LAWN TENNIS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 175, 19 April 1919, Page 2

LAWN TENNIS

A GREAT REVIVAL (From a Correspondent of the London "Times.") When the kit of a certain divisional headquarters was being unloaded on tho steps of the hali'-ruincd chateau at '—. oil tho night before the Cambrai battlo of jNoveniber, 1!)17, one of tlie first things lo bo .noticed was a lawn tennis racket in a press. As all kit which was not essential. for the action .should have been It'll behind in a back area, and no i'iio could call a tennis racket a suitable instrument of attack in such a battle, it win quickly removed by tho owner, lint I believe that that tennis racket accompanied jts owner to every operation to which he v,-ent, but that after Cambrai ic was always carried in his own car.

There were many officers who had rackets with them all the time they vrero in Franco, and who played whenever the opportunity presented itself. Hut: there are .'very few courts in Northern France, and unless one happened to ho near Le Touquet, Boulogne, or Calais the prospects of a game wero remote. 'Hie U.A.F. built some courts in various places, but divisions were seldom at "rest" in any place for a sufficient lengtli. of time to 'make it worth their while to, build anything. Still it was a sign of > the popularity of the game that so many men always hud rackets with them in tho hope that they would be able to play.

„ The Coming Season. The first open season since l!)I-f already shews signs of very marked susxss. Meetings already arranged and being arranged will coyer a. wide field, beginning at Cannes, Mentone, Monte Carlo, Hyeres, San Kemo, and Bordighera- in the early spring, followed by tlie usual cycle of meetings, almost from Lands End 'to •John o' Groats, iu the United Kingdom, and ending with tho Swiss tournaments'in th i autumn. These mountain meetings have always been supported' strongly by English players, since they afford an excellent lonic to. the tired player after a long season. There is no reason to be alarmed at the prospects of our younger players. M'i. F. G. Lowe and.his brother, Mr.. A. 11. Lowe, need only to cultivate the art of volleying and to strengthen their overhead play, which is at present only tentative, to place .them among the leading players of the game, Lieutenant-Col-oeel A. R. l'\ Kingscotc,. M.C., a natural player, with beautifully controlled drives oil both wings, fine volleying.powers and forceful -.methods,'•' though disappointing the year tho war broke, out, has not yet reached "his best. ■ The old Army eliaiuliion learned the gnme on the picturesque courts, of tho Chateau d'Ocx Club in Switzerland,-ami-is the son of "Lucas Cieeve."- the novelist. Mr. M. Mav,'rrgordato, one of the most diminutive players iu the game, is a dangerous opponent, always liable to upset the calculations of a superior adversary, while Mr. A'E. Beamish, an old Harrovian,- if ■he can o'nlv conquer his erratic temperament, will be,.'.lot only a stylist without . cqual,i. but-a possible candidate for tho highest honouis at Wimbledon. Although there will be no Davis Cup contests until 1920, - t|ie great AV iinbledon meeting promises to be as brilliant a social and sporting function as ever. There will, of course, bo no German entries. hut the usual 1 number of colonial •md Allied players from Australia, Canada, South Africa, America. France, and Belgium—and possibly Italy and Japan—will be warmlv Welcomed. Mr. '/>. Sliiuiidziv the Japanese player, who created such n favourable impression when visiting this country, in' 191G, is. at present, competing in tho championships of Bengal, and his form will 1m watched with interest, wlule_ another Japanese, in the person of Mr. .Kumagae, has been eiiioving a run of success in the United States during tho past few W S ' , ,i, >r \t It is not known yet whether Mr. Iw E Brookes, the champion, will defend his title.,but M.,Jlas Dccugis, M.. Andro Gobei't. 31. Germet, and M. Vi. _H. Laurenix, from France, Mr. R. N. Donst, tlie very fast Australian, and Chevalier Paul de Bornian, of Belgium, may all appear once again on the scenes of their Vcnner triumphs. Mrs. Lambert .Chiitnbers will probably still reign supremo among the ladies, with- her .perfect stance and wonderful collection of strokes. Mrs. Larcombe, with her volleying, 'and the plucky little French player, iVI Swwiuno Lcnglsr, tho champion of ill-fated Picardy slio : avoii the. title v/hon fourteen years of rrp■strc the oilly lody ployers who would srem to hnvo a chance of success in tho championship against the present clmmj pinit.