LAWN TENNIS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 8, 24 August 1910, Page 10

LAWN TENNIS.

A. F. Wilding.

THE WORLD’S LAWN TENNIS CHAMPION. AN IMPRESSION. LONDON, July 1. Lawn Tennis Champion of the World! Such is the honour achieved by A. F. Wilding, who journeyed some thirteen thousand miles to show Englishmen that the Dominions could produce a man possessed of such marvellous co-ordina-tion of hand, eye and brain as to win his way step by step through the massed forces of those who stood for brilliancy of play in the most engrossing of games. It is a pleasure to write an appreciation of this fine young sportsman. Those of us who knew him in his undergraduate days at Cambridge find him little changed, except that the impetuosity of youth has given way to a -more purposeful frame of mind. He had made this great journey with one object in view, and that object he has secured, to his •own infinite credit and the applause of all. 111 S EXTRAORDINARY MODESTY. What strikes me most is his supreme modesty at his success. It would have been pardonable to find him elated to the point of boastfulness, but no trace of this is visible. He is glad that he lias won, but is inclined to moderate his achievement by attributing it to good fortune rather than skill, and of Jiis late opponents he has nothing but good to say ami nothing but unqualified praise to bestow. When 1 recollect that

the conditions of play in England are bo different from those in New Zealand regard to light, heat, wind, and many other factors, then the success of this young man is all the more creditable and wonderful. 1 asked him what his candid opinion of this country might be. ••Wonderful,” was the word he used, but qualified the statement with the rider that the climate had been sorely neglected of heaven. Amt small wonder. Within ten minutes of winning the ehampionship the rain was coming down in buckets, and the fitful brilliance of the few minutes liefore had given way to Stygian darkness. HOW HE TRAINED. It was my good fortune to observe his training for the great event, and it was so simple and so straightforward. Seven in the morning would see him abroad in the spacious grounds of Wimbledon Park House, where dwells his late host, Air. W. A. Horn, whose name is well known •'down under.” A modest 'breakfast of eggs and fruit, and gentle exercise during the morning, with a tune on the gramaphone to sooth his highlystrung mind before the struggles of the afternoon. And when the labours of the day were successfully over, a quiet evening was spent till ten o’clock, when a short walk in the open air preceded an early retirement for a long night. Limber and supple as elastic is A. F. Wilding, with a quick step and nervous movement. A bronzed skin, with a clear and hopeful blue eve. A quick, almost abrupt manner of speaking is tempered by a polished manner. His temperament is very nervous, and it may be this that brings out that reserve of energy and power of achievement which he can produce at critical moments. I insist upon this, because it is a far from small task to come as—in a sense—a stranger to a strange land for the purpose of wresting the championship of the world from an Englishman who has held it for two years in the presence of hundreds of people, who, very naturally, would like to see the honours remain at Home.

NOT A TALKER. It is not easy to get him to talk—you will heal’ little of Wilding from Wilding —-but I gathered during the days we spent together that he is a great admirer ■of English tennis, and regrets that New Zealand cannot manage to become more efficient at the science. Of the English ladies he .was not so appreciative, giving merit only to the play of Mrs. Chambers. Throughout all the sets Wilding was unruffled and serene to all outward appearances, and never “turned a hair”; whilst his opponent Was gaining breathing space by wiping a heated brow and imbibing refreshment brought to him in copious vessels. Wilding stood there, waiting his pleasure, with never a sign ®f the irritation lie might naturally have felt. He was there to win, and win he did, and that is a point about him which is very evident. He “gets there,” and does it in the most sporting way. If you ask me my idea of a sportsman, 1 reply “A. F. Wilding.” And I am sure that he himself would wish no better epitaph. If he comes here next year to defend his title we shall make him very wel-

come. But should he not see fit to do M he may rest assured that none other can come wiio will render himself more popular among all with whom he may come into contact.