EXHIBITION GAMES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 723, 26 December 1933, Page 6

EXHIBITION GAMES

VISITING AUSTRALIAN LADIES IN GOOD FORM entertaining matches Some of the. brightest tennis seen in- Rotorua for some time was witnessed yesterday when the visiting N.S.W. laclies' tennis team, Misses S. Dingle, K. Hall, U. Valkenberg, and L. Bickerton participated in exhibition matches played on the Government Grounds courts. The visitors gave a splendid exhibition of crisp hard-hitting tennis and in spite of the difficult windy conditions, provided excellent entertainment for the large gallery of spectators. Concentrating upon the long- driving, hard-hitting game, they left an impression of forceful play without any excuses. Miss Hall, junior champion of New South Wales, was pai--ticularly impressive, showing tenacity in her play and a vigorous style that showed tennis at its best. In her singles, she was matched with Miss Beverley, 16-year-old junior champion of the Waikato, and one of the strongest junior players in the Dominion to-day. Miss Beverley was in no way awed by the formidable opposition against which she was ranged and although beaten conclusively, demonstrated that she will in time hold her own with the best players south of the line. Her elder sisters, Msses S. and L. Beverley, also participated against the visiting ladies and acquitted themselves extremely well. A strong cross court wind made i playing conditions extremely difficult and the fact that the players succeeded in providing such a bright and entertaining exhibition in spite of this, was a tribute to their versality. The court was in excellent order and the seating arrangements for the gallery very satisfactory. The first match was a three set singles between Miss Beverley, jnr., and Miss Hall, the two juniors of the team. It was a hard-hitting vigorous exhibiticpi in which the youngster forged ahead early in the piece, but failed to last the distance against her formidable opponent. Both played bright tennis, but once Miss Hall sottled dcwn, it was apnarent that she had the upper hand. Her service was the more severe and her difficult cross-court driving scored her frequent points. Nevertheless, Miss Beverley fought her all the way and it was superior court-craft and experience which triumphed in the end. The linal score was 6 — 2, 6 — 1 in Miss Hall's favour, but the match was much more interesting than the scores would appear to indicate. The second singles was also a good match although the visitors representative again won conclusively. Miss Bickerton, who defeated Miss N. Beverley 6 — 2, 6 — 3, played excellent tennis, showing a variety of strokes after she settled down from the preliminary exchanges. She played a gond baek-court game, varying it occasionally with good net work and half ccurt volleys. She was a litfe too vigorous for Miss Beverley who nevertheless provided hard opposition throughout the match. There wer? some spai'kling rallies which roused the gallery and raised the match to the best level of exhibition tennis. Miss Beverley took the game to 3 all in the first set, but thereafter, Miss Bickerton gradually assei'ted her superiority, showing particular confidence on the backhand and in her service. j The next match was a doubles be■i"*eon Misses Dingle and Valkenberg ( cw South Wales) and the Misses S. and L. Bevei'ley. Here again the visitors won conclusively, but not ' without a strenuous battle and a succession of thrilling rallies. The two Waikato ladies fought the ground all the way and were only beaten by superior speed and comrt-craft. Both the visiting ladies drove hard for the back line and kept their opponents on the move most of the time. Miss Dingle was particularly vigorous in her overhead work while Miss Valkenberg was an excellent foil, showing distinct versality in her cross-court driving and overhead work. The final score was 6 — 2, 6 — 2 in favour of the visitors, but the exhibition was much more interesting than the scores would indicate. The final match was an exhibition doubles three-set match between the four Australian ladies, Miss s Hall and Bickerton being matched against Misses Valkenberg and Dingle. It was contested in speed and accuracy and Miss Hall and Miss Bi kerton won "hands down" after Ue first prelirninaries were disposed of . There were many excellent rallies bo'h from the back of the court and t ie net with frequent bouts of overhead work that roused the gallery to entl.usiasm. Placement ofi both sides was excellent, although the winning pair, who finally carried the honours 6 — 5, 6—1 wero definitely superior in this clepai'tment. Frequently the opposing pairs hit with all the vigour of men's tennis, leaving nothing to chanee and making every shot a good one. Miss Valkenberg and Miss Dingle were only beaten by superior speed and accuracy. ; Mr. W. Louden was umpLe.