TENNIS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16635, 18 January 1922, Page 3

TENNIS

FIXTURES. February 11 : Otago v. Canterbury, at Christchurch (interprovincial match). February 18 (probable date) : Wellington v. Canterbur3 r , Wilding Memorial Shield challenge. The date suggested by Wellington for the Wilding Shield Challenge match was February 4, but as this is the date of the Canterbury Jockey Club’s midsummer meeting, which has an unsettling effect on other fixtures, the Canterbury Association has suggested Saturday, February 18, for the match, with an alternative proposal that it should extend over the Friday as well. The conditions of the Shield contest provide that each of the four men must play in two singles as well as in two doubles. This would not be an impossible programme for one day with the-best-of-three-sets conditions, but it would be a heavy day in which the players -would not be able to show their true form in the afternoon. The annual match between Canterbury and Otago is fixed for February 11. The teams consist of six men and six ladies. Otago w.ill not be able to extend Canterbury even in the ladies’ events, but the games should b*: interesting. The date was originally fixed by Otago, and is not likely to be altered, as Otago have to .play Southland on the following Saturday at Dunedin* In Southland tennis is enjoying the general boom, but province is verv weak in men, and the team to nlay Otago will probably include some colts. A recent visitor to the southern part of New Zealand states that there are a good . many rough diamonds in tennis, particularly ir: South Otago, where the game is played with great zest. The ladies’ inter-club tournament was begun last Thursday under favourable auspices. Seven teams turned out, and only one team defaulted. The quality of the play was good. An old tennis player who saw Avonside and >\ oolstoii spoke highly of the form displayed, and in Misses Wood and Muirson >\ polston have two very good players. unfortunatley, there seems to be no system of coaching tne ladies, and the competition does not at present promise to mark the introduction of a brighter style of play. Tomorrow’s draw is as follows: — St Albans B v. Opawa, at Opawa. St Albans A v. Addington, at St Albans. Woolston v. New Brighton, at New Brighton. Avonside r. Canterbury College, at Avonside.

The men's inter-club B competition is also under way, and it ivill serve the very useful purpose of providing feeders for the A teams, and generally improving the play; Next Saturday’s draw is ns follows : St Albans v. Redcliffs, at Redcliffs. Linwopd v. Addington A,, at Addington. Opawa v. Addington B, at Opawa. Ascot, v. Avonside, at Avonside. Sumner v. Canterbury College, at Canterbury College. The All England dub, which, in conjunction with the English association, controls the annual contests for the championship of the world on grass at Wimbledon, has at last decided to yield to the continued pressure from players and public alike for the elimination of the unsporting challenge round, which violates the fundamental principle gf competitions for championship honours in not providing for all claimants playing under the same A cable message anoounces that in this year’s contests the holders of the championship titles are to be given the option of playing through or standing out of the open competitions, and meeting the winner in a challenge match. After this year the' Wimbledon events will be conducted on the lines adopted in America and Australia, where all competitors start on equal terms, and play through in the championship matches. Of the present holders of world’s championship titles, W. T. Tilden, R. Lycett and Mdlle Lenglen, have signified their intention of playing through in defending their titles at the 1922 Wimbledon meeting.

The French Lawn Tennis Federation at Paris, on November 29, accepted the resignation of Captain A. R. De Joannis as a member and as vice-president. The resignation of the captain, who was manager for Mdlls Suzanne Lenglen, French woman tennis champion, on her trip to America, was tendered in protest against the federation’s condemnation of" the United States Lawn Tennis Association “for unjustified Qjpmmlwitaries upon the sporting spirit Mdlle Lenglen.” Accompanying the federation’s acceptance was a resolution stating that the French organisation had 44 no quarrel with the United States Lawn Tennis Association, but objected to the unmeasured terms of the highest officials of American tennis branding Mdlle Lenglen as a ‘ quitter.’

With all due respect to the United States Lawn Tennis Association, said President Wallet, of the French federation, we could not pass unnoticed the letter written by its highest officer charging Mdlle Lenglen with “feigning illness.” In the face of certificates from three doctors we felt Mdlle Lenglen was physically uqfit to play. We blamed her manager f<sr remaining in America when he was convinced that Mdlle Lenglen’s condition was unfit for her to make her best efforts, and we blamed the American association for expressing tho judgment that she was playing comedy. We blamed Mdlle Lenglen for lack of sportsmanship, but the American tennis official’s terms were considered too severe.

One of the most pleasant memories of tho recent New Zealand championships was the regularity of Dr Laurenson’s powerful smash, which he employed whenever he got a chance to kill anything. On the subject of smashing a note from Tilden is timely :—“ Any shot which costs a terrific physical strain is not a shot to develop as a regular asset to one's game,” he writes, 44 since it costs you far more in the end than you gain. The overhead should bo developed from the standpoint of greatest result from least effort. The shot should be fast, flat, and either straight or angled equally easily to either side. To do this, careful attention must be paid to footwork and. the development of cor-

rect racquet technique. The overhead should be made with a flat racquet face, and direction decided by the position of the feet and swing of the arm, not by angling off the racquet. Thus learn to hit your overhead by meeting the ball full and driving it straight ahead of you. The weight should rest on the right foot, which is back, and shift on to the left as the shot is made. The left foot may be raised to increase the swing into the ball, but be sure to bring it down with the weight on it as the ball is hit. Above all things, do not jump into the air to make your overhead unless absolutely necessary, since it takes your whole body out of position and weakens the swing. Hit all overheads as far as possible with the forehand swing. This is the only shot one should turn around to take on the forehand, since you should make or Ipse a point on your overhead shot. Always ahoot for point if the ball is hit overhead inside the service line. Do not try to kill shots overhead behind the service line. Play back deep and wait for the short lob to kill. Rely about 60 per cent on speed and 40 per cent placement for your overhead shots, or, in other words, count more on beating the man by speed than by direction, since an overhead bounds high and gives him plenty of time to run after it; thus direction loses its value as the length of the bounce decreases. Never pat a short lob—always hit it hard. The greatest need in developing /the overhead is confidence. Expect to make j*our shot and do not be afraid to hit. i

The Victorian championship tennis tournament ended in a blaze of glory lor G. L. Patterson. In singles, his ultimate triumph had been foreseen right from his first match against R. Neil (New South Wales), in the interstate games. Against P. O’Hara Wood, in the final, he started rather slowly, keeping to the back line much more than usual, and he lost the set. But in the second set the champion put on steam and crowded in on the net. gathering in eight games in succession, and it was plain that he was the better man. Patterson used a variety of shots against Wood, but the one that told most of all was the heavily cut slow ball that bounced and curled away in Wood’s right* service court. Too close to the net and too slow to be killed outright, it caused Wood, after netting it time and again to lose confidence. Toward the end of the p-ame one could see him playing it quite nervously—a new thing for Wood—and, naturally, even less successful!}’ than in the earlier stages. Undoubtedly Wood played well, brilliantly often, and he stuck to his guns pluckily, but he was outclassed. It was a battleship against a cruiser—the best of th© cruiser class undoubtedly—but the battleship had superior armament, both offensive and defensive and in this case peyhaps superior speed. At least, it had equal speed. To such a contest there could be but one end. It came dramatically in the fourth set. Patterson does not pl,ay to the gallery, but he clearly has an instinct for the dramatic, and finished the match, as he so often does, with a perfectly untakable terrific service to the left court, which Wood never even haa time to move toward.

One of the veterans present at the doubles final who has seen as much first-class tennis as anyone in Victoria, summed up the position correctly when he said, 44 Patterson won both the singles and the doubles.” Seventyfive per cent at least expected Brookes and O’Hara Wood to win. Their form this year and the indifferent showing made by Patterson and Hawkes in their earlier matches justified the opinion. But Patterson haa grasped the situation, and assuming that Brookes does not sight the very fast stuff like he did he deliberately made the game us fast as possible, hittincr every ball as hard as he could hit it to and at Brookes and taking all the risks. He served six double faults all hit to Brookes’ court, but he had to keep on the pressure. To sicken up and make sure of the second service would often have saved that particular point, but it would have been a dislocation, of the general plan of campaign. Patterson has rarely been seen to better advantage. To use a hackneyed phrase for once correctly, he “ dominated the game.” even as Brookes used to do. It was he who called the tune throughout: the others had to dance to his piping. Intermixed with the brute force of his drives and smashes, were crafty tosses id wavs directed over Brookes’ head, which tosses, or the ever present threat of them, kept Wood from getting right in to the net, for fear of having to run round behind his partner. The result was that Wood scarcely got a winning shot all day; he was kept too far back.

ITawkes played brilliantly, partly because it is easv to play well when one’s partner is playing like Patterson was playing, but more because lie was—oi seemed to be—much closer in to the net as a general rule than he usually is. This let him volley down instead of up, in which lie the difference between attack and defeat. This change of position also seemed to be just the

cure for the lack of combination between him and Patterson, so noticeable in their earlier games. If it was the result of a preconceived plan, it is just another triumph of head work. One feature of Ha-wltes’ game that cannot pass unnoticed was his beautiful low volleying off his backhand, of O’Harn Wood’s cross-court returns of service. He hardlv missed one. His sccvice also had Brookes in great trouble. O’Hara Wood was kept ouiet by the tactics of his opponents, and the exigencies ot the situation, but he played some lovely shots. Brookes was beaten fairly by the pace of Patterson’s shots, though he did some wonderful work with his racquet in taking them. Too often, however, it was only to give Patterson a chance at the net. It was not the case of a veteran “ lagging superfluous on the stage.” Had Patterson not forced the pace—had the game been played at a slower 44 tempo ” —Brookes, barring a certain lack of sting in his service, would still have been a great plaver. It was just that extra bit ot pace that must come when a player of Patterson’s class and physique simply hurls himself on to the ball and gets in that trouble him. Such a hit calls for a lot of taking, and the eyes ot youth.