NATIONAL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Two Americans qualify for quarter-finals

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32819, 20 January 1972, Page 20

NATIONAL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS Two Americans qualify for quarter-finals

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND. Two of the band of quiet Americans on the New Zealand tennis circuit yesterday eased their way into the quarter-finals of the BP national championships at Stanley Street.

R. Knight, a lean, languid six-footer from Seattle, beat the Aucklander, J. Ross, in straight sets, and A. Neely, a bespectacled, mild-mannered, 24-year-old from Florida, put out another local man, P. Thomson, in four sets.

Neely, who won the North Island championship last week-end, may go still further because his quarter-final opponent will be R. N. Hawkes (Canterbury) whom he defeated in the Auckland tournament. For Knight, however, it may be the end of this particular road. He now faces O. Parun (Wellington), who has borne New Zealand’s hopes successfully in three of this summer’s tournaments.

Knight, an economics graduate, has not had an especially rewarding time in singles on this circuit. He has struggled long, hard and in vain against D. Simmonds (twice) and J. Fort and he has twice been eliminated by J. Simpson (North Shore) in the last 16.

The key to his game is steadiness rather than pace or power. Against Ross, however, he was quite capable of putting away winners, and he won 6-0, 6-2, 6-3.

Neely had more difficulty in his match. Thomson is no copybook stylist but he is a big, powerful man, and yesterday he served so strongly that he might well have taken the first set.

He lost it at 5-7, and although he won some consolation when he salvaged the third set, he was not seriously in the hunt by then. Neely often picks up points from his forehand passing shot. Seeing that Thomson was an awkward player to pass at the net, Neely dropped his normal pattern and cashed in on - the troubles the Aucklander had with his backhand returns and with his volleying. Hawkes, Neely’s next opponent, barely survived this round. In spite of a bad shoulder that kept him out of tennis for more than a year, the 27-year-old Rhodesian, R. Dowdeswell, had such a golden touch to start with that he even looked a finalist

He was as quick about the court as Hawkes and he reeled off a series of immaculate passing shots; he served and volleyed with authority, and he had Hawkes bewildered and practically beaten. Unfortunately for Dowdeswell, that is what he thought, too. He slackened off just when he should have been tightening up, and as Dowdeswell’s grip eased, Hawkes slipped free. Down one set and 0-4 in the next, he fought back to take that set, and as Dowdeswell lost heart and confidence at the drastic change in fortunes, Hawkes took charge and soon had the match won.

Parun, who is playing with his injured ankle strapped up, was taken aback in his encounter with A. Sutherland when the 21-year-old Waikato University science student came at him firing on all cylinders. Sutherland barely lost a point in his first five service games and went down only 4-5 when it came to the tiebreaker. Once Parun weathered that storm, however, it was plain sailing for him. He looks well

on the way to the title he won two years ago. Abbreviations used in results: Auckland (A.), Australia (Aust.), Canterbury (C.), Jlutt Valley (H.V.), Manawatu (M.), North Shore (N.S.), Rhodesia (R.l, South Africa (SA.), Switzerland (Sw.), Taiwan (T.), United States (U.SA.), Waikato (Wai.). Wellington (Wn). ■ MEN'S SINGLES Third round.—o. Parun (Wn) beat A. Sutherland (Wai.), 7-6, 6- 6-1; R. Knight (USA.) beat J. Ross (A.), 6-0, '6-2, 6-3; A. Neely (U.SA.) beat P. Thomson (A.), 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; R. Hawkes (C.) 1 beat R. Dowdeswell (R.), 3-6, 7- M, 6-2. WOMEN'S SINGLES Second round. — M. Schallau (U.S.A.) beat J. Amer (A.), 6-4, 6-0; A. Lebedeff (U.S.A.) beat S. Monds (A.), 6-3, 7-6. MEN'S DOUBLES Second round.—A. Parun (Wn) and J. Simpson (N.S.). beat Sutherland and Q. Maisey (Wai.), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1; R. Rheinberger (Aust.) and Dowdeswell beat P. Becroft and J. Fergnsson (A.), 6-4, 6-4, 6- S. Faulk (U.S.A.) and Neely beat B. Young and R. Keenan (A.), 6-1. 6-2, S-l; Thomson and R. McGhie (A.) beat D. Turner (N.S.) and J. Ross (A.) 7-6, 4-6, 7- 6-4; D. Hawkes (Wn) and D. Simmonds (H.V.) beat C. Parker (S.A.) and E. White (M.), 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; I. Beverley (Wai) and Knight beat I. Baudlnet and D. Walker (A.), 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; J. Fort and B. Bailey (U.S.A.) beat J. Lockington and A. Burns (A.), 6-3, 64, 3-6. 6-3; O. Parun and R. Hawkes beat P. Brandenberg (S.W.) and D. Corrlek (Aust.), 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.