McKENZIE WINS MEN'S TITLE FOR THIRD YEAR

Chronicle (Levin), 12 January 1948, Page 7

McKENZIE WINS MEN'S TITLE FOR THIRD YEAR

AUCKLAND, Jan. 11. New- ehampiona were crowned in four events as the result of play in the finals of the New Zealand lawn tennis championships held at the rStanley Street courts yesterday and today. R. S. McKenzie, the defending men'sj chamjiion, becarne the first player in" niore than 40 years to win the championship in three successive years, the last to have performed the feat being H. A. Parker in 1904. The new cha'mpions are as follow: — Men's singles: R. S. McKenzie (Wellington) . Women' s Singles: Miss E. G. Attwood . (Auckland). Men's doubles: R. S. McKenzie and S. Painter (Wellington). Women 's doubles: Misses Attwoou and M. 1a Kerr (Otago). Mixed doubles: McKenzie and Mrs. J. J. McVay (Wellington). Beeause of the heavy downpour on Friday afternoon and evening,. thtstart of play yesterday was delayeu until noon and only two finals, tne nren's and women 's singles, were completed according to sehedule. The semilinals of the doubles event were then staged and the finals in these were piayed this afternoon. Conditions yesterday afternoon were good and a crowd of about 3500 attended. A gate eharge eould not be niade for today 's matches but a crowd of more than 2000 contributed over £100 to a eollection. McKenzie won his title with greater ease than expected from J. E. Robson, his Davis Cup teani mate, who had defeated him in the final of the North Island ehampionship at Hawera before the New Year. The champion's superioritv was niost marked partictilariy in tlie second and third sets in whieh he lost only four games all told. Robson made good use of a brilliant baekhana straight down the line to pass McKenzie on many oecasions as he came into the net but in his eagerness to get a net position Robson made many errors and was most unreliable on service. Altogether he dropped eiglit of his 1-1 service games. McKenzie, on the other hand, lost only three of his 14 services aittl some of his high kicking second services forced Robson into errors. iUiss Kerr failed to offer the resistance expected to Miss Attwood who was funner-up for the title to Miss M. Beverley last year. Miss Kerr was paiufuliy nervous to begin with and won only one point in the first three games and only 17 in the first set whicli was completed in 16 minutes. The second set was mucli better fought although a goo,d deal of play in it was patball. Miss Attwood built up a leaa of 3 — 0, then lost three in a row and each took the other 's service games until 6 — all Miss Attwood, meanwhile, rnaintained her accuracy and seldom made any kind of error and in the last two games broke through Miss Kerr's service and lield her owu for the match. Because of the uncertainty of her service — she lost nine of her eleven service games— Miss Kerr served underhaud on several oecasions but the gain in accuracy was ofi'set'bv- the speed with whicli Miss Attwc od dealt- with these shots. McKenzie and Painter deservedJy took the men's doubles title away from Robson and O. M. Bold, last year's champions, for tlieir volleying was more se\ ere and Painter, in particular, piayed an outstanding ganie with reliabie returus of service and clean volleying. McKenzie flashed into the pieture witn brilliant shot.s but both Robson and Bold only rarelv produced their best tennis, their worst fault being to hang back from the net in volleying attacKs. The first set was well contested but at'ter that McKenzie and Painter had an easy run, Misses Kerr and Attwood defeated last year's champions, Misses Beverley and B. Potter, to. win the women 's doubles. Miss Attwood was particutarly efiicient with driving off both hands and Miss Kerr with attacking lobs whicli forced the old ( hampions back from the net and ereated openings for attacking play. It was a surprising victory. The ue%v champions had had little experience together but it was well earned. McKenzie and Mrs. McVay seemed assufed of an easy win in the mixed doubles' final wlien they won the first set and lecl 3 — 1 in the second, but McKenzie then struck a bad ; pateh ot many errors and Bold and Miss Potter, the favourites of>tlie crowd, secured th9 set and made a good fight for -the third. ,In this McKenzie 's strength overhead and his interceptions at the net were of vital importance and there was great applause for him after he had won his third title. Results for the two days of play were: — MEN'S SINGLES Pinal. R. S. McKenzie (Wellington) beat j. E. Robson (Otago) 7 — 5, > — 2, 6 — z. WOMEN' S SINGLES. Final. Miss E. G. Attwood (Auckland) beat Miss M. L. Kerr (Otago) 6 — 2, S — 6. MEN'S DOUBLES Semi-finals. McKenzie and H. Painter (Wellington) beat O. Angas (Wellington) and R. Cr. Pattinson (Canterbury) 6 — 1, 6—3, 6—2. O. M. Bold (Hutt Valley) and Robson beat N. F. Bedford and J. A. Barry (Auckland) 6 — 8, 6 — 3, 6 — 3, 6 — 3. Final. McKenzie and Painter beat Robson and Bold 10 — 8, 6 — 1, 6 — 2. WOMEN 'S DOUBLES Semi-finals. Misses Kerr and Attwood beat Mes dames J. J. McVay and »S. Painter (Wellington) 6 — 1, 6 — 4. Misses Beverley (Waikato) and B. Potter (Auckland) beat Misses J. Hansen and Z. Swanson (Auckland) 6 — jl , 4—6, 6—3. Final. Misses Kerr and Attwood beat Misses Beverley and Potter 6—3, 6 — 3. , MIXED DOUBLES Semi-finals. Bold and Miss Potter beat Robson and Miss Kerr 6 — 2, 6 — 2. McKenzie and Mrs. McVay beat

Painter and Mrs. Painter 6—1, 8 — 6. Final. McKenzie and Mrs. McVay beat Bold and Miss Potter 6 — 1, 3 — 6, 6 — 3. NEW ZEALAND PLATE Men's Semi-finals. B. E. Souter (Auckland) beat R. G. Pattinson (Canterbury) 6—4, 10 — 8. A. W. Tills (Auckland) beat A. J. Seeley (Auckland) 6 — 0, 6 — 1. Final. Tills beat Souter 6 — 4, 6 — 2. Women 's Semi-finals. Miss A. Walker (Wellington) beat Miss W. Redwood (Auckland) '2 — 6, 6—0, 6—2. Mrs. S. Painter (Wellington) beat Miss J, McL. Wallaee (Auckland) 2 — 6, 6—2, 6—3. Final. Mrs. Painter beat Miss Walker 6 — 3, 2—6, 6—4.