LAWN TENNIS AS A NATIONAL GAME

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8339, 28 January 1913, Page 10

LAWN TENNIS AS A NATIONAL GAME

WHY ITS POPULARITY IS INCREASING EA'EBY YEAR.

(By B. Sabelli, in the Sydney “Referee.”) The game of lawn tennis did not obtain a firm footing in England until tho year 1874. waeu it was introduced by a Major Winfield under the name of ■‘Snfianstiko,’’ the court being marked in quite a different manner from tfie present rectangular shape. In those days the net was lit high at either end and 4ft Sin in the centre, and, consequently, the hard, low hitting of the bail so much seen in the game nowadays was impossible. Volleying—that is. striking the ball before it touches the ground was not employed, so that long rallies were the rule lather than the exception, the ball frequently passing and repassing the net thirty or forty times before a point was scored. To Mr Woodhouse belongs the honour of being tho first to think of striking the nail before it reached the ground, a happy thought which had a tremendous influence on tho subsequent development of the play at the net. In 1877 the court was altered to its present rectangular shape and the net reduced in height. In 1880 the net was lowered again, and in 1883 was still further reduced to its present height—namely, 3ft in the centre and 3ft 6in at tho sides. .£SOOO IN TOURNAMENT PRIZES.

in 1888 the popularity of the game bad become so great that it was thought desirable to lorm an association for tfie proper government of tno game, and tfie Lawn Tennis Association came into being. Tfiere were low clubs in those days, the game being played almost exclusively by people with plenty of money and leisure,' but it was destined very quickly to make giant strides. To-day tne association is conijiosed of fifty associations. which in their turn have about KKX) clubs affiliated to them, representing no lower titan 50,(KK) individual members, of which by tar the larger proportion arc jiiayers. In addition 400 clubs, representing at least another 20,000 players, are directly affiliated to the association. There are, however, many thousands of players wfio either do not belong to clubs, or whose clubs do not come under the rule of tho governing body. It is said that there are not fewer than 10.000 lawn tennis players in the county of Surrey alone. A great number of tournaments are hold every year with the sanction <>f the association. Last year about 180 “open" tournaments were held in tho United Kingdom—that is, tournaments where there are no restrictions as regards entries, and no handicap. These attracted 40.000 entries for the different events, and something like £SOOO was spent in prizes, exclusive of the value of challenge cups, running into thousands of pounds, TENNIS ON THE CONTINENT.

Within the last ten years the game has reached a popularity and development on the Continent which is astounding, and the Continental players are beginning to challenge English supremacy at the game. It may be said that the French players are pre-eminent on covered courts with a wood floor, the Germans on hard courts, while British players excel on grass courts. One noticeable point is that the Continental player become* first-class at an age when tho English player begins to learn the game- For instance, A. H. Gobert, who won the gold medal at the Olympic Games last May, beating C. P. Dixon (England), and who defeated A. F. AVtilding, the world’s champion, at Queen’s Club, a few weeks before, is barely 22 years old. Laurentz, another brilliant Frenchman, is just 18. and defeated both Wilding and Gobert when fie was barely 17. However, Gobert, Laurentz and Decuajis, France's three best players, wore defeated this year in the contest for the preliminary round of the Davis Cup (a trophy presented by Dwight F. Davis, a famous American player), on grass courts at Folkestone, by the British Isles team, composed of C. P. Dixon, H. Roper Barrett, and A. AV. Gore. It is worthy of note that the average age of these three Frenchman is about 23, that of the English team about 40! £. S, D. OF THE GAME.

A few figures on the financial side oi tho game, apart from the value of prizes, may bo ol interest. Tho expenses of a club fall under tho headings of oourts (turfing, etc.), their upkeep (wages of groundmen), and equipment (nets and posts, stop-netting, mowers, rollers, etc.) Tho capital cost of one grass court may vary according to the local conditions from £SO or £6O down to a sovereign or so, but a fair average can be arrived at as follows; Cost; of laying court, say, £8; net and posts, say, £5; stop-netting, say, £1; total, £l4. The annual upkeep of the above: Wages of groundman per court, £5; depreciation of court and equipment, £2; total. £7. It has been stated that 1000 clubs are affiliated to the association. Some of the very largo clubs have as many as thirty courts, but the smallest aro not likely to have fewer than two. Assuming an average ol four courts per club, the capital value sunk in courts and their equipment would be: 4000 courts at £ls, £60,000; upkeep of tho above, £7 per court. £28,000. As there are several hundred clubs not affiliated, these figures probably represent less than two-thiids of the real expenditure. WHAT PLAYERS SPEND.

Turning now to the expenditure of the individual player, this again varies very considerably, but an idea can be gained of its extent by dividing it up into the cost ot rackets bails, the necessary rubber shoes, ana an average subscription of £l. A wealthy lawn tennis player, belonging to several clubs, spends hundreds a year on his equipment and travelling expenses; a humble player could enjoy his favourite game for the expenditure of £2 or so for the season. A fair average for a club player, somewhere between tho very expensive club and She very small club, might bo arrived at as follows: Cost of one racket, 18s, repairs 2s Gd; three dozen balls, £1 7s; shoes, 10s Gd; subscription, £1 ss; total, £4 3s. Assuming the figure of 100,000 as the number of players this would work out at an annual expenditure of over £400,000. Tills makes no provision for the Eu. ‘chase of adequate clothing and fares y railway otherwise, so that the total sum spent every year is probably something double the above figures. A brief reference must be made to what might be called "occasional" lawn tennis players, who play on the courts supplied by municipal enterprise in parks and open spaces. There are at least GOU or 7uo such courts, used by tens of thousands of players who do not belong to recognised clubs, and there is no doubt th.it this form of lawn tennis is increasing in popularity. Here it may be mentioned that the game is also played on wood courts under cover. The covered court club house at Dulwich, containing two wood courts, cost something like £7OOO to erect, and it was cheap at that. An ingenious system of lighting with high-power incandescent lamps enables play to go on till late at night. The cost of hard courts for out-of-door pvrnoscs varies according to the conditions'. The average price of a welllaid hard court is about £SO, but there are cases where as much as £2OO has been spent on a single court, laid down in accordance with the latest scientific practice. There is very little difference in the cost of laying down grass courts and hard courts, but there is a vast) difference in the expense of upkeep. The hard surface req'uires far less attention thau grass.