DAVIS CUP MATCH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 145, 22 June 1939, Page 5

DAVIS CUP MATCH

NEW ZEALAND BEATEN GOOD DISPLAY BY LOSERS MALFROY’S FINE CAPTAINCY LONDON, May 15. New Zealand was very nearly the first country to defeat Great Britain in a Davis Cup match since 1920. After a brilliant victory in the doubles, which gave the Dominion a lead of two matches to one, there was a distinct possibility that New Zealand might win. since of the two key men, C. E. Malfroy and C. E. Hare, the Englishman has not played a great deal this season, and did not impress greatly when beaten at Bournemouth recently.

It was a case of so near and yet so far for New Zealand, for Great Britain took the two remaining singles in straight sets, to win the round by three matches to two.

It is generally agreed that Malfroy and D. C. Coombe gave the best display by a New Zealand doubles pair in England for many years. Coombe was well up to the standard set by A. C. Stedman when playing with Malfroy, and his performance was the more creditable since- he has played comparatively little with the New Zealand captain.

Coombe served and drove well, and he produced some scorching volleys at the net, which left his opponents gaping. Early in the game some masterly lobs helped to keep the English pair from settling down. Malfroy is an adept at doubles play, and he was *in his best form—cool, confident and determined. The New Zealan’d pair went on the court with a fixed plan and they carried it out. admirably.

Prediction Reversed The score of three sets to one exactly reversed the prediction of an experienced critic like Wallis Myers, of the Daily Telegraph. It was a very fine performance by New Zealand. Commenting on the doubles, Mr. Myers said: Hare and Wilde did not look like a compatible pair and one can only assume that in the year in which they had been separated some faith in each other’s powers has been sacrificed. The quick-witted New Zealanders, with Malfroy as the everastute general, and Coombe his able coadjutor, sensed this lack of cohesion and used the psychological influence to their own advantage.

They had gained valuable data at Bournemouth a week earlier and today, although they did not play as well as then, they employed the same strategic methods to break up and break through two opponents who were really combining without confidence and who seemed conscious of each other's errors.

Of the winners, Coombe, in the first half, was the better. He was less sure of his service returns in the next half, but made some stirring volleys and hoisted many effective lobs. Malfroy was the sagacious captain of his side, and, even if he missed some fairly easy /□Heys, he was always in the right place on the court, and knew exactly when to exert extensive pressure. Tension in Final Match The two remaining singles matches were full of interest from start, to finish. Brown tried very hard against Shayes, but lost in three straight sets.' With two matches all, the tension in the early stages of the Malfroy-' Hare contest was terrific. The score,' 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, scarcely indicates ttie closeness of the match, as Malfroy' fully deserved a set, but, as he said afterward, Hare was just too good ioi him. It was a contest on which both players were to be congratulated. It was freely agreed that they had provided the best tennis played in England this year. Malfroy is Io be congratulated on his first captaincy. It is unfortunate that he is now feeling the strain of keeping continuously fit for big tennis and will not be able to play as regularly as before. He has joined a life assurance company in London and is not likely to be able to travel so far afield as he has in the past. Weak Second String “I always thought it would end like that, for, unless the British players lost their heads completely, there were never more than two matches that New Zealand, with a relatively weak second singles string, could win, and it needed a certain confusion in the enemy camp to achieve that much," said the Times correspondent.

•'But the honours of the battle were with New Zealand, ano, above all. Malfroy, the captain, who, with his destructive spin and discernment, made himself the bete noire of the British team. He set himself the enormous task of winning three matches, and it takes such players as Tilden or Budge to withstand the strain of that sori of thing.” “I shall never lorget the last game. Malfroy’s desperate effort to stave off defeat and Hare’s effort to clinch the match were equally stupendous,” said Gordon Wesley, in the Sunday Dispatch. “Malfroy was the server. He had won his way to game point, and then served a double fault. A terrific rally followed for the advantage, both men going to the net and retreating for the lob time and again. “Eventually Malfroy volleyed a beauty, and for the second time had a point to square this set. He served and followed in. but Hare gave the ball a mighty clout for the return, which went straight as an arrow down the line. Even Malfroy, who dropped his racquet in trying to reach the ball, applauded Hare by clapping his hands.”