THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE BALLGAME

Cue (NZERS), Issue 28, 31 July 1945, Page 39

THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE BALLGAME

-j-. y-HAT hallgame has the most folly lowers throughout the world?” is a question which might cause some argument. The answer is lawn tennis. One of the most recently-evolved sports, it has groion in less than seventy years from a decorous amusement for English society to the fastmoving, strenuous game we know today. ,

Now generally accepted; the abbreviation ’’tennis” is, strictly 'speaking, not accurate. The real ’’tennis” is a game scarcely seen - today, played indoors on a longer court than that used -in lawn tennis. It is sometimes called ’’royal tennis’’ because of the patronextended to» it through the ages by various monarchs, including Henry V of England, and Louis XIV of France. it is considered to have developed from a hallgame played by the Greeks and Romans. .

When tennis was first played out-of-doors in modern times is not known, but it is certain that a form of the game was played on ~ the lawns: of several English croquet clubs in the early 1870’s.

An hour-glass, or ’’waist” court (so called from its narrowness) was introduced to the public in 1874 by a Major Walter Wingfield, under the'ungainly name of ’’Sphairistike”. Neither court nor name was destined to live long,

but the cult of lawn tennis was established. The - worshippers were not of one creed, the dimensions of the court and the length 'and height of the net depending on the facilities available. Scoring . was much the same as in squash rackets that is, ’’hand-in” (the server) only could, score a point,, and as ’’ soon as he lost a rally - he became ”hand-out”, the receiver. A game consisted of fifteen points, as in rackets, only when fourteen-all was reached, advantage was played.

In 1877, before the first championship, meeting at Wimbledon, a set of rules, introducing the court measurements and the method of scoring now in use, was drawn up. Equipment improved rapidly, though - for many years older players remained loyal to the pear-shaped racket. A type of ball popular . in' the infancy of the sport was a soft rubber one, without, any covering;- It was possible to slice this ball so that it assumed an eggshape, resulting in an eccentric and often unplayable bounce. The net used today is nearly a foot lower than that favoured in the -early days. In those days, too, the net dropped a foot from the posts to the centre.

Considered the .’’parents” of the modern, game, the Renshaw brothers, William and' Ernest, took full advantage of the height of the net at the sides of the court, which prevented effective returns along- the' sidelines,

to develop a volleying technique. Play ei-s such, as the Renshaws helped to remove fetishes on the gamein the first, ten- years ,of its existence od “f rallies were the approved methodl of nlay, and volleying, was - hazily cricket, old man”. The lowering of the net at the posts in 1882 and the- in rodfiction .of the felt-covered ball about the same time brought 'the rules to their modern state.. The use of the harder ball led at. once to a higher standard of play. So in ten years lawn tennis developed from a genteel 'pastime sponsored by croquet clubs to the • world’s most popular ballgame. / . 7'

The mecca of modern tennis players, Wimbledon, was originally the. ground of the ’’All England Croquet Club”, arid has ' been The scene of . many famous duels in the seventy years the championships have beep held there. Up till 1906 the men’s singles championship was won by a. competitor from Great Britain; between then and 1933 the title was won by a home competitor ? only twice, and . the - women’s title has been won by an overseas player more often than by one from the British Isles.

_ For several reasons, Great Britain is not the ideal country for lawn tennis. Perhaps the greatest handicap to the game in England is the Cricketplaying tradition in the schools and •universities, while the weather, notoriously fickle, is also a limiting factor. California, the home of many great players, has ’ a climate which makes tennis possible all the year round. Australian and South African players, too, are fortunate in this respect.

It was an American, Dwight F. Davis who, in 1900, offered a trophy for competition between lawn tennis teams , from America and the British Isles. The Davis Cup contest has since been made an international fixture, and thirty-four countries have competed for it. In 1923, to save the time

and expense of travelling teams, the challenging ' teams were • divided - into two zones (Europe and America) the winner of each meeting to -decide which should challenge the champion country. America has won the cup twelve times, Great Britain (with Ireland) ten times, France six times, and Australasia six times (Australia now enters as an independent team,.and has won the cup once). ? •

♦ In no other .sport probably is there such a sharp distinction between 'professionalism and amateurism: lawn tennis has no fixture comparable with the ’’Gentlemen versus Players” cricket match held .annually in ; England. America is' the fortress of professional tennis. In fact, many amateur international champions have migrated to the United -States to ’’turn pro”.'. . ■ '

; Almost everyone in New' Zealand is within reasonable distance of a tennis court, which fact is sufficient indication of the popularity of the game there. The Dominion has producedseveral players of world class, including Captain A. F. Wilding. ’’Tony” won the championship at Wimbledon four times in succession (from 1910 to 1913), a feat which has not. since been equalled. .. /

The sport was .flourishing in New Zealand before the war, but there are still many obstacles in the way of it? development. The. first is the inherited cricket-playing tradition in the schools, which. results in a lack of coaching facilities for -young players. -W winter tennis is not universal, N evr Zealand players are at least more or tunate with their weather than Eng-; lish enthusiasts. Comparatively, i e < leading overseas players have e seen in the country, and the 0 inion’s best exponents of the .ga often suffer from lack of compe i , With the expected speed-up-of P. . war travel, it is hoped that New land will'not’be considered so 0 the way”. ' ’