LAWN TENNIS

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20422, 12 February 1938, Page 21 (Supplement)

LAWN TENNIS

THE DOMINION TOURNfii WAIKATO ACHIEVEMENTS MISS M. BEVERLEY'S RECORD From a Waikato aspect the New Zealand championships were the most successful that have been held as the local centre besides providing the winners in two events and the winning partner In the combined doubles, annexed the Wilding cup for the greatest number of points scored by any association. The meeting was a triumph for Miss Margaret Beverley, who set a precedent as the first player ever to have won three titles at one national fixture. Following on her effort in the Auckland championship where she won five titles, this was a wonderful effort and one which is not likely to be equalled for many years. As was expected J. Roach and D. Livingstone proved one of the hardest pairs to dispose of in the men’s doubles and they surprised many critics by making Stedman and Coombe fight all the way in the semi-final. Miss Beverley Supreme It is quite evident that from her displays in tournament play this year that Miss Margaret Beverley stands alone among the women players in the Dominion at the present time. It is unfortunate that Miss Dulcie Nicholls, who held equal supremacy for a number of seasons, is not on the active list lliis year as she would have been able to provide a real trial for the .Mat uniat a girl. .Miss Beverley's game is not without defects and it will he interesting to see how she fares in Australia where there are several young players with wonderful allround ability. In her forehand Miss Beverley has a great asset but she is inclined to be slow off the mark and ihis may prove her downfall against a player with a full range of attacking strokes. Brown on Top By his easy victory in the final of the New Zealand men's singles. A. D. Brown pi iced hims< V in an urn! sputed ion's ranking, with perhaps the ex•■ep t i "ii of Stedman. who strictly speaking. r uimd he regarded as a : ' • ' vy l

manv other players who consider they , train’ assiduous]v, aghast. With iris i main aim to reach world class he has ! given up a good deal for his tennis, ! Pul he is now beginning to reap the : rewards. On the court he appears almost frail but the slinging drives which lie carries on either hand soon dispels this illusion. The most important feature of Brown's game is that its all round weakness is negligible. Against the world champion, J. D. Budge, Brown was by no means outclassed and he handled the American's fiery service with absolute confidence. Mayson Impresses One of the most impressive younger players at the New Zealand championships was J. T. Mayson whose defeat of the title-holder in the men's singles 'C. D. Coombe) was not at all unexpected considering the Aucklander’s display against A. D. Brown in the provincial championship a week earlier. Mayson possesses a very fine court manner and he accepted victory or defeat in true sporting manner, which was In marked contrast to some other players who found occasion to vent their feelings. Mayson has a very fine all-court game and never knows when he Is beaten. He and Brown are two of the most promising players Auckland has produced for several seasons. Bromwloh the Tactician Many points of the young Australian champion. J. Bromwich’s game have been analysed, but critics have not up to the present regarded him as a master tactician. Now, discussing Bromwich defeat of von Gramm in the Australian championships, a Sydney writer says:

“ Bromwich's victory was due to the clever tactics he employed, as compared with other matches against the German star. A relentless pursuit of his centre-court tactics in addition to taking the fiery service much quicker, saved Bromwich a lot of energy. He was seldom forced right out of court, and was able to mostly maintain an attacking position. This is quite the opposite of previous struggles with the German, who ran the young Australian practically to a standstill with his superior all-round stroke equipment. Throughout the three sets the German tried desperately hard to get his well-executed severe ground strokes working in rallies. But Bromwich would not deviate from his tactics, consequently von Cramm found it most difficult to take the offensive, as he had to make all his own angles and play shots that he did not like. These often resulted in errors. When he could not make headway against the centre court play, the German star tried to break up his opponent's play by slowing up the game, and using all types of stroke variation. It did not prove effective, as Bromwich was playing confidently, and had an answer for everything. Von Cramm tried a net attack on service, but Bromwich was taking the ball much quicker and effected passing strokes or forced volleying errors. During rallies the German tried a net attack, too, but it was often after the wrong strokes, which resulted in lost points through passing strokes or volleying errors. After losing the first two sets against the relentless centre court play of Bromwich, Cramm resorted to cut shots and slices to upset his youthful opponent. These | strokes lacked length and were anticipated by Bromwich, who moved in quickly and sent them deep to his opponent’s backhand. In effecting returns von Cramm was forced right out of position, and this enabled Bromwich to make placements with volleys or ground strokes to the opposite side of the court. After resorting to varied stroke play von Cramm seemed to lose touch and Bromwich quickly ran through the last set with only the loss of one game, his opponent making many ground stroke errors.