OVER THE NET

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 872, 16 January 1930, Page 13

OVER THE NET

By

"DEUCE"

New Zealand Championship Meeting The 40th annual championship meet- | ; ing under the management of the New j * Zealand Lawn Tennis Association is to ! * be held on the- Wellington Association's courts, Miramar, commencing on ' Monday, January 27. Entries closed ; on Monday last, and the draw took ; place last night at Wellington. There 3 are 11 events on the programme, which includes the five usual open champion- ] ships, five championship events for 5 boys and girls under the age of 18 1 years on January 13, and the N.Z.L.T.A. * plate which is open to all competitors who have been defeated in the * first and second rounds of the men’s - singles championship.. j It is to be hoped that fine weather will prevail for the tournament, and that players will not have to contend j with the gales of wind which sometimes sweep down over the hills surrounding- the Miramar courts. Some local players experienced a gale while playing on these courts when it was stated that the ball-boys were unable to throw the balls the length of the court when returning them against the wind. This report may be a little exaggerated, but it gives some idea of ; the force of the wind which occasion- ‘ ally descends and absolutely destroys the otherwise excellent playing conditions which exist at the Miramar courts. Tho Wellington Association has invested in moveable stands, and has left no stone unturned to meet the requirements of both players and spectators alike. Several Title-Holders Not Competing The present title holders are as follow:—Men’s singles, H. L. Bartleet; women’s singles, Miss Macfarlane; men’s doubles, E. 1,. Bartleet and Dr. J- T. Laurenson; women’s doubles, Misses Speirs and Wake; mixed doubles, C. Angus, Miss Speirs; girls’ singles, Miss Ruth Taylor; boyaf singles, H. A. Barnett. E. L. Bartleet, J. T. Laurenson, and Miss Speirs, now Mrs. Dykes, will not be competing this year, and this means that at- least four titles will be undefended. This is the first New Zealand championship Bartleet has missed for the past ten years, with the exception of the 1922 meeting when lie was abroad. Dr. Laurenson and Mrs. Dykes will also be missed from the meeting, as they have both been very prominent for several years. Tennis enthusiasts will welcome the news that Mrs. Sliarman (nee Nancy Curtis), who won the women’s singles in 1920 and 1921, is making a reappearance this year. She will be playing in the doubles with Miss Lloyd, the New South Wales representative. The Anthony Wilding Memorial Cup which goes to the association scoring the greatest number of points at the meeting was won by the Auckland Association for the first time last year. The points which count for this cup are as follow:—Men’s championship singles, 3; men’s championship doubles, 2; women’s championship singles, 3; women’s championship doubles, 2; mixed championship doubles, 2; boys’ singles, 1; girls’ singles, 1. Auckland players competing include Stedman, Sturt, A. C. Johns, and Misses Macfarlane and Knight. Miss Macfarlane, the present holder of the women’s title has not yet struck her last year’s form. She usually rises to the occasion, however, and can be relied upon to practise assiduously between now and the end of the month. Miss Knight is in good form, and is certain to make a fine showing. * * * Taranaki Championships Charters is to be congratulated on winning the Taranaki single’s championship. He is a much improved player this season, and has played very consistently. His victory was as meritorious as it was popular. Stedman again failed to strike his true form, and was rather easily beaten by Rhodes Williams in the semi-final. Stedman is almost certain to do better at the Palmerston North tourney. The courts there are much faster than those at New Plymouth, and they will be much more to his liking. A. M. Nicholson, the University player, did well to reach the semi-final. His game was not forceful enough against Charters, who volleyed and smashed splendidly. Mrs. Melody won the women’s singles against a fairly strong field. The New Plymouth Club’s courts are on the slow side and this made her heavily-sliced drives very difficult to deal with. Partnered by Miss Andrew, of Christchurch, she won the women’s doubles. Miss Andrew played very well, her volleying and overhead work, being particularly good. She impressed the critics by her display in the New Zealand championships 'at Auckland last year. Since then she. has shown improvement and recently won the Canterbury singles title. Manawatu Tournament The Manawatu championships are being played at Palmerston North this week. There is a strong field in the men’s championship singles event. Malfroy, D. G. France, N. Wilson, Charters, Rhodes-Willianls, E. W. Griffiths and Entwistle are all competing. It is considered in tennis circles that tho Dominion title this year will be between Angus, of Christchurch, D. G. France and Malfroy, both eff Wellington. Angas beat Malfroy after a close 5 set match in the North Island championship. It will be interesting to see the result of a match between‘France and Malfroy and these two are almost certain to meet in the Manawatu championship. This will be Stedman’s and Charters’s fourth tournament since the end of the year. Their game should greatly benefit by the immense amount of match experience which they are having. They will have to guard against becoming stale through overplay. Youth and exceptional keenness will no doubt prove a strong antidote. Overhead Work Perhaps one of the most common weaknesses of the average good player is the overhead volley. To the onlooker and uninitiated it appears the simplest shot of all. How often does the gallery groan when a player crashes an easy lob into the net or into the back fence? But the smash is not so easy as it looks. One of tho chief reasons why players breakdown on this shot is that they do not watch the ball long enough. It is essential to glue the eyes on the ball right up to the moment of striking it with the racquet. Most players make the mistake of taking their eyes olf the ball and looking for their opponent a fraction of a second before actually striking the ball- This is

usually fatal and accounts more than j anything else for the great number of overhead volleys so often missed by even the best players. ' Other essentials for this shot are to stand sideways to the net. strike the ball as. high up as possible as in the service, and make the stroke with the ball in front of the body. One of the most wonderful features of Cochet’s and Borotra’s play is the amazing way in which they are able to kill a lob from any part of the court. Borotra’s exceptional overhead work and his uncanny power of anticipation enable him to beat many players who possess infinitely better ground strokes than he does. Or. J. T. Saurenson on his day used to delight spectators with his spectacular smashing and he was probably one of the finest exponents of the shot ever seen in the Dominion. TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS DRAW FOR NEW ZEALAND TOURNEY CONTESTS ON JANUARY 27 Press Association WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The draw for the New Zealand lawn tennis championships, which commence at Miramar on January 27, was made tonight and is as follows, the names of the competitors being arranged in serial order (seeded players are marked with an asterisk): MEN’S SINGLES Top Half.—Byes: *D. G. Prance (Wellington), *K. W. Dyer (Wellington), K. C. Anderson( Wellington), E. B. W. Smyth (Marlborough). •A. C. Stedman (Auckland), R. R. Lees (Bay of Plenty), R. R. O’Brien (Wellington), W. G. Morrison (Auckland), *l. A. Seay (Canterbury), J. B. Parker (Wellington), M. Gifford-Moore (Wellington), C. B. Beatson (Nelson), *A. L. France (Wellington), P, Howell (Maori Association). First Round Matches.—E. H. Orbell (Canterbury) v. A. G. Wallace (Taranaki), M. O. Gardener (Wellington) v. E. W. Griffiths (Auckland), *C. E. Malfroy (Wellington) v. K. G. Starger (Bay of Plenty). Lower Half.—Byes: R. McL. Furkins (Wellington) to play winner of MalfroyStarger game, G. F. J. Dart (Canterbury), M. L. Lampe (Wanganui), *N. G. Sturt (Auckland), B. ’A. Barrer (Wairarapa), I. C. Charters (North Auckland), E. A. Roussell (Wellington), *C. Angas (Canterbury), W. J. Melody (Wellington), R. Howe (Wellington), E. Howell (Maori Association), *N. R. C. Wilson (Wellington), D. Purvis (Canterbury), H. V. Howe (Wellington), D. F. Glanville (Canterbury). Top Half. —Byes: *Miss Marjorie Macfarlane (Auckland), Miss M. Gibson (South Canterbury). First Round Matches.—*Mrs. N. Thomson, nee Miss Tracy (Wellington), v. Miss M. Lee (Wellington); Miss Preedy (Wellington), v. Miss N. Smithson (Canterbury),. *Mrs. W. J. Melody (Wellington), v. Miss N. M. Fleming (Canterbury); Miss E. Brady (Wellington), v. Miss M. E. Andrew (Canterbury); *Miss M. Wake (Canterbury), v. Miss M. White (Wellington); Miss Marion Macfarlane (Auckland), v. Mrs. C. Smith (Wanganui): ♦Miss B. Knight (Auckland), v. Miss E. Park (Marlborough); *Miss D. Wood (Marlborough), v. Miss N. G. Welch (Wairarapa); *Miss D. Nicholls (Wellington), v. Mrs. W. A. Scott (South Canterbury); Miss Macdonald (Wellington), v. Miss D. Howe (Wellington); *Mrs. R. P. Adams (Wellington), v. Miss Cameron (Wairarapa). Lower Half.—Byes; Miss Nichols (Wellington) to play winner Mrs. Adams-Miss Cameron match: *Miss M. Myers (Wanganui), Miss N. Lloyd (Sydney). MEN’S DOUBLES First Round. —* Angus and Sturt v. Dyer Bros.; C. G. Whyte and A. E. Sandral (Wellington) v. A. G. Wallace (Taranaki) and Smyth; * Wilson and Stedman v. Dart and Beatson; Glanville and C. Johns (Auckland) v. Melody and Furkins; *D. G. France and Malfroy v. H. Howe and Morrison; N. A. Foden and H. I. Thompson (Wellington) v. Roussell and R. Howe; *Lampe and A. L. France v. Seay and Charters; Griffiths and Williams v. Howell Bros.

WOMEN’S DOUBLES First Rounds.—*Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Thompson v. Misses Cameron and Preedy; Misses Brady and Welch v. Misses Park and Wood; *Mrs. W. F. Sturman (Wellington) and Miss Lloyd v. Mrs. Smith and Miss Myers; Misses Gibson and Whyte v. Misses J. Wheeler and C. Longmore (Wellington); *Mrs. Melody and Mrs. Scott v. Misses E. Bowron (Conterbury) and Smithson; Misses Knight and Fleming v. Misses D. Howe and D. Nicholls; *Misses Marjorie and Marion Macfarlane v. Misses Wake and Andrew. First round bye: Misses Nicholls and Macdonald to play winners of the Misses Macfarlane v. Misses Wake and Andrew match. MIXED DOUBLES Top Half.—Byes; *Mrs. Adams and Stedman, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Morrison; Miss I. Morrison (Canterbury) and D. Glanville, Miss Whyte and Griffiths; ♦Miss Marjorie Macfarlane and Sandral to play winners of Miss D. Howe and A. L. France v. Miss Knight and Johns. First Round Matches.—Miss Howe and A. L. France v. Miss Knight and Johns; Miss Gibson and W. G. Robertson (South Canterbux-y) v. Miss Lee and N. G. Whiteman (Wellington); Miss Marion Macfarlane and C. G. White v. Miss D. Nicholls and P. Howe; ♦Mrs. N. Thompson and Wilson v. Miss Wake and Orbell; Mrs. Sturman and Smythe v. Miss Welch and K. W. Dyer; Miss D. Wood and Furkins v. Miss Fleming and E. Howell. Lower Half.—Byes: Miss Andrew and Parker to play winner of Miss Fleming and Howell v. Miss Wood and Furkins; ♦Miss Lloyd and Sturt, Miss Brady and D. G. France; Mrs. Scott and Wallace, Miss Myers and Lampe.