LAWN TENNIS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8778, 15 November 1906, Page 4

LAWN TENNIS.

NOTES. (By VOLLEY.) Hr^trics are being invited for the championship 01 the United (llub, and matches will lugin almost at once. A change has been .unde since last year in the length of tho .uatchod, as this championship has been wrought into line with others, by making a win the best of five eets. Auckland docs not expect to send a very °trcng contingent to the New Zealand Cham:onahip Meeting, as neither Dr Keith nor Grcssmann are likely to enter. According to i, northern writer, had the first-named played he would have given southern players a good fight for the championship. The Mars-Buckley competition will begin in Melbourne on November 21. New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have entered, and the last two play in the first round, New South "Wales getting the bye. The annual six-a-?ide inter-State match between New South "Wales and Victoria will be played at the same time, the score? in the Mars-Buckley competition being added to the tally of the two additional men. An incident occurred in tne South Yarra tournament, when Dunlop and Heath were playing Barnard and Spence, that illustrates the power of a line-umpire. Most linesmen have a very hazy idea of their duties. "When the score was at "3-4, bO-40," Dunlop, who was serving, hit his partner on the full. Fault was, of course, caiied by the serviceline umpire, and the game proceeded in the usual way, Dunlop and Heath eventually winning it. At this staga tho s.rvlcelino umpire informed the general umpire that in calling fault he had intended to mean that it was v "double fault." The general umpiro considered that he was bound by this decision, and then required the players to, replay the concluding points of the game. This they were unwilling to do, as the game had clearly been correctly played, and on this the general umpire refused to umpire further. It was a difficult position, in which it would have been far more satisfactory had there been n " tournament referee;" as there | always is in England. ' The players were | certainly in the wrong 1 in not abiding by the umpire's decision, and subsequently apologised to. him. The decision of a lineumpire is final as to whether a ball i 8 in I or out on the particular line which he is | umpiring, or, again, if he is umpiring a baseline, ia plbo final in the event of his calling foot fault. The general umpire is not bound, however, by his decision if the' ouestion is cne which involves the- interpretation of tho laws of the gama. As antiefpated (writes the London corresponds of tT"» " und-T dale Sept. 22), A. F. Wilding acfcfed more trophies' lo hi* ahead? ! j, ?v _-p nio of 'a'vn tennis prizes as a result of the Eastbourne tournament. Ho won the Gentemen's Singe (South of England eh-'tn- •■! pionshio), very crmfortably. beat-in* in the ! semi-final Gr. W. RYlyard ard smotreritjg R J. M. M'Nafx in the last rourcd by th^ee sets to love and eighteen same= *o s?ven (6-2. 6-3 6-2). The Doubles, in which Wilding- a-<l H N". Marrett were partrers prov ded some, crcitine- iemiis in the final s'as'es, Hetn-een the* New Zeskrcler and Murreit ard H" Ivard snd A. H. Kiseley (a brother o-f " p.~ ..." a Gloucestershire crick) in the se-ni-fina.*'. it was a very close struggle, no fewer than sixty 2rsme<? beinsr played ere WiJdi^o- and MarTett qualified for the final., Tbey los 1 th^ firet set a: 9-7. and only srnped home n the second at ]2-10. The "v\ibber" was equally ksenly cont-e?ted, and finally the New Zei■lander and his partner ran out winners at 12-10, thus beatin-r their opponents by two seta to one and ihirty-ono games to ifcweniyain*. In the final the winners weie. opposed

——^— —————— ""■■—•— i^— —————— by the brothers C. G. and E». R. Ailen, a couple who spend apparently more time on tennis than upon all the other duties of life put together. The brothers played up to tiis very top of -their form, and won ihe first jet at 6-3. Then, however, Wilding and his partner pulled themselves together, and by bri.liant play won the succeeding- two set 3at 6-3 each. The y A. lens, however, were not done wuh, and " coming' ag.un," hey m^de a great fi^hi of it era they iOSt the set at 6-6, and with it the match.