GALLOWAY CUP TENNIS

Southland Times, Issue 23783, 3 April 1939, Page 13

GALLOWAY CUP TENNIS

B. WHELAN WINS MEN’S SECTION Town Players Not Successful MISS J. WILSON AT HEAD OF WOMEN R. McCALLUM BEATEN IN FIRST ROUND Town < players were unsuccessful in the Galloway Cup competition on Saturday, when B. Whelan, of the Wyndham Club, and Miss J. Wilson, of Balfour, showed excellent form to win the challenge cups for the season. .The series of matches was conducted this year as a provincial champion of champions competition, although three leading players, A. Baird, Miss R. Wilson and Miss I. Henderson, were not taking part.

Play had to be postponed in . the morning because of heavy rain, and in the afternoon a boisterous wind made conditions difficult. The men’s matches were begun at the Southend courts, but the semi-finals and finals were played at Waihopai. All the women’s matches were played on the more sheltered Invercargill Club’s courts. There was an early surprise when R. McCallum, the holder, lost in straight sets to the Northern player, D. Bruce. Whelan lost only three games in his two matches during the afternoon, and in the face of such scores there could be no doubt about his superiority over the other men. Whelan gained a walk-over in the first round from J. Hughes and in the second round had no trouble in beating D. Perrin, despite the aggressive play of the St. Mary’s man. J. Collis was right on form in the other semi-final against D. Bruce and, maintaining a good length with hard drives to the corners, he won in straight sets. WHELAN’S ACCURACY It.,was a different story in the final, however, for against his left-handed opponent he found his hardest drives coming back and his, stinging forehand countered by heavily shied backhand returns. Whelan was playing with the same smooth, unerring accuracy he showed in the recent provincial match with Otago when he beat Falconer 6-0, 6-0.

In the earlier round matches Bruce gained an unexpected straight set win over R. McCallum. The Southend player was making many errors in the wind. His serve was most affected for he' throws a high ball at the beginning of the delivery. Collis won the first set from G. Barnes, 6-4, after which the latter defaulted.

L. Whitaker and Perrin- had a very even three-set tussle, in which there was some surprisingly good tennis, despite the conditions. Perrin was particularly severe with his forehand, and Whitaker was slightly superior at the net. Perrin gained a break at four all in the third set, when he took Whitaker’s service to love. He then led 40 love on his own. The Dipton player saved two match points, but Perrin made no mistake with the next, a beautiful forehand to the comer which found Whitaker unprepared. The women’s final between Miss J. Wilson, of Balfour, and Miss K. Cutt, of Invercargill, was a forceful game of enterprising tennis. Play at times reached brilliant heighte and if the players were erratic this was excusable, as both players had already played two previous matches during the afternoon. Miss Cutt began confidently and with deep, sweeping forehands to her opponent’s backhand comer she gained a lead of three love. Miss Wilson changed her tactics at this stage and, attacking Miss Cutt’s backhand, took six games in a row for the set.

ATTRACTIVE SINGLES i

Miss Cutt appeared as though she might make a stand with the score one-all in the second set, but she began to make errors when she took the net and the Balfour girl recovered apparent winners, and won points with beautiful passing shots. It was an attractive singles by the two best women stroke makers of the province and the spectators showed their appreciation at the end of play by their applause. Though not seriously extended Miss Wilson did not have an easy path to the final. In her first match she found Miss M. Farmer right on her game. There were long haYd-driving rallies in which Miss Farmer exchanged drives on equal terms. The score went to five-all, and with a little more accuracy Miss Farmer might well have taken the set.

The semi-final against Miss L. Mehaffey was a hard-driving game played mostly from the baseline. Miss Mehaffey was hitting out freely with her forehand, but her backhand was frequently unreliable. Miss Cutt had no great difficulty in defeating Miss M. Mahoney, who appeared to be short of match practice and was making more errors than usual.

The leading woman for Central District, Miss E. Tippett, caused a surprise by taking Miss Cutt to three sets. Miss Cutt did not relish the soft slow ball and often had difficulty in handling Miss Tippett’s forceful service. Miss Tippett went to a lead of 5-1 in the second set and ran out at 6-3. When Miss Cutt came to the net she used the high lob and the passing shot to advantage. Following are the results:— MEN’S CUP D. Bruce (Northern District) beat R. McCallum (Southend), 6-3, 6-2. J. Collis (Invercargill) beat G. Barnes (Georgetown), by default. D. Perrin (St. Mary’s) beat L. Whitaker (Central District), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. B. Whelan (Eastern District) beat T. Hughes (Rugby Park), by default. Semi-Finals Collis beat Bruce, 6-4, 6-2. Whelan beat Perrin, 6-1, 6-1. Final Whelan 'beat Collis, 6-0, 6-1. WOMEN’S CUP Miss L. Mehaffey (Southend) beat Mrs D. S. McLeod (Eastern), by default. Miss J. Wilson (Northern) beat Miss M. Farmer (Waihopai), 7-5, 6-1. Miss M. Mahoney (St. Mary’s) beat Miss I. Henderson (Central), by default. Miss K. Cutt (Invercargill) beat Miss E. Tippett (Central District), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Semi-Finals Miss Wilson beat Miss Mehaffey, 6-4, 6-3. Miss Cutt beat Miss Mahoney, 6-1,

6-1. Final Miss J. Wilson beat Miss Cutt, 6-3, 6-1.