COMING STAR IN TENNIS

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1935, Page 12

COMING STAR IN TENNIS

VON CRAMM’S GERMAN’S THOROUGHNESS Will Gottfried von Cramm be the next world’s tennis champion? The whole German nation thinks so. And the Germans are not alone, for Tilden, an acknowledged- good judge of a tennis player's capabilities, also is of that opinion, says Adrian Quist, Australian Davis Cup star, 'in the Melbourne Sporting Globe. Whether von Cramm will develop into a world’s champion depends to an extent on his ability to master completely the volley. His tvoileying is the only weakness in his game. He himself recognises this fact, as just before I left for South Africa he told me that he intended to concentrate on volleying during the months before the tournaments begin. I first met von Cramm in 1933 on my first trip overseas. It was in the French championships at Paris. He impressed me greatly. Although he had a good style, he was a little erratic and his strokes, or at least some of them, were immature. 1 On my next visit I played him in the semi-final of the German singles championship. His style was unaltered, but the strokes were much better executed, and I went down in five sets. At Wimbledon he did not do so well, for he lost to Kirby, the South African. He found the grass courts vastly different from the courts on which he usually plays. This year he defeated Jack Crawford on his own court. That win was no surprise to me. Then he reached the final of the French championship, but against Fred Perry he never has produced his best form. Why it is I don’t know. It is not because the Englishman will not let him. Tire position is different on the grass courts at Wimbledon; there Perry always can call the tune. I have written little about what von Cramm has done, but sufficient to indicate his prowess. Since his sensational defeat of “Bunny” Austin, then England’s No. 1, he has gone on in the right way. The German ace's first service is exceptionally fast. His second is highly