TENNIS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17880, 23 June 1926, Page 6

TENNIS

NEWS FROM ALL COURTS,

LOVE AND TENNIS. “Rosie” writes: —Dear Sir, —I would like to ask your advice. A boy friend of mine—-to be quite accurate we are engaged to be married—is a member of the Maruia Tennis Club. Away from tennis, he is all I could wish, but on the courts he has a great difficulty in recognising me. Sometimes I can go quite close to him, and he does not know I am about. He is the club champion, but I have only just started to learn this winter, s.o I do not know much about it. Docs tennis affect the eyesight? Or how is it that he will not hardly speak to me there? Is it that his love has ceased ? Dear Rosie, —The trouble in the case you mention is known as “ tennis mvosis.” The disease is quite a common one, and few players escape infection. The symptoms arc an inability to recognise any but goosl players while on or near a tennis court. There is no cure. I have shown your letter to a great number of tennis players and after pondering on it they are unanimously of the opinion that the best thing you can do is to join another club. By staying on you may handicap him in being nice to good lady players, and thus you will have the unutterable remorse of seeing him go down in a tournament through not having the best possible partner. Should this advice be ignored, all you can do is to keep away from him as much as possible. If he asks you to play, plead illness. Prove yourself worthy of his great love. Think on the wonderfulness of it that after tennis, you come first. Remember that

the very fact that in the evening when he holds your hand and tells you how he passed Geoff down the side lines, or lobbed over Goss’s head, that j-ou are inspiring him to even greater things. Rosie, let that suffice. THE BEST BALL. The ball adopted by the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association for use in all its competitions, matches, and tournaments, is Ayres’s “ Championship.” A week or two ago, one of the directors of this company' spent a few days in Christchurch. No doubt this firm is keen to retain the strong position it

holds; and that the ball is a good one on grass there is no question, and as all our leading players are members of United Club the ball that stands up to grass is considered all that is necessary. But there is another aspect to the question. While there are about 200 who play at United, the other 3000 odd Canterbury tennis players get all their games on asphalt, and there arc a number of makes of balls that stand up to the wear on hard courts better than our official ball.

Considered democratically the member of one of our little suburban clubs is entitled to the same consideration as a leading Canterbury representative, so that as the hard court players easily outnumber those who play on grass, the adopted ball could well be the one that stands up best to the asphalt surfaces, all other things being equal. Against that, however, is this. All New Zealand championship matches I are played on grass, and the New Zea land Lawn Tennis Association’s official ball is Ayres’s “ Championship.” But if it were necessary the present ball could remain the official grass court one, and another of a different make adopted for all matches played on asphalt. llow often should balls be renewed ? It is a big question, and the only answer the writer can see is this: When the. standard of the tennis is such that lightness, lack of compression or bad visibility in the used balls is interfering with the play, then a I new pair should be brought into use. This does not get much ‘ forrader.” as there is no standard for any ol' ! these things. Even the Davis Cup rules are silent on the point. In a five set match they'’ expect three pairs to suffice, but I the importance of the players really* appears to decide the matter. \\ hen ; Patterson played Borotra last Labour ! Day in the inter-zone Davis Cup final, , I the courts were damp, and fifty -four I balls were actually used in the match, j These are the conditions when champions plav, but the C.L.T.A. does not, only have* to cater for champions. e i have two that could get a game or two off Tilden and Mdlle Lenglen respectively; there are half a dozen or so bovs and girls under twenty who will some day reach that standard, and the rest, the 3000 members of hard court clubs, play the game for relaxation. A good game is all they ask and they seek no championship honours except perhaps their club ones. They hope sometime to get in the junior A or junior B competition, or else into one of the forty teams in the suburban competition. And each and every one of these players wants

a ball that can stand up to at least a full afternoon’s play.. Take the case of the suburban interclub matches. Two pair of balls are provided for eight singles, and eight doubles games, four of the singles and two of the doubles being 9-up sets. Before the afternoon is half over on Wilding Park courts, the ball will not fall into the court if driven hard without top spin. Yet there are balls that will stupd up to this usage.

Mr G. Ollivicr, six times New Zealand champion, was asked .to express an opinion on one of the brands of balls recently' tried out. lie says:- “ The flight is as nearly perfect as one could wish. The long life is not attained by having thick rubber walls. It is' a splendid ball.” So it is to be hoped that the C.L.T.A., as guardians of the well-being of all the players, will adopt; • if- not two makes of unstitched ball, then the best ball to stand up to the wear such as is caused by most asphalt courts. The New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association has adopted the Davis bail for open tournaments, and the Ayres “ Championship ” for the 1926 New Zealand championships. AVONSIDE NEWS. In the first round of the championship combined doubles. Ilobin and Miss Campbell beat Wheeley and Miss Sowden 6-4, 5-7. 6-3, Morrison and Miss Allard beat Freeth and Miss Thompson G-4, 6-3. In the second round T rry and Mrs Donaldson beat Miss Dinnecombe and Cowpcr 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. In the men’s doubles Ilobin and Jack beat Cowper and Gowper 9-11, 6-3, 6-1. The ladies’ doubles championship has been decided. Misses Muirson and Sowden beat Misses Campbell and I Angas. and Mrs Sharpe and Miss Spfirs beat Misses Sharpe and Dallas. In the final Miss Speirs and Mrs Sharpe beat Misses Muirson and Sowden 6-1, 5-7. 6-3. In the men's singles S. Denton beat A. B. Loughnan 7-5. 9-7, and F. Cowper beat J. Willis 6-3, G-0.

EDGEWARE CLUB. The annual meeting of the Edge ware Club was held last evening, and the following officers were appointed:— President, Mr H. Jarden; vice-presidet, Mr Grant; secretary, Mr W. Beanland; treasurer, Mr A. Beanland; committee, Mrs Uren, Mrs Forgic, Miss Winney, Messrs Balch, Neate. Shier, Clothier, Uren; delegates to C.L.T.A.. Messrs J. Longton, Petersen, W. Beanland; club captain, Mr A. Neate; lady captain, Mrs Uren. The letter regarding the C-.L.T.A.’s half-crown levy was read. Mr J. Longton said that the club rules did not allow of a levy, so he suggested that as it was too late, to raise the subscrip-

tions the club should shoulder- the amount. This was agreed to, and Mr Balch brought forward a suggestion that was accepted by the meeting that members should pay a voluntary levy'. A proposal to light one of the courts was brought before the meeting, but. partly on account of the expense, and partly because little was known of the success or otherwise of night tennis, the proposal was lost on the voices. At the conclusion of the meeting the opportunity' was taken of formally opening the new pavilion. Mr IT. Jarden, president, in a brief speech, performed that duty', and afterwards the ladies provided supper. The new building is a great improvement on the old one, which now serves as a kitchen. A ladies’ and a men’s dressing room are provided, and a social room 28ft by' 20ft. This room is well finished in picked figured rimu, and is complete with electric light. Large windows look out on to the courts. This club now takes its place as ore of the best equipped in Christchurch. * NOTES*' A meeting of the Match Committee was held this morning, and elsewhere iw this issue will be found the date of play' of the next round of the senior competition.

The Auckland Association will have a very agreeable job in the near future. Their art union in conjunction with the cricketers was very successful. Another young English girl is expected to do well at Wimbledon. It is Miss Bennett, and she has a good

drive both backhand and forehand. She recently won the Roehampton tournament, beating Mrs Beamish in the semi-final, 3-6, 9-7, 6-2; and Miss. E. H. Harvey in the final, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Last Friday Miss Fry beat Miss Browne (U.S.A.), 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, and Mrs Godfree beat Miss Ryan (U.S.A.), 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, so it looks as though England

may supply the runner-up ,of the women’s singles at Wimbledon, even if the championship is lost. Austin went down to Richards, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, and the American is likely to loom large in the public eye for the next week, especially as- Lacoste has been forced, through ill-health, to retire. .. .. Richards stands sft tOin, add weighs just over 9st. From this it can be seen that his slight physique is against him, but. he has the wonderful... agilit.y of youth, and, it is said, he equals Norman Brookes in his uncanny power of anticipation. Richards has no fast drives. His approach to the net is paved with chop and sliced shot, and once there his volley' is a winner. He lias all the -steadiness and headiness of a veteran, and his placing is *.inequalled by' Tilden himself. THERE AIN’T NO SUCH ANIMAL. A properly marked doubles court is almost, never seen. That is a startling statement yet one the truth of which is incontestable. We can go further and say that nearly every' player in the world would object to a court that is marked correctly. That experiment has been tried, with the result as stated. Let a groundsman leave out the part of the singles side lines that extend from the service line to the baseline—as he should do in marking out a doubles court —and a unanimous* howl would make itself heard. If any' reader doubts this assertion just let him think it over and make some observations.— (From the “American Lawn Tennis”). - ’ MUNICIPAL TENNIS. On the tennis courts put down by the London County Council last year 11,500,000 games of tennis were played. This year the accommodation is- to be doubled. JUBILEE * # OF ’’WIMBLEDON. I The Wimbledon championships for 1926—the jubilee year of the All-Eng-land Club—are now in full swing, and the eves of players wherever the game of lawn tennis' is played arc directed to the most historic and romantic of all tournaments.

The first name on the championship roll is that of S. W. Gore, and five years later came W. Renshaw, who held the title on six consecutive occasions and again in 1889. Other great names of those early' years are Baddeley, Pirn, A. W. Gore, and the two Dohertys, the last-named pair dominating the decade from 1896 to 1906. Then came the year 1907 which, besides marking the end of the Doherty epoch, was the. year in which the singles title, won by Norman Brookes, went for the first time overseas.

In 1908 and 1909 A. W. Gore again held the championship, and then the late A. F. Wilding became the dominant figure of the now famous centre court. He first won the title in 1910, and he held it until Brookes again visited Wimbledon and beat him in 1914; but during the period of his ascendancy Wilding brought honour to himself and to this Dominion as one of the greatest players that ever held the championship. “One of his greatest achievements,” say's a writer in Ay'res’s Almanack, “was his defeat in 1913 of Maurice M’Loughlin, the American ‘Comet,’ in straight sets. llis handling of M’Loughlin’s services, which he stood up to, was masterly; the harder they came the harder he seemed to bang them back. Indeed, it was his relentless accuracy and power off the ground that won him the match. M’Loughlin was within a point of the first set, and when he lost it he began to realise that he was right up against it.- Yet he-never faltered, and in the third set he wiped off a 4 -2 lead against him and several times held ’vantage before Wilding got home 10—8.” The following year Wilding lost his title to Brookes, and then came the war, which numbered the great. New Zealander among its earlier victims. The history' of Wimbledon since the war is the history of Gerald Patterson, W. T. Tilden, W. M. Johnston, and the two young Frenchmen, Borotra and Lacoste, with Mile. Lenglen dominating the ladies’ singles. The eclipse of England, which began in 1910, is still maintained, and apart from. 11. \\ . Austin, the brilliant young Cambridge player, of whom great things are expected within the next year or two, there is no one who is likeLy to lift the gtucim. . . .

At this, the jubilee tournament, both France and Ameriqa will have strong contenders for the singles title, and one or other of these countries should provide the ultimate winner. The probability seems to be that Lacoste and Richards will contest the. final, and although the Frenchman has a recent victory to his credit over his American rival, it has to be remembered that this was on a hard siirface and the French men are great hard-court players. The conditions at Wimbledon will be more i»i favour of Richards, and I should not be surprised to see him reverse the result of the recent match in Paris and capture, the title from Lacoste.

“ It is a good proposal, but I should say' that they will find it hard to get the right man.” said Mr J. C. Peacock, the New Zealand Davis Cup player, and president of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association, in commenting on the Canterbury to obtain a lawn tennis coach. “ W hen I was in England I looked round and made inquiries through many well-known men, such as Mr Wallis Myers, but there did not seem to be much available. There are some fine professionals in the South of France, but the trouble is that if a man is to be dependent on fees he will go where the fees are highest, and that is not in New Zealand. If the Canterbury Association can get a man Mho will suit, it Mill be a great asset, for M-hat is M'anted by our young players is coaching, and coaching at reasonable rates. But I fear that unless the coach can be attached to a club, or given other work to do, it Mill be hard to make a success of the scheme.”

CHAMPION *OF FRANCE. Cochet, champion of France, is twenty-five years of age, and come to the forefront of French lawn tennis in 1922, when he won the covered courts championship of France. In that year he represented his country in the Davis Cup against Denmark and Australasia, putting up a good performance in the latter match by' defeating O’Hara Wood 6-4, 3-6, 60, 7-9, 6-4, and taking a set from Patterson. In addition he and Gobert very nearly defeated Patterson and Wood in the doubles, the Australians only winning at 6-0, 6-8, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8, though a few days later the two Australians had no difficulty in defeating Tilden and Richards in the challenge round, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3. This shows that Cochet is no mean player, and has gradually been building up a powerful game. He is but another instance of the strides that the game is making in France, and his easy victory over Richards must be giving the Americans some cause for thought. Some time ago F. G. Lowe wrote:— “ Lacoste is considered by most judges to be the best player in Europe today- indeed, there is little doubt that he has finally passed Borotra-—that wonderful volleyer who conquered him at Wimbledon last year. His game is the sounder; Borotra only has attack, Lacoste has both defence and attack. This young Frenchman has a priceless backhand which he can whip down the line or across the court. If one might criticise so great a player, it is that he uses too much preliminary flourish be-

fore the production of this stroke. Cochet has a theory that this flourish leaves a slight loophole in Lacoste’s defence, that he has not quite time to deal with a perfect length ball which is travelling fast. Cochet has never failed to run Lacoste close.”