EDWARDS'S FINE WIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 2, 4 January 1939, Page 11

EDWARDS'S FINE WIN

NATIONAL TENNIS TOURNEY

WELLINGTON PLAYERS DO WELL

(Special to "The Post" by "Bally.") CHRISTCHURCiI, This Day v N. V. Edwards, Wellington tennis champion, yesterday scored the most illustrious win of his career by defeating A. D. Brown, New Zealand champion, in the quarter-final of the men's national singles championship. Recovering magnificently from easy defeat in the first set, Edwards'scored the next three by outplaying the champion, and the qualities of his courage and tennis skill were .consistently adn*irable. His victory was the major upset of the tournament. The third day of the tournament was favoured in the weather. The day was overcast and, until late afternoon, still, but the heat was considerable. K. W. Dyer, another Wellingtonian, played some of the best tennis of his career to win the first two sets of his match with J. T. Mayson; and though, he lost in the fifth set, his display, was admirable. It was notable, too, for its fine sportsmanship. Dyer has become a personality of the tournament. His,consistent cheeriness and his ability to come up smiling in situations where the, luck is against him have made him the favourite of the galleries. With Miss Jessie Burns, Dyer later had revenge on Mayson. The Wellington players entered the fourth roimd of the mixed doubles by upsetting the seventh seeded combination of ,Miss Thelma Poole and Mayson— in spite of a 5-3 deficit in the third set. ! E. A. Sloussell and R. M. Ferkins, playing-thrbugh champions, reached the semi-final of the men's doubles by a straight sets defeat of the Canterbury pair, Morris and Sheppard. R. V. Robb and Miss Joyce Douthett, Wellington mixed champions, played with capital coolness in two hard mixed doubles matches, and won both. Miss vDouthett scored a notable victory over Miss Irene Poole, second ranked player of Canterbury, in a Plate match which showed Wellington's .possibili•ties for the Nunneley Casket challenge match with Canterbury next week. Edwards and Mrs.- Edwards won two victories in the mixed doubles. N. A. Morrison, of Victoria * College, and Miss Joyce Bedford, defeated the - Hawke's Bay-Wellington combination, S. Painter and Mrs. Herrick. EDWARDS'S STRATEGY. When Edwards lost the first set to Jdrown with only one game, the indications were that he might just as well stop then. Brown's belting forehands carried far too much pace for Edwards and these backhand to backhand exchanges, which remained a feature of the match, ended frequently with Edwards's errors? But Edwards is one of the rare sort that fight "like tigers without any change in expression. There were no signs, as they began rallying for the set, that he was determined to do. or to die. He played as he plays, with good concentration? and j easy, effortless strokes. .. ,-. . ' ,_j From, Brown. /the, j strategy 'Xoiy the, , match passed to Edwards. He dictated i the conditions of the, rallies, by seating a, perfect length, from which he, seldom varied. Brown' accepted the j terms; he' was content to play long J rallies, to lessen the pace of his shots, ! to search patiently for'openings. The story of the match was that at that type of game he could not compare with Edwards. If Brown had staked everything on victory, he might have won. -He was not, it is true, at his.best. But, even if he! h_.d been, he -would still have lost if he had been willing to play to Edwards's strategy. His chance was ' to hit, to hurry Edwards from the rhythm of his stroke. Edwards, for all that, played un- : commonly well. He watched the ball : oh to the racket, and though his drives were not over-pacy, they were well placed If he can hold to his form •he must shape as a title; prospect, DYER WORRIES MAYSON. Dyer began his match with Mayson by. advancing to a 4-0 lead and then losing four games in a row. He won the next two. In the second set the same thing happened. He led 4-1, lost three games, and took the next two. He had been hitting with great freedom, pace, and accuracy,, and when he advanced to the net his angled volleys were powerfully punched to the gaps. It was plain that Mayson was worried. There were better answers to his best shots as Dyer made wonderful/ gets and lobbed superbly. Dyer really lost the match in the third set. He was fearful of lessening his grip. on the game, and to prevent its loss continued to hit hard. His touch was not quite so delicate, and he began to net with many drives, even from half-court. As he began to realise that if he continued the pressure he must defeat Mayson, but that accuracy was essential to that pressure, he became anxious. Mayson crawled home, a most thankful player, at 64 in the fifth set, from a Dyer still full of fight, but lacking the golden touch of those first two skilfully-played sets. Dyer deserved to win, but there was honour rather than disgrace in defeat. FINE MIXED DOUBLE. Dyer's match with Miss Burns in the mixed double was as enjoyable as the games in which the pair play always seem to be. Miss Burns was nervous with her errors in the first set. Dyer coaxed her into her best form; and despite a moderate specimen of Canterbury's famed nor'-wester, whicn sprang up late,in the day, he himself played splendidly throughout. The two, deserved their win from an onpaper stronger pair. Dyer's angled volleys won many . points, and Miss Burns returned service and held her own, after the initial period of nervousness, most competently. The two were down 5-3 in the third set. Dyer, as expected, held his own, but Mayson lost his usually good service to love. And Dyer and Miss Burns won the next two games for the match. The good form of Robb and Miss Douthett at Wellington was confirmed by their successes yesterday. They defeated C. B. Beatson and Mrs. Beatson (the former Marjorie Sherris), in spite of easy defeat in the first set, by playing the ball away from Beatson's vigorous smash. And in the second match, they defeated J. Roach, of Waikato, and Miss B. Bishop, of Auckland, a most competent pair, in the third set. Roach has the finest backhand volley in the country, a remarkable weapon of immense speed. The Wellington pair took good' care to keep away from it. They used lobs with discriminating accuracy and drove the other pair, both excellent voUeyers. from the net at every opportunity. MISS HARDCASTLE HITS HARD. Miss Elizabeth Plummer gave Miss Thelma Rice a staunch battle on an outside court without ever quite suggesting that she was likely to win. Miss Rice's speed and mobility were rather too much. Miss May Hardcastle, the

other Australian, generated remarkable speed in driving in her match with Miss Thelma Poole, who also hit hard. It was a fine exhibition of big and paceful hitting. N. G. Sturt bowed in three straight sets to Charlie Angas. Sturt, played badly; Angas played well, volleying a good deal for placements. Roussell and Ferkins were not greatly troubled by Morris and Sheppard.; Sheppard still shows traces of the skill of other days, when he -was little behind Geoff. Ollivier in skill. Some of his cross-court shots against the champions showed the old touch. J. W. Gunn arid N. F. N. Bedford won in three straight sets from H. Dymond and I. Corich most convincingly. They may be difficult in the championship. One of the disappointed players of the day was F. H. Renouf, of Wellington. In a late match with Miss Joan Forrester against C. F. Penfold and Miss Thelma Rice, he carried the score to the third set and had his service to follow from 3-5 own. His nose suddenly began bleeding and he complained of illness. The match was stopped. . Medical advice was called. Later it was announced that because of his head injury in the accident on Sunday which ended Miss Margaret Beverley's play, he had scratched from the rest of the match—the authorities were willing to let him continue, having regard to the circumstances—and from a second-round Plate match with E. A. Roussell. Renouf has beaten Roussell in recent practice matches. He was keen to show his best in the match, for he has had hopes of earning selection for the New , Zealand junior team to visit Australia. In the tournament itself, he had been playing finely and in spite of his accident he had, at one stage, a strong lead against K. Dyer on Monday. Consequently he found it difficult to withdraw from the tournament, though in the circumstances it would have been folly for him to continue. RESULTS OF THE GAMES. Detailed results are:— MEN'S SINGLES. Third Kound.— J. T. Mayson (Auckland) beat K. W. Dyer (Wellington), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4; R. G. Pattinson (Canterbury) beat B. E. Souter (Canterbury),' 0-0. 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. Quarter-finals. —C. Angas (Canterbury) beat N. G. Sturt (Auckland), 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. MEN'S DOUBLES. Quarter-finals.—R. McL. Ferkins and Roussell (Wellington) beat Sheppard and Morris (Canterbury). 6-3, 6-3, 6-4; Cant and Barnett (Canterbury) beat Smith and Falconer (Otago), C-3. 6-1, 0-7; Gunn and Bedford (Auckland) beat Dymond and Corich (Canterbury), 6-0, (5-3, 6-2. RJIXED DOUBLES. First Round.—B. V. Robb and AfiS3 J. Douthett (Wellington) beat C. B. Beatson and Mrs. Beatson (Nelson), 0-1, 6-2; N. V. Edwards and Mrs. Edwards (Wellington) beat D. I. Robertson and Miss Elsom (Canterbury), 3-6. 6-3, 6-2. Second Round.— C. Angas and Miss 1, Poole (Canterbury) beat R. Howe (Southland) and Miss M. Howe (Wellington), 6-3, 6-4; A. D. 1 Brown (Canterbury) and Miss P. Cooke (Auckland) beat R. Browning, and Miss B. .Gould (Canterbury), 0-2, 6-1; Robb and Miss Douthett (Wellington) beat J. Roach (Waikato) and Miss B. L. Bishop (Auckland), 6-3, 5-7, 6-8; Edwards and Mrs. Edwards (Wellington) beat B J. Kelly (Wellington) and Miss D. Elsom (Canterbury), 6-0, 2-6, 7-5; R. 3. D. Sharpoand Miss M. J. Glenny (Hawke's Bay) beat E. S. Falconer (Otago) and Miss M. Sexton (Manawatu). 6-4, 6-3; N.-P. N. Bedford (Auckland) and Miss E. Plummer (Wellington) beat N. Adams and Miss J. H. Peake (Canterbury), 6-4. 6-1; C. P. Penfold (Canterbury) and Miss r. Rice (Australia) v. P. H. Renouf and Miss J. Forrester (Wellington). 3-G, 6-3, 5-3 (unfinished) ; N. A. Morrison (Canterbury) and Miss ,1, Bedford (Wellinßton) beat S. Painter .(Canterbury)' and Mrs. Horrich (Hawke's Bay), 4-7, (5-2, 6-2; N. G. Sturt (Auckland) and Miss M. Hardcastlo (Australia) beat A. R. Cant and Mrs. E. M. Peppier (Canterbury), 6-3. 6-2. Third Round. —C. Robertson (Otago) ana Miss R. ,T. Wilson (Southland) beat P. D. McGregor and Miss I. Morrison , (Canterbury). 6-4, 6-2; K. W. Dyer and Miss J. Burns (Wellington) beat J. T. Mayson (Auckland) and Miss T. Poole (Canterbury), 7-5, 7-0, 7-5. MEN'S PLATE. C. F. Penfold beat M. Ferkins, 9-11. 6-2, 11-9; P. D. McGregor beat C. H. Baird, 6-0. 6-2; C. B. Beatson beat A. Burke, 7-o, fi-4", N. A. Morrison beat J. W. Arnold, 0-4. 7-5. Second Round.—Roach beat pymond by default: F. H." Renouf heat T,.'Morris. T-5, 8-b, E. A. Roussell beat T. D. C. Childs, 6-1. 6-o. WOMEN'S PLATE. First Round.-Mlss M. J. Glenny beat Mrs. N. V. Edwards, 6-2, 6-1; Miss J. Senior beat Mi<?s M Sefton. 6-2. 6-1; Miss C. Chester beat Mrs! Herrick? 6-3 6-2; Miss N. Beverley beat Miss J. Forrester, 6-2, 6-1,