W. T. TILDEN’S VIEW

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 63, 14 March 1936, Page 4

W. T. TILDEN’S VIEW

GERMANY A STRONG SIDE FIRST-HAND IMPRESSIONS “I have one definite belief about the Davis Cup competition this year, writes i W. T. Tilden for the American journal Racquet. “If Germany will win the | Cup! This is simply another way of saying it would not surprise me to sec the Davis Cup go to Berlin after the 1936 Challenge Round. “1 have just returned from a week’s; intensive work with the German tennis I squad in Berlin. The German Tennis 1 Association engaged Hans Nusslein and myself tc work wjth the squad of .12 players under the personal supervision of )Dr. Heinrich Kleinsehroth, captain of the German Davis Cup team. Every day, morning and afternoon, W3 met with the players at the Rot-Weiss Club in Berlin and each player was carefully studied and his weakness discussed and a remedy sought. 1 I “It was an interesting group. There' was the Davis Cup team of GostfiieJ von Cramm, Heiner Henkel, Kay Lund, and young Denker, and a group oi lesser stars including the jx pc'.'tn ted Kuhlmann and the two remarkably promising youngters who bid fair to soon be in the Davis Cun team itself, young Geopfert and Edgar Dcttmer. No official matches were played, but every day, following special stroke practice supervised by !Dr. Kleinsehroth, the men would play one, two, or three sets with Nusslein and myself, attempting to actually use in play the new strokes we had been working on in practice. “Never have I seen a group learn so quickly as these young Germans. In less than a week von Cramm mastered a chop stroke which he had previously lacked, and made a drastic change in his method of volleying. 1 believe these two improvements will add 15 to his game this year. “Heiner Henkel shifted his forehand grip from Continental to Eastern ami learned a flat drive that even iu ai week’s work showed a tremendous increase in his hitting power. My im-| pression. is that Henkel, with his new j attacking forehand, will be a very dan-1 gerous opponent for anyone in .1936. “Nusslein and I played one double with von Cramm and Lund at the end I of a hard day’s work and lost to them | in a close match, which showed me all their strength and also their weakness. Lund is working on his ground strokes for his service return and once that is mastered, they will be a very fine team. “The two outstanding youngsters are Goopfert and Dettmer. Goepfcrt is about 19 years old with a splendid game that needed little work on its strokes, but wanted much iu tactical matters. All week I worked with him on learning to wait for the right shot to hit and then hitting it and advancing to the net behind it. 1 felt that in this boy Germany has a player to rank | with Henkel and but a shade behind eon Cramm within the coming year. “The most interesting personality and player with the greatest talent among the younger group, is Edgar IDcttiner, a 17-year-old kid who is another “Bitsy” Grant. He has the same build as>“Bitsy,’’ plays the same remarkable defence, but is a harder hitter than our midget. He is just as small as Grant and has a pair of legs that are just as remarkable, covering | court endlessly and tirelessly like 5 Grant. Ho is the keenest of all the j German boys. He studies the game like ' von Cramm. He is willing to wurk ; hours on a single shot. At the moment ; the desire to learn an attack has him | advancing to the net on too many short I or mid-court shots, but ever so, he vol- I leys remarkably if he reaches tho ball I at all. I believe that within three years Dettmer will be one of the first I three players in Germany and, like • Grant, will spring many an upset of ' more famous stars, particularly on dirt ! courts. “The thing above all else that im-| pressed me was the spirit of co operation among lhe German tennis players and officials. Much of this is due to the influence of von Cramm and Dr. Kleinsehroth. These two men work in closest harmony with all the players. Von Cramm is always ready to go out on a court and play with any promising youngster who wants his help. He is a champion of whom any nation can be I proud and his influence and example are an inspiration to the youth of the country. Bo also is a captain like Dr. Kleinsehroth, whose wise guidance has done much to make von Cramm the player he is and build Henkel into a coming star. Frankly, J can see Kleinsehroth, with von Cramm as his great asset, bringing the Davis Cup to Germany in 1936. “Only the champion nation, England, looks strong enough to me to have a real chance to stop them tills year. “My week in Germany was delightful. Every courtesy and consideration was shown me everywhere. Life went along in a normal and peaceful manner in Berlin during niy stay, and it was jwith sincere regret I said good-bye. I i live with the hope to return in the not 1 too distant future.”