LAWN TENNIS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1349, 29 January 1912, Page 6

LAWN TENNIS.

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS,

The Wellington provincial lawn tonnis championship and handicap tournament was brought to.a close on Saturday, wjicu Peacock met Swanston in the -chanipionship.singles and Misses Van Slaveren and Davis and Misses Williams and Ba'tham in (lie final for the handicap doubles. Both matches wore characterised" by exceedingly good play. ■ ■ • Most intercity of course, oentrqd.in tho championship single, wJiich proved a very oven contest... In' tho opening Swantiton started weakly, and Peacock, who wae in tho best of form, was quickly leading .4 love. Then- Swanston recovered somewhat and fought hard for this set, which ho secured, -7—5, thus winning .7 .games while his opponent scored one. Tho second sot wont to Peacock rather oasily, the scoro reading 6—2. The third set proved a very long one. -reaching the unusual scoro of Peacock in this set led I—l, then Swauston evened, and 4 all and 5 all was called. Tho next game went to Swaiiston eu his own service, G—s. Swanston led, but'ho foiled to take tho necossary gamo off Peacock's por\*iqe, .which made the score. G all. Swnnston again failed to take tho next game on his own service. Peacock Uiiis hold the advantage, but ho in turn failed on his-serve, mnlcing the sooTO 7 all. From then on each player won on his own ssrvico until' 12 oil was reached. Swanston then tired, and Peacock, coming up to the net, carried off the next two games and set by well-placed shots. Peacock now led 2 sets to one, and then held the advantage right _ through, winning the. remaining and deciding'sot, G—l. • The final of the ladies' handicap doubles between Misses Davis and Van Stavcren and Misses Williams and Batha.ni proved, an interesting event and was productive of mine real good tennis. The formw pair (2) won from the latter (owe 10), 60—40. Miss Davis, who had tho bulk .of tho work, excelled herself, playing accurately and drivin? well. Miss-Van Rtayeren was also in the best of form, and the pair had a well-merited victory. RESULTS. Men's Championship Singles (H. A. Parker holder, 1911).— J. C. Peacock bcat:R. X. K. Swanston, 5-7, 6-2, G-4. Ladies , Handicap Doubles.—Misses Van Staveren and Davis (2) beat Misses Williams and Bathnm (owe 10), 60^40. NEW ZEALAND PLAYERS AND METHODS. AN AUSTRALIAN CRITIC. ; New Zealand has ou : . two occasions in the last ten years Rent teams of- full strength to compete in a contest against representatives of -.New.. South' Wales, 'and (writes the special -correspondent of the "Sydney Morning 'Herald") ■■the- results of "those contests—both "victories for the Dominion—certainly justified the opinion thnt her players wcro a shade better than those of the first offspring of the Motherland in the south'. , .' Since then, however, her bost player (omitting' Wilding), namely, H. A. Parker, has been a resident o'f New South Wales, and all her players, lifco : those of New.' South Wales, verged on the sere and , vellow'leaf of the autumn of life, and harclljany'riew players have taken their place/. " ' The relative.strength of the players of New Zealand and Now South Wales was therefore' once 'again ah open question. Last year, it is true, H.'A. Parker himself came over, and was beaten. by Peacock, but thosb who were fully informed knew that Parker was 1 not in any form, and the result had to be disregarded as a test. '" •• ■ .

Taking advantage of their intended trip to New Zealand for the Davis Cup, seve-. ral plaj - ers of known strength competed this year-in the New Zealand championship, and we are noV fairly able to judge on actual result's. Only fairly, however, for in 'the first place nono .of ' our Australian players went there to compete iii these events. Brookes, Dunlop, Heath, and Rice were out after higher game,' and Arthur O'Hava Wood and Kidstorij were only there to see the cup, and had' ho actual opportunities of devoting, themselves to the necessary preparation. / Another item to be considered is the manner in which these cpntesU are conducted, and the bad condition of the courts. Lawn tennis on a court on which a firm footing is almost impossible, save with spiked shoes, and'on which-the ball rebounds with reluctance, as if it had hit a heap of mud, almost. eliminates, and certainly penalises, the back court game, find the mere net-rusher has the best of it, if only ho can ensure a foothold. The other detriment is the manner of conducting a tournament in New Zealand. The present system only provides an interesting tournament—a pleasant three days break in the monotony of toil—it cannot bo regarded as a serious method of determining who is the best singles player, or which aro .tlio best pair in the Dominion. '

Till New Zealand federates on this question, and determines which nro tho best centres, one in each island,, at' which to hold tho championships, and provides properly-appointed grounds on which tho tournament will bo contested for a week, victory will go to the riian of iron constitution, or to the luckiest in the draw, rather than to the best player. This, it is true, has. happened'this year, for Ollivier is to-day tho best player resident in Now Zealand, and tho makings of'a very fine player. In view of the way he was extended by Kidston—and, indeed, ho only just escaped a two. sets to' nqne lead, which would have probably meant defeat, by themargin of an inch miss of the side line—New Zealand players must to-day bo rated as being, distinctly below those of flic Continent,'for, .though Kidston still has his good days, .and that in spito of the damp courts' was "one of them, there are half a dozen players in New South Wales and Victoria who would beat him depisivelv.

Ollivier's defeat of O'Hara Wood, of course, shows nioro in bis favour; but tho damp court entirely killed Wood's game, and,particularly told against . his halfvolleying tactics.. Ollivicr states that his month's hard practice with the American players, during' which he mot them every day; had improved him quite 15, and there is hardly any doubt it would. lie is a (all, lathy player, somewhat like Skipper in action, but, of course, much more powerful and skilled. His stylo- is distinctly laboured,..especially in his service; but at (ho -moment ot hitting (he ball he is very open in his action., His forehand is very clean and powerful, both on the ground and on the volley, and he excels in ,1 low forehand chop volley, which goes acutely across court, nud the ball is seldom reached, as it usually strikes within a'fool of the line. It is a shot that cau bis 'anticipated, but even then is hard to pick up. His smash is powerful, and he cross-courts it by. slanting the racket as he hits. His American service has a (reniendous break, and his second is if anything faster than tho first, and he seldom double faults. His backhand is rakey and awkward, and is a very weak spot, but he covers it well, and any attempt to open it up by first hitting the ball to his forehand gives him a chanco to attack, which he generally takes. His network is very skilful,.and he saved his match against ludston by getting close in and dropping the ball short. On tho'dead courts Kidston had no answer to this stroke. It is said he fails at a crisis and Jacks stamina, but the writer saw no evidence of this—quite to the contrary. Peacock and i'isher are bath strong players, but they have lost the dash of their youth. Peacock plays too methodical a game, which has no surprises, and i-'isher goes to the other extreme in runniug the gamut of every .stroke for no apparent reason savo variety. Overhead, however, he is one of tho most powerful volleyers we have, and kills anything weak with certainly nnd power. Tho lady players of N'cw Zealand we, in (he main, better than (hose of any State, not excepting Victoria. Miss Powdrell, distinctly their best player, did not compete; but Misse? Nuniietoy, Gray, Uaird, Travers, and Hartgill are all of the class of Misses Stewart and'Addison, of 'Victoria, though not quito so good. Miss Gray is easily the best lady vollcyer in Australasia to-day, and ran in on her services to Miss Numieley in tho ladies' doubles; sho was both accurate and deadly Her forehand driving is severe and well placed, and she tosses and scores by pace or by want of it with,great judgment. Hiss 1 ravers, tho champion of last year, has fine forehand and backhand drives, which keep vory low, and are hard to pick up She has no volley, but is very suro on the strokes slio has, and places them well Miss Nunneley has lost a lot of her stin»' but is still to tho fore. Miss Buird show* signs of great improvement, and Miss Hartgill is very powerful, and drives with great paoe and surety. Their six best lady players would, I think, easily defeat the best six in \\t S . tralia; but Misses Stewart and'Addison of Victoria, would defeat all' but Miss Puwdrell,