TEMPTING OFFERS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 20

TEMPTING OFFERS.

Will Fred Perry Remain in Amateur Ranks? KEEN TO RETAIN STATUS. LONDON, October IS. Fred Perry, the world’s No. 1 lawn tennis player, is truly in a dilemma. Should he commercialise his skill and make a fortune, or should he continue to play as an amateur? This is the problem he has to solve. While staying in Hollywood he was offered £12,000 to make a series of short instructional pictures and a further £BOOO to take part in exhibition matches with W. T. Tilden and Ellsworth Vines. To refuse this sum is obviously difficult for a man who, at the age of twenty-five, has devoted so much time to the game that his earnings have been very small. He has an appointment with a firm on the Stock Exchange, but I think it is only on a commission basis. Now in six months Perry can make £20,000 and his earnings from the game will go on. Tilden’s Earnings. It is estimated from the experiences 1 of Tilden and Vines as professionals that he ought to have a capital of £35,000 when he is thirty. As a matter of fact Tilden is reputed to have made as much as £20,000 during the past three years. But these calculatidns are based on the assumption that exhibition matches will remain popular in America. In this country they have so far made a very slight appeal, but no player has appeared in them with Perry’s standing, and he would for at least a time prove an attraction. Two reasons have made the champion hesitate to take the plunge. The first is that England holds the Davis Cup, and if he were to become a professional and ineligible to take part in the competition it could not be retained. Then he is proud of his social position in the game and he fears that by becoming a professional he would surrender it. I think this is true, though possibly not to the extent he fears. In a nutshell, Perry wants the money but he does not want to lose his status. Well, the difficulty might be over-ridden if he could establish himself as a screen star and make lawntennis pictures as one and not as a champion. It may be thought that the authorities would not permit the rule governing amateurism to be “ beaten ” in this way, but I know that Perry is considering it as the solution of his problem. Bobby Jones, the famous amateur golfer, had to face exactly the same j position, and he retired from the game in order to make a fortune out of film work. No one blamed him for taking this course, and I do not think his position has suffered socially. He even remains a member of the Royal and Ancient Flub. St Andrews, which is the most exclusive club in the world. But, of course, Jones has not actually played golf for money. Perry’s decision is of vital importance and it is being anxiously awaited by the governing authorities throughout the world, because it is believed that if he goes over to the paid ranks many other leading players are sure to

follow him. They have, in fact, already stated that they would do so if they were satisfied that the financial compensation would be adequate. Under such conditions the Davis' Cup competition would lose its standing, and the Wimbledon championships would suffer grievously. Indeed, lawn tennis as a public attraction would undergo a complete change. We should immediately have an open championship, and, as in golf, this would be the major event of the season. Rugby Union Attitude. The English authorities are blamed for weakness in, resisting the move towards professionalism during the past two or three years. All the present trouble, it is said, would have been saved if they had acted with the firmness of, say, the Rugby Union. ; who do not allow a player even to . consider a financial proposal, i In their view a man who is ready to listen to an offer is a professional. An i international lost his status on this aecqunt last year. He was approached i by a Rugby League club, and it was : said that he entered into negotiations ■ with them. He did not accept their proposal, but the fact that he had considered it was held to be a good enough reason why he should not be permitted ’ to play as an amateur.