The Star. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1912. DAVIS CUP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10631, 29 November 1912, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1912. DAVIS CUP.

The opening of tho Davis Cup series i of matches for tho lawn tenuis championship of tho world has boon sensational in its way. for tho Australians, who wore expected to have no difficulty in retaining the trophy, wore defeated in both tho matches played in Melbourne yesterday. Tho prospects of tho holders looked tho moro promising bocauso Dixon, tho captain of tho challenging team, has not yet struck his true form, and it was only at tho last moment that he decided to play. He was drawn to meet Heath, who created an excellent impression when he played in Christchurch last season. Heath, however, hns been in ill-health lately, and although he showed something like his true form during tho Victorian championship games, the experts con--1 sidored that ho was not at his best. Dixon probably won on his experience. A brilliant and athletic young player might wear him down, but ho is so resourceful and so thoroughly versed in tho game that Heath would need to be particularly steady to win against him. With both players below form, tho advantage would be all with the Englishmen. The really astonishing feature of yesterday's play, however, was the defeat of Brookes. The Australian champion was plainly run of! his feet by the athletic Irishman. The cabled report of the match makes it clear that Brookes was in no form physically to meet such an active and brilliant opponent. When Brookes played in Christchurch ho dominated the court. He was never flustered, and if there was one feature of his play more than another that impressed the spectators it was his wonderful anticipation of Ins opponent's strokes. He was able to conserve his strength, and though the fiery Irishman from California beat him occasionally with lightning shots, Brookes refused to waste his energies in chasing hopeless halls. But in J. C. Parke lie met an opponent who has probably no equal among tennis players to-day as an .athlete. Parke is a powerful and active player, always in tho pink of condition, and he seems to have found Brookes's weakness comparatively early in the contest. Tho defeat of tho two Australians places tho challengers in a strong position, for they have only to win one of the three remaining matches to capture tho Cup. Tho doubles, which will bo played today, will presumably find Parke and Beamish matched against Brookes and Dunlop. All tho Victorian critics were inclined to the view that Dunlop was inferior to Heath as a doubles player this season, and it was persistently suggested that Dunlop should bo <Lropped from tho team. Brookes will probably ba feeling tho effects of his hard game yesterday, and if Dunlop is below form tho Englishmen should win again today. But Dunlop is stated to have improved during the past week or bo, and it is specially remarked that his service is incomparably better than it was lastyear. Brookes and Dunlop, in form, constitute a magnificent combination, and in the absenco of definite information concerning them it would bo unwise to prophesy their defeat. However, it looks certain that Parke will be too good for Heath to-morrow, so that Australia's loss of the Davis Cup is now almost a foregone conclusion.