LAWN TENNIS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 12

LAWN TENNIS.

With the closing of the grass courts, the tennis summer season ends. The Thorndon courts closed last Saturday, and the association's lease of the Day's Bay courts, expired at the end of last month. But, unlike other summer 6ports, tennis has its winter season, and so the next six months will see good attendances on the' asphalt courts. The results of the past season are, in many respects, .disappointing. ,The inter-club competitions and the association's tournaments are good barometers by which we can gauge the state of the game, and these barometers show a decided fall. This fall means a lack of interest on the part of the players. But why should this be so? The association is now stronger numerically in both clubs and members than it has over been, and the weather conditions .were exceptionally favourable during the summer. Under these circumstances we must look to. the programmes or conditions governing the competitions and tournaments for the causes of this want of interest.

At the beginning of the season the association decided to amend tho conditions of the inter-club competitions, so as to make them more attractive to all players. It wis haidly to be expected that tho new. scheme would work smoothly from start to finish in its first -year, but the support of the members of the competing clubs was necessary to give it a fair trial. And this is where the scheme failed. The men jn the shield grade were treated more liberally than those in-the lower grades, yet somo of these players, after, taking part in the first round,, in which they 'played singles and doubles, refused to pjay in the second round, in which com-bined-doubles were to be played. This led _to some of tho teams defaulting their matches without any consideration for their opponents. Then, again, the shield grade teams were drawn to play' overy Saturday, and as the number of courts available was limited the junior grade teams had to be content with a match every other Saturday; in fact, some had to wait three weeks at times. So it is riot to be wondered at that the interest of the juniors waned towards the end' of tho season, and that several of the cup grade teams withdrew from the competition. Players in the pennant and racket grades were treated to the samo long intervala between the matches, but the greater ' enthusiasm amongst, tho players, in these grades kept.their interest up to the- finish. Naturally match tennis under these con-, ditipns could hardly bo a success. Amongst the playors' who ■' were ■■ best provided, for in the new scheme were the very ones to break faith; with their teams, arid_by doing so were.responsible for the failure of the scheme in the senior grade. The effect of this lack of interest in these matches was thtt the players did not pr'aotise properly, and then when the association's tournaments came round, hot being fit, they did not enter. As a. rule, these.tournaments attract: a fair attendance of> the general public, but the tournaments-of the past season :■ have been very poorly attended. This is a serious matter,' when we consider that the standard of local tennis is higher than in any other- part of the Dominion. But this apathy on the part of the public cannot be shifted until the association provides a ground in or near the city, on which all the competitions and tournaments can be ;held. Then tennis will become as attractive to both players and general public as any other sport. Under.the present conditions, int<jr-club matches between any two teams in the first and second grades have'to be played on two different grounds.

Even under these adverse conditions there has been much improvement in the standard of individual play. Several .of our younger players'have asserted themselves, but the most notable improvement is that of R. N. K. Swanston,, who has never been -in better form than he was in this past season; Unfortunately, he was unable to attend tho Now Zealand meeting, and was also unable to go south to take part in the Canterbury v. Wellington match, when he would _ have met Ollivier, who defeated him last year.

Geo. Prouse has strengthened his position, amongst our foremost exponents; He has put lip some fine performances during the season. At the New Zealand meeting ho met Upton, the Auckland champion, in the first round of the-singles, and had haW luck in losing a well-contested five-set; match. At the. Palmerston.North tournament, held last month, he won the singles championship, after defeating F. M. B. Fisher, and' in this match, and also in the inter-club matches, he has shown that his ground strokes are second only to Swanston's. -When he improves his net play, he will take a place in our best. six. -

L, Hawkins is another who has advanced into our front rank, but he can only be classed as a singles player of great staying powers. In , a grade, lower than the abovementioned players, wo- . have some greatly advanced players in Cornell, Eller, Cleghornj and Wright. Others bay© shown improvement, but not to th© extent that those four have done. Cornel] wants practice more with'senior players. He has everything els© that goes to make the. top-notehcr. Had Eller practised seriously during the season, he would probably have been able to claim that he was the most-improved player in the city. As it is,' his recent performances show, clearly that he is the making Of a fine player. In tho 'Wellington Club's championships ho defeated a solid player in J. S. Wilson, after a three-set match, arid at the recent tournament he won the junior singles championship, and, partnered with P. Clarke, won., tho junior doubles. Clarke is better in a doublo than in a single, and if and Eller practise together systematically they will find a place before long in our senior tennis. Wo have to look to the results of th© inter-club matches to see how Cleghorn has come on. As a combined doubles player ho has been most successful throughout the season. _ His latest success was in tho University tournament, when, partnered with Miss Reeve, ho won tho combined doubles championship. He has a. nice stylo and. plenty of nerve. Wright is a singles player, who can cover an inv.tcnse amount of court. He has a fr..e service, has good forehand and backhand drives, and keeps up n. good pace and fine length, but. is generally too anxious to make the winning stroke. Residing across the

harbour, he has few opportunities for good practice, but he has years before him, so he has time yet. Coming to the ladies, we see few changes. Miss Nunneley is still our bost. A temporary lack of form was apparent at the time of the New Zealand meeting, and this no doubt accounted to some degree to her being so decisively defeated by Miss Powdrell. Since then, however, Miss Nunneley has been playing splendidly, and her recent defeat of Miss Travers after a great match leaves little doubt as to her ability to win back the New Zealand singles championship. Miss Travers is undoubtedly our most improved lady player, and in tho writer's opinion is third only to Misses Powdrell and Nunneley.

Miss Dimant seems to be taking more interest in the game, and, having the oommand of some good strokes, should' win a place amongst our seniors before long.

Amongst our junior ladies we have some promising players in Misses Morgan, Atmore, Webb, Curtis, and-Caver-hill.

The 1910-1911 season promises to bo a splendid one for local tennis, and should' see lawn tennis take a leading place amongst our summer sports. Next December the match between the champion nations of the world for the Davis Cup will be played in Wellington. Then will follow the New Zealand championships, and on top of these will come our own provincial championships. Besides these events there is the possibility of an Australian team of men and ladies visiting us at the same time, and as a large' number of southern players are almost sure to be up here there should be a chance of playing off .the Canterbury-Wellington match. The above programme looks big on paper, but the bigger the programme the better the opportunities. All we want now is somo spirit to stir up the local association and the local club committee and make a move that will be a justification for the public' 6 interest, without which we can "never, hope to succeed.

(By Seevee.)