TENNIS NOTES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21409, 27 February 1935, Page 15

TENNIS NOTES

* WITHDRAWAL OF DAVIS CUP ENTRY WELLINGTON ASSOCIATION'S MOVE [By CROSS COUKT.] The arrangements for the Davis Cup match between New Zealand and Australia, which, it has been decided, shall be played at Eastbourne, England, have bean criticised by several provincial associations in the Dominion, and at the quarterly meeting of the council of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association at Wellington this evening a motion by the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association thai the council consider the advisability of cancelling the Davis Cup entry and .substituting therefore the sending of a team of promising young players to Australia, will be considered. Although the management committee of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association has already explained that its reason for playing the Davis Cup match at Eastbourne is the possibility of making some money out of the fixture with very little risk of bcin;.;' involved in heavy expense, many associations consider that there is little purpose to be served in allowing players resident overseas to represent the Dominion,, as they cannot pass on the benefits of their experience to players in New Zealand. K D. Andrews, C. E. Malfroy, and A. C. Stedman will play for New Zealand against Australia, but. all three now have permanent positions in England.

Keeping New Zealand cn the Map There is. nevertheless, something to bo said fjr the New Zealand Association's claim that participation in the Davis Cup competition keeps the Dominion's name on the tennis map. Only by Now Zealand keeping in touch with international play can sufficient interest be aroused among overseas nations for them to send players to the Dominion. II is regrettable, but unavoidable, that overseas players who have crane to New Zealand in the last few years have invariably gone away with a very poor opinion of the abilities of iiur best players. Players such as Mv-li'rey and Stcdman. who are constantly playing with the best men from England and other countries, are the ones ir.o«t competent to improve New Zealand's s'atus in the eyes of other tennis nations. It is. :-f course, highly desirable that the leading resident players should be given the opportunity to improve their nlay by meeting the world's best, but while the New Zealand Association's finances arc In their present condition there is little chance of teams being sent regularly to Europe for Davis Cup matches. Although the New Zealand .Association has been blamed for not making an effort to have the match with Australia played in New Zealand, it must b" admitted that this proposal was most unlikely to commend itself to the Australian Association. The latter is certainly not likely to go out of its way to help New Zealand just at present because relations are still rather strained over the New Zealand Association's "poaching" of the English team during its Antipodean tour. This team's visit to New Zealand necessitated the cutting down of the Australian' itinerary, and it may yet be considered diplomate for the New Zealand Association to make a grant to the Australian Association by way of compensation from its .CaCO profit on the tour. Australian Tour Likely Certainly it would have been little use sending a team to Australia for a Davis Cup match, because only a small "gate" could be expected: Ihe travelling expenses would be fairly heavy; and at this season of the >< ar llitc would be few opporli.mil ies for play for the New Zealander-. other than the ihrte days of the cup match. Tn the meantime it is satisfactory to know lhat the Now Zealand AssoeiaI'on is keeping in view Ihe desirability of sending a team of players—preferably players with 9 promising future in the game—to take part in Australian tournaments. Not since 1926 has New Zealand sent a team to Australia. During that tour E. D. Andrews, Don France, Ivan Seay and Noel Wilson met and defeated players such as Crawford and Hopman, then New South Wales colts, who were to become such famous figures in the game.

Who can say lhat the New Zealnnders would net have risen to similar hciyhls if they had had the opportunities the Australians received? It has been abundantly demonstrated that New Zealand cannot hope to take a foremost place in international tennis until its players have opportunities for constant play against the world's bc^;. Kan king Matches Recent ranking matches have resulted as follows:--MEN'S LIST A. Tt. Cant beat B. A. Barrcr (challenger) f,v fourth place, G-l, G-4. I. J. Corich 'challenger) beat E. K. England for eighth place, 8-10, 6-1, G-l. WOMEN'S LIST Miss I. Poole beat Mrs D. I. Macdonald (challenger) for fourth place, 3-G 5-7, 6-1. All three matches produced interesting tennis. Miss Poole met Mrs Macdonald on an evening when the heavy state of the courts gave full value to her opponent's sliced drives, and she was on the defensive for the greater part of the first and second sets. In the third set she began to attack against a tiring opponent, and won with little difficulty. Cant was in good form against Barrer, although the further the match progressed the more even did it become. Barrer slowed the game down

and lengthened the rallies in the second set, and Cant won only after some very, sternly-contested deuce games, in which each playo;r covered a great deal of court. After a long and close first set Corich proceeded to shoot holes in England's defence almost at will, losing only two games in the last two sets. The youngster played one of his best games to date, and gave further evidence of his steady progress. Trophy Restrictions Relaxed Some relaxation of the restrictions on the nature of goods that may be purchased with trophy orders may now be expected. The English Lawn Tennis Association has altered the form of its trophy order to permit the purchase of wearing apparel necessary for the pursuit of the game on the court, and it is probable that the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association will alter the form of its order similarly. The alteration appears to be part of the move to make the game less expensive. Clothing is an important part of the tennis player's budget, and it will be oC considerable assistance to him to be able to purchase flannels, shoes, shirts, or sweaters with trophy orders. The rules at present prohibit the offering of money, cheques, orders for money, consumable goods, wearing apparel, and articles of domestic necessity. Challenges for Trophies If fcanterbury is successful in its defence of the Anthony Wilding Memorial Shield and the Kathleen Nunneley Casket against Auckland on March 35 and 16, it will have to defend them again against the southern associations (Otago, South Canterbury, North Otago, and Southland), probably on March 22 and 23. The southern, associations will be able to field strong men's and women's teams,

but. all except the South Canterbury players will be at a disadvantage in having to play on turf courts. This will probably have some influence on the selection of the southern teams. South Canterbury has two line players in W. G. Robertson, several times South Island champion, and G. C. lieid, who has displaced him from lirst place in South Canterbury. In the annual match between South Canterbury and Otago at Dunedin a few weeks ago, both of these men were beaten, the latter by G. A. Pearce, the Otago champion, and the former by A. Rawlinson. Yet such is the influence of court surface on play that it is more than likely that the results would have been reversed had the matches been played on grass. Last year, on the grass South Canterbury beat Otago by almost as big a margin as this year, on asphalt, it was dei'cated. S. G. McDougall, first man for Otago for many years, and now playing for North Otago, will probably find a place in the southern team, although he is a veteran, and others with claims to inclusion are W. E. Renton iSouth Canterbury;, a brilliant doubles playt .r, and L. McKinnon (North Otago). Little is known of the form of Southland players, but there have been no players of note from there in the last lew years. The: strongest claimants for positions in the southern Nunneley Casket team will be Misses D. Miller (North Otago), M. Pattison (Otago), N. Sullivan (South Canterbury), E. Partridge (Otago), R. Barton (Otago), D. Baikie i North Otago) and, if available, Mrs W. A. Scott (South Canterbury). All these have extended leading Canterbury players at various times, and a very good team should be chosen. Miss Miller is probably the steadiest and most tenacious player in New Zealand. Representative Match Canterbury will play South Canterbury in the annual match at Timaru next Saturday. The players will travel to Timaru by bus, returning the same night. The Canterbury team is as fol-lows:—-C. Angas, H. Dymond, A. R. Cant, 15. A. Rarrrr. .1. W. Arnold, and .1. A. Young, Misses E. Rudkin, T. Poole. I. Poole. Mrs D. I. Misses E. Fleetwood and S. Boyd. Emergencies: B. D. Dufficld, 1. J. Corieh. and E. E. England, Misses M. Barr, D. Dickey and J. Senior. "How to Improve Your Tennis" is the title of an interesting and instructive little book by A. V. Doyle, a wellknown Australian critic, issued this year. lie deals with a great many aspects of the game from the playing of the actual strokes to the choice of equipment and clothing, and he even has an essay at the popular pastime of ranking the world's best players of all time. One may disagree with many things he says, but one must admit that he is up-to-the-minute in everything pertaining to the game. For instance, he deals fairly exhaustively with the playing of the rising ball, the use of the half-volley as an attacking stroke, and claims that the twohanded backhand revived by Vivian McGrath and copied by John Bromwich, is ihe most important addition to the game since the introduction of the flat drive and the playing of the rising ball.

DAVIS CUP ]).\Tl\ OF FIRST ROUND MATCH (UNITED PRZ.SS ASSOCIATION ELECTBIO TKLKGRAI'H—COFYIUGHT.) (Received February 27, 12.8 a.m.) LONDON, February 26. Australia and New Zealand will meet in the tirst round of the Davis Cup matches, at Eastbourne, on May 10, 11, 13, or May 16, 17, and 18. I'RERBLETON V. WINDERMERE Members 0 f tho Prebbleton Tennis Club visited tho Windermeru courts on Saturday n f torn oon 1o play :i friendly match, winning by o' lll game. The results wero as follows (Prebbleton names first): — Women's Singles—Mrs L. Srait.li C, Miss K Kggleton 5; Mrs G. Millar G, Miss D. Howe" 5; Miss R. Tod 6, Miss J. Dorizac 1; Miss if. Smith 1, Miss P. Cleall 6. Men's Singles—J. Longstaffe 2, N. Wallace 6; K. Prebblo (1, T. McCuusland 5; W. Millar 5, L. Daly C; U. Longstaffe G, W. Nenle 0. • _ ... . Women's Doubles —Mrs L. Smith and Airs Millar 5, Miss F.ggleton and Miss Cleall 0; 'w'iss K. Tod and Miss M. Smith 5, Miss ])' liowe and Miss J. Dorizac (>. Men's Doubles—,T. Longstaffo and R. Prebblc (i. Wallace and T. McCausland 0; \\". Millar n,nd K. Longstaffe <3, L. Duly and W. Nealo Combined Doubles—Mrs L. Smith J. Longstaffe G, Miss E. Eggleton and G. Wallace 4 ; Miss R. Tod and R. Prebble 4, Miss D. Kowo and L. Daly 6; Mrs G. Millar and W. Millar (!. Miss J. Dorizac and T. McCausland 4; Miss M. Smith and K. Longstaffe 2, Miss P. Cleatl and L. Daly 6. Totals —Prebbleton 7 3 games, Windermere 71 games. MID-CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION Tho Uighbank T/awn Tennis Club played a mutch against- Eiffeltun, on tho Hijrlibank courts on Saturday, for the Mid-Cantor* bury junior shield, llighbank being the present holders, Highbank retained possession of tho trophy, winning by 31 sets and 118 jjanips to f> sets and 82 games. The results are as follows (EiCfelton names tfr>t): —

Combined Doubles —J. Roclio and Hiss 0. Stevens 11. Bland and Hiss Ida Bland 9; K. MoQuilkan and Miss I. Stoddart 9, ,T. Dolnn and Miss V. Simpson 5; I. Johnston and Miss M. Davidsqn 0, E. A. Bland and Miss Olive Smith 9; H. Hawkins and Miss J. Taylor 9, G. Weily and Miss D. Rouse 4. Men's Doubles—J. Roche and E. MoQuilkan 7, H. Bland and J. Dolan 9; I. Johnstone and H. Hawkins 4, E. A. Bland and G. Weily 9. Women's Doubles—Misses 0. Stevens stone and H. Hawkins 4, E. A. Bland and V. Simpson 7; Misses M. Davidson and .T. Taylor C, Misses O. Smith and D. liouse 7. Men's Singles—J. Roche 4, H. Bland 0; K. McQuilkan !), J. Dolnn 6; I. Johnston 4, K. A. Bland 0; IT. Hawkins 2, G. Weily 0.

Women's Singles—Mips 0. Stevens 5, Miss Tda Bland 7; Mips I. Stoddnrt 7, Miss V. Simpson 0; Miss M. Davidson 7, Mis*? O. Smith G; Miss I. Taylor 5, Mi.ss L>. ItoubO 7. TEMUKA ASSOCIATION CLANDEBOYE B V. ORARI B Ideal weathor for tennis was enjored when i the Clandeboye B team met the Orari B team oil the Orari rourts in the Temuka Town and Country Tennis Association's B grade competition. The match was fvenly contested, the result depending upon the last set. which went in favour of Orari, who won by 73 games to 70 games. The following are the scores, the Clandeboye names being mentioned first; — Women's Singles—Miss Clayton 3, Miss K. Flower 6; Miss Nora Ilickey 1, Mi.ss M. G; Miss E. Jjivesey 5, Mrs W. Watson 6. Men's Singles—W. 11. Rtaniland 6, .T. N. Ueid 2; Geo. Symons 6, E. Ij. Cook 4; K. Neville 6, M. Richardson 1; W. McMillan G, W. E. Cook 5 Women's Doubles—Miss Clayton and Miss N\ Ilickey 4. Misses K. Flower and M. Wissett 6; Misses Livesey and Donehue 1, Miss M. Stevens and Mrs Watson 6. Men's Doubles —W. 11. Staniland and G. Symons 6, J. Roid and M. Kichnrdson 2; K. Npville and W. McMillan 6, E. L. Cook and W. E. Cook 2. Combined Doubles—Miss Clayton and W. IT. Stnniland 5. Miss K. Flower and J. N. Kr-id 6: MU» NT. Ilickey and G. Bymons 3. Miss M. Blissett and E. L. Cook 6; Miss I,i\rs»*y Bnd K. Neville f». Miss M. Stevens and M. Richardson ft: Miss Donehue and W. McMillan 6, Mrs Watson and W. E. Conk* 4. Total?: Clnndcboyp 8 sets, 70 games; Oiiiri, 8 set s , 73 games. DARFIELD V. SPREYDON A friendly match played between Darfield mid Sprcydon resulted »6 follows (Darlield names mentioned first) : | Combined Doubles—Miss Robinson and It. Iteid 9, Hiss Moore and R. Wardell -1; Mrs Norton and Tritt 7, Miss Doxvker and J. Wardell 0; Mrs Pole and D. Adams 0, Miss l'aul and If. Croinptori 4; Miss Kdbrookn and J. Reid 0, Miss R. Parish and M. Miluer J: Miss Register ami R. K'ibinMin a, Miss (<. Sheard and R. Clink ";.Misa Ilennessv and 1". Barltbrop !), Miss E. Satterthv aite and H. Adams a. Women's Double?— Miss Robinson and Mrs Norton 4, Misses Mooro and Dowker i'; Mrs Pole and Miss Kdbrooke 0, Misses Paul and iSatterthwaite 4; Misses "Register and lieunessy 9, Misses Sheard and Parish 1. Men's Doubles—R. Reid and W. Tritt T', R. Wardell and U. Clark B; D. Adams and J". Reid 'J, M. Milner and H. Cromptou o; R. <i. Robinson and F. liarltrop 'J, J. Wardell and IT. Adams 0. Totals—Darfield 101 games, Sprcydon 58.

TAI TAPU V. IRWELL A friendly match was played at the Tai Tapu courts on Saturday between the Irwell and Tai Tapu Clubs. Tai Tapu won by 19 sets to 5. Tho following ara the scores (Tai Tiipu names first): — Men's Singles—D. Suckling 6, H. Baylis 3; W. Walls G. C. Tod 3; L. Brown G. L. Cue y: A. Mangels G, A. lleslep 5; L. Wills G, A. Rowley 1. Women's Singles—Miss Steinmetz 0. Miss E. McLaughlin .1; Miss Dulien 1, Miss X. llcslop G; Miss Ryan 6, Miss It. Winchester R; Miss Ileywood G, Miss L. Coe 5; Miss Brown fi. Miss N. Rowley 4; Mrs Macdonald 4, Miss B. Winchester fi. Combined Doubles—Suckling and Miss Steinmetz (>, Baylis and Miss McLaughlin 4; Walls and Miss Dtilieu 4, Tod and Miss lieslop 6; Brown and Miss Kvan G, Coe and Miss Winchester 5; Mangels and Miss Hoywood 5, Ileslop and Miss Coo 6; G. Suckling and Miss Brown G, Wagner and Miss Rowley 4; L. Wills and Jlrs Macdonald 0, Rowley and Miss U. Winchester 2. Men's Doubles—D. Suckling and Walls G, Baylis and Tod 3 : Brown and Mangels G, Coe and Heslop 2; Suckling and Wills G, Waguer and A. Rowley 2. Women's Doubles—Misses Steinmetz and Dulieu G, Misses McLaughlin and Heslop 4; Misses Ryan and Ileywood G, Misses R. and B. Winchester 2; Miss Brown and Mrs Macdonald 5, Misses Coo and Rowley G. A TENNIS MARVEL No player who has felt sadly handicapped by a second rate racquet can now make the cost an excuse! For a few days, 150 of the finest racquets made (1934-35 Season) are selling at The Tennis Shop for Half-Price! Visit 127 Armagh street and get a firstclass racquet for pounds less! —4