling sets.

THE ENGLISH TEAM DAVIS CUP CHANCES. DOUST’S VIEW OF TESTS. London, December 23. Admitting that the British tennis players’ defeats in Australia are disquieting, Mr S. N. Doust, the old Australian international, says in the Daily Mail that there is no reason for pessimism regarding Britain’s chance of retaining the Davis Cup. He expresses the belief that the British players were affected by the climate of Brisbane, and will do better in future Tests. McGrath’s defeat of Perry in the three-set match is no proof, he says, that the Englishman will not win at Wimbledon. The five-set Australian championships will better indicate Perry’s chances. Crawford is still Perry’s chief rival for the world championship. , Mr Doust adds that the Australian tour has proved the necessity of finding a good Davis Cup doubles pair. Regarding the doubles as a certain defeat places too much strain upon the singles players in their decisive matches. They hope that the selectors will ask Wilde to concentrate upon doubles, partnered by ex-Davis Cup player Gregory whose experience, grit, and attacking spirit suggest that he would be the ideal partner.