THE LAWN TENNIS PLAYER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 281, 1 October 1889, Page 4

THE LAWN TENNIS PLAYER.

(All the Year Round.) The professional lawn tenni* player, male and female, is also another gain in society. Wo apol gise most humbly for the designation, for we are well aware that (happily) tbere are no " professional " lawn tennig players in this country. But the game hns now become the serious occupation of so naany young men and women of leisure that it is difficult not to regard it as a di»tinct calling. The player of the highest grace is a sad and earnest person whose whole life is spent in trying to get "fifteen- .better.,'- than anybody else ; ami wh'eri htf or she at length attains that exalted position, sleepless nights and laborious, days are spent in the effort to maintain: it. 9 hose innocent persons who look upon 'awn tenuis merely as a pleasant pastime would be met with a smile of contemptuous pity from a crack player. Morning noon and nighr, all the year round, the stars do no h ing but practice t<he g=<me. In, the summer they move abotit f»om one tournament to another, winning all the best prizes ; and when autumn comes they fly to Cannes, Nice or Algiers, to pursue their favourite ot-enpa im. In the ca^o of Sadies such devotion is the morepmseworlhy,. because ci.the real sacrifices it entails. The lady pinyei*wTi6 really means business lias to let her appearance go. She must \ play, In il, r in, or shine, hfer f,:ce' burned in the sun and iYtckieri in the wind, while all feminine preltincss oi' appaiel is sacrificed lo iha s-out, serviceable garments'.' lioclless shoes, and plain h tsy which aloie are siutablo.j ,j , gutter of ribbons and lac's ab(i*it lier tight shoes, or a hat perched insecurely on lu-rhead won Id '• put her off her sfcrcl.e " altogether. ( 'i'dEoosftOiit&tu^eiar.asomovtvbo contrive ief # combine play twitli prettiness, but they are in the minority.