TENNIS REVIEW

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 131, 19 June 1937, Page 17

TENNIS REVIEW

WALLIS MYERS LOOKS BACK CELEBRATED COUPLES Und,er the caption of 'Tqar In and Ypar Out," Mr. A. Wallis Myers, the celebrated tennls critic, has some in_ teresting thifigs to say as editor of Ayr.es' Lawn Tennis Almanack for 1937, He sets out hy remarking that in thp first "Almanpck," recording the happenings of 1907, four pf thp five eyepts at AVfibbledqn were credited io ov.erseas players. In tlfis issuq the propprtlqn registered is exactly reversed. Engiand won four event^, cQncefiing only pne. "That is good measurq fpr ho|ne talent, but there is something else to put'' in the ppt. Thp Dayis Cup was again fiefepfied with honour and glpry. Victory wa? not overwhelming like that of 1935. Few expected itfiat . it wopld be. But this much may ije said — we were luekier tp win the chalIppge rojind by fiye matches tp ioye against the Americans in 1935 than we were to hy three mat.ches to t\yo agaipst the Ausfralians in 1930. There was nptljing like thp margin pf difierenpe fietween ihe tpami 'from the ^tates afid the team from the cpmmpnweaith. '■Qre&t Bpitain ha? nqw held the payis 'jSjip fqr four' successiye yearsrfier ' second qUadrennial rqgion. America had a lease of seyen years (i92Orl930), France one °f six H9271932) apd Australia one Pf fiye (19Q71911 ). AU these epQPhs, it may be noted,'were cpnstructed by celebrated Cpupies. Tiip Ark was entered by pafrs. '' ' Ame4pa!? cun-wihheys were Tilden and Johnston/' AustraUa'S Brookes and Wilding, Englapd's Eerry and Austin, while France had Gocfiet arid Lacoste for two years and Cqchet arid Borotra for three as Iher mairi stalwarts. The story of the Davis Cqp, in'faet, ieyplyes rbimd the ex'plpits of natiqnal leadevs tp which may be added thpse pf Whitman, Larned, Davis, and Ward, of Ameripa, in the initial years, and thpse of the Qohertys and H. Smith ih the qycle that immediately fpllowed. ' flif we ejfcept thq Ren?haws, who were Victqrian champipns, and in pffice before the Davis Ciip Wgs borri, those nanies comprise the hierarchy of lawn tennis. Amcrican Women on Top "The Wightman Cup has now remained in the land of its birth for six years. America's last victory wqs a triumph aH the more remarkable because her then champion (Helen Jacobs) lost both singlqs in straight sets, to British players (K. Stamhiers and D. E. Round). The fatq of tliese annual matches is not of grave import; their value to the prientatiqn o| tfie game is nqt gpverned by victqry. Bfit the record is at variance tp ihe relative coliective skill in the two cpufitries. No English girl wqrth her sgit can be proud of the fact that oniy once in seven years has a British team triumphed at Forest Hills, And that splitary success away fr-om hPme was only gained hpcause' the English cdP' tain. Mrs. Lambqrt Chamhers, who. had gone oyer to play in doubies, was prqvailed upon to play one singles match. The Wightman Cup is due for recovery. jt can be won back if the lqssons. of previous defeats are appreciated and if plans for a successful campaigri are made well in advance. 3 Invidious Comparison "The ball rolled for Fred Perry in 1936. His third successiye victory at Wimbledon was gained by play more resqlute and mprq complete than that of preyipus years. He established what may well prove to be an unassailable record in 'playing through' successfully for three years. He also won the title at Forest Hills, fpr the third time and thus equalled Tilden's achievement of winning the British and American championships twice in the same year. Now, like Tfiden, Perry has fired his last shot as an amateur. "A comparison between these two giants has inevitably invited discussion. A match between them tp-d.ay, while intriguing to the public, would probably prove nothing exqept that the great American is 15 years older than Perry and has lost some of his stamina' on that account. They are both leaders of their epooh, but hasty cpmmentators may be reminded that Tilden did not compete at Wimbledon during the fiye years of his prime--thqt is, from 1922 to 1926. When he first conquered the centre court in 1920 he was oniy at. the begmning of his great career; in '1921, wheq he should have been defeated in the challenge rou'nd by B. I. C. Norton (South Africa), he was a sick man; and in 1930, when he won for a third time, some of the bloom had worn off his game. "Perry's aohievements in 'playing through' Wimbledon fqr three suqcessive years is a unique record, but it does not make him a greater player than Tilden, who 'played through* the American championship for six successive years in an era when the opposition was admittedly stronger. During that period Tilden met W. M. Johnston, the Wimbledon winner of 1923, six times. He won 18 sets to Johnstdn's seven. "There were some new champions in 1936. Helen Jacqbs wpn the singles crown for the first time at Wimbledon, so did Alice Marble at Forest Hills when she beat the, former, who had held the >J.S.A. championship from 1932 to 1835 inclusive. These Californiqn girls are 'great competers'; the have stamina, courag'e and determination. Their reeord i§ wonderful. In the last decade at Wimbledon they have supplied 12 out of the 20 singles finalists. No player from the East of America has won the American national title for 26 years. Californians have held it for 19 years in that period. It was a Caiifornian pair that won the vital Wightman Cup. match at Wimbledon, and it was the same couple that wrosted the Amcrican doubles championship from Miss Jacobs and Mr«. Fmhyan. »»« yarah Palfrey).