PRO. OLLIVIER

NZ Truth, Issue 1198, 15 November 1928, Page 17

PRO. OLLIVIER

Wants To See Davis Cup Team (From "N.Z. Truth's" Auckland Rep.) So Geoff., Ollivier, for several years the tennis hope of New Zealand and the pride of his home city on the Avon, is turning professional! , UE hopes to see the day when NewZealand will muster a Davis Cup team and do some good for itself, he said when he was m Auckland, and added that perhaps he may be able to help the younger men along 1 . Well, so far as tennis experience is concerned m this country, Ollivier is the player anyone would pick as the likeliest pro. From match player to professional is a long jump, and the tutor must look at the game from a point of view which is far removed from that of the player, however good'he may be at his own game, who wins matches time and and again by his own particular court craft. ■'■".■■ . Is Ollivier the possessor of the fundamental requirements of the professional? That question, of course, cannot be answered until his ability has been proved. The fact that Ollivier is an old hand and that he is one of New Zealand's strongest men* m the tennis world today, is not denied, but it is not so easy to picture him as -the man with the gifts to "help the younger . men along" r as he says he hopes to do. Unlike Bartleet, the young Aucklander who captained the New Zealand test team, 'Ollivier's variety of strokes is not unbounded, and there is no doubt that he relies on a great, deal of cunning to see him through. Just how far his court-craft takes him when he meets players who' are above New Zealand par was seen m the . test matches against the British team ,m Auckland. To see" him play once against any strong opposition is to know his play ;f or all time. ■ He is undoubtedly clever with the strokes he has up his sleeve; but it is not a copious sleeve after all, and it is there, m the opinion of "N.Z. Truth," that Ollivier's claim to professionalism 'is weak. •■'.;.'...•■ . ■However, there is no doubt that the services of a professional m the Dominion are badly needed, and it is to be hoped that Ollivier will realize his ambition and see a New Zealand" Davis Cup team produced. . Ayres' Championship ''stitchless, Tennis Ball has been officially selected by the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago Lawn Tennis Associations, and will be used at their Championship Tournaments this season.* ■ ■■;. "• < '■■'-■ ■• •.■•''- i ■ ,