TENNIS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17524, 29 April 1925, Page 10

TENNIS

NEWS FROM ALE COURTS,

Apparently ne are not. she only players who have trouble with tennis I balls, as the following extract from i “Tennis” an English magazine shows, j “The ball controversy still rages not | the less lurionsly because of the number of makes which have been approved for tournament play this year. Although, no doubt, all of these are within the limitations'of weight, si/.e. bound and other details laid down bv »ho L.T.A., scarcely any one of these ‘makes’ plays exactly like any of the others, and those which one player finds as meat for his game are rank poison to another's. ’There are stitchless. rifled, grooved, raised-seam, and smooth-scam halls; there are plugless and plugged halls; there are air-filled nnd gas-filled balls. And now a guttapercha hall has come to add to a player's perplexities. ‘•Certainly the 19*24 ball was too lively io please most players and a re- ! action has set in in favour of a somewhat softer ball, which ‘mushrooms' I on the racquet rather more and is j easier to control. It requires a little harder hitting than lust year's ball, hut it can be hit with greater certainty of result. “As far as first class players are concerned there is, of course, only one ball in. it—the ball, whatever its make, which is used at Wimbledon. I hie- is tlie ball which will he adapted to meet, as fairly as possible. American and Continental usage, and the player who is to play at Wimbledon will be sure that he practises with the same or a similar ball and no other. The players lie meets will be bound by a similar convention and the same will apply to all first-class match play. “It is only among the ‘rabbits’ that anything like freedom in the choice of ball is possible; they should bo able to buy quite a good’ and durable | ball for much, less than the high prices I demanded for ‘recognised’ balls. The trouble of it is that i.. speaking of j balls one cannot mention names. Ccitam it is that tho approval of th< j L.I.A. seems to drive up the price 1 of balls, which, like much other tennis ' equipment, cost far more than they ought. A good racquet can be bought nowadays it one knows how and what Lo buy, for 2$ guineas, and there is a perfectly good and durable ball unrecognised by the L.T.A. purchasable retail at Ids per <lpzen. Compare these w.tn the prices for highly-reputed makes and you will recognise that, with tennis as with a battleship, it is the lust knot of progress that counts.” j Since the conclusion of the Easter I tournament, there has been verv little I doing in the tennis world, but the ! senior inter-club competition starts i shortly. It is very hard to guage tl.o number of tennis players who play in winter as well as summer, but it probable that only one-third of tlie Lolal tiumber continue active right through the year. Golf lakes a large number as can be seen from a perusal "‘the papers on a Monday. Hockey takes some 0 f the younger players and so does football. The fact of the senior inter-dub _ competition being pa.ted in the winter mouths cusurcs that a majority of the crack plavcrs play 1-ight through, hast, year of'tlie fust eight players, the following did not play: Seay, Aitken, W ilding Greenwood and Sheppard. For the senior inter-club competition eignt 1 earns have entered as follows:—Canterbury College, Bin-Rood O nn ivy Ajronside, Cashmere Hills, New Bright ■ Oil, fet Albans and a combined suburban team. It will be found as play progresses that some teams are hard I.Y up to senior standard whilst some will have a few good players. The competition should be verv open till, year. .Some teams may be strong in men and weak in ladies and vie

I he draw for the opening Saturday is as follows: Canterbury College v. Avon side, at Wilding Park. !, 2, 3 and 1 Lin wood v. Suburban, at Wilding Park. 5. 6. 7 and S. Cashmere Hills v. New Brighton, at Wilding Park, 9. 10. 11 and 12. St Albans v. Opawa at Opawa. The team first mentioned in each case will provide balls, and al! matches are to be commenced by 1.30. I here have been three new clubs formed lately in Christchurch, as follows:—bendalton, Elmwood and Sc Andrew’s Hill. Hie l endalton Club has purchased land in Burnside Road, near the tram terminus, and have let a contract for the laying down of five asphalt courts for a start. These should be readv for play at the latest by the first week in August and from then onwards the club should go ahead by- leaps and bounds as even now the club has suf ficient members in sight to keep ail the courts busy. 3he Elmwood Club are laying down grass courts in Elmwood Park, but at present the scheme is held up until satisfactory arrangements can be made, with the C'itv Council. The St Andrew’s Hill Club is of quite recent date and has only just been started. Officials and committee have been appointed and tenders are now being called for the preparation of a site. Press photographers were excluded recently from the hard courts championships at Torquay, England. As it is understood that the Lawn Tennis Association took the action on account ol undesirable photographs of women players appearing in the papers, it would appear that the short skirt controversy is also the fashion at home. The uninitiated might say that photographs can be no worse than what can be seen by the human eye, but this is hardly the case, because in these days of ultra rapid speed of camera shutters a pose is caught and kept that the . ye only catches as part of a graceful movement. Still as one of (J. Henry's inimitable characters says: “llouey sweets the Malay pants. - ’ What has happened as regards the Davis Cup team? Surely it is time that some announcement should be made with regard to the team, or has the New Zealand Association decided that it. .is better to walk before we run, as I Senex ’in the “Dominion" suggested ; a few weeks ago. He suggests that the i Davis Cup expedition be abandoned j find that the N.Z.L.T.A. should concentrate on sending a team of young play - ers to New South Wales, excluding all players, however prominent, who arc past their prime. The writer agrees with him so far as regards the abandoning of the Davis Cup quest and sending a team to New South Wales, but does not altogether agree about sending a team of young players excluding older prominent players past their prime. Why not send the best team, get the best by test and no other way? if an older player land who is an older player nowadays) is good enough to get into a team of four, then certainly let him go, but no one can growl at all if the selection is done after a series of tests in which the last three eliminated plus the winner are entitled to go. One point o' course crops up, and that is that the draw would have to be seeded, as it it were not the second player might, meet the winner in the first round and that, of course, would not be fair. In Australia they had tests, but they were not knock-out tests, as ever}’- one played everyone else, or nearly so. and on retlection these, might perhaps be better. We should at any rate hear in a dav or two now what steps are being taken by the governing body.