OVER THE INET

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 926, 20 March 1930, Page 6

OVER THE INET

. B >L

"DEUCE"

Invitation Tournament The Auckland Lawn Tenuis Association is to be commended for its initiative in arranging lor the Australians to compete in the Invitation Tournament which commenced today. This will no doubt entail a good deal of expense to the association, but given fine weather it should more than recoup itself from the takings at the gate. Even if a loss is shown the money will have been well spent, as the exhibition matches given at the different schools should assist a great deal in fostering the game in Auckland. All followers of the game should appreciate the action of the association in staging an Invitation Tournament, and should render every assistance toward making it a success both from a tennis point of view and financially. It is almost certain that Kalms and Sproule will oppose each other at som » stage of the tournament. In the test match Sproule won both his matches against Angas, the New Zealand champion, and Don France, the run-ner-up. without the loss of a set, whilst Kalms lost only one set, to Angas, in his matches against the same players. A contest between Kalms and Sroule should provide the best tennis seen in New Zealand since the last Davis Cup contest. It should result in a great battle between players using totally different methods. Kalms is essentially a net player. His great strength lies in liis powerful service and severe volleying and overhead work. His ground shots are also severe but they not as reliable or as accurate as SpYoule’s. Sproule on the other hand plays mainly from the base line. His ground shots are wonderfully consistent and he controls them with deadly accuracy. He has the better record of the two in the Dominion tour and it will be interesting to see the way in which he counters Kalms’s forceful and attacking style of play. As regards the doubles, the Australians hold an unbeaten record in New Zealand. Kalms and Teague and Sproule and Donohoe are evenlybalanced combinations, and a meeting of these pairs should provide a brilliant and exciting display and produce tennis up to Davis Cup standard South Island Match The match against the South Island team resulted in a win for the Australians by seven matches to five. Angas won his matches against Sproule and Kalms, McDougall defeated Donohoe and Teague and Glanville beat Donohoe. From all accounts the Australians were all at sea on the hard courts. The balls were bouncing much higher than on grass and owing to the rough surface on the courts soon became very flighty and difficult to control. McDougall, the Otago champion, excelled himself by defeating both Teague and Donohoe. He is noi considered a hard man to beat on the grass but apparently -lie is a tougli proposition on his home courts. Angas showed great fighting qualities by beating Sproule in the final set after being down I—s.

Whilst not wishing to detract from the merits of the wins obtained by : the Soutii Islanders, in tlie writer’s j opinion, the results go to show that ! tennis on hard courts is a very different game from lawn tennis. Rarely do we find that the hard court and j grass court championships abroad are held by the same player. Ffemuara Wins A Grade Championship Remuera wrested the A grade interclub pennant from Eden and Epsom last Saturday by 15 matches to 10. Great interest was taken in the meeting of the two leading senior clubs and ] the matches were all keenly contested. The Stanley Street courts were very fiery after the recent spell of dry weather. Bartleet bad an easy victory over Rowlands, the Eden and Epsom champion, who collected only three games. Rowlands could not handle Bartleet’s heavily-sliced service and the pace appeared too hot for him to play his usual steady game. The match between Sturt and Morrison provided the best tennis of the day. Sturt forced the game all the way and had Morrison on the defensive most of the time. Sturt showed great improvement on his form when Morrison defeated him in the semifinal of the Auckland championsnip. Morrison did not appear to have the same control on the fast courts as he had when they were heavy. Watkins and V. R. Johfis had a long and interesting struggle, the tennis for the most part being of a high order. There were many exciting rallies and some very long games. Watkins lost m the third set 9—7 after having two match points. He went into the net most of the time but often made the mistake of going in on a poor length shot and this indiscretion cost him many points.

T. E. Clark could not hold A. C Johns, who was playing a remarkably j good all-round game. Were Johns ’ able to stand the strain of a hard ’ singles match he would be well up on the Auckland ranking list. Miss Macfarlane met Miss Knight for the first time since the Auckland championship and turned the tables bv i winning 6—2, 6 —l. Mis Macfarlam was playing with more confidence and her ground shots were much more consistent and accurate than they were earlier in the season. Miss Knight’s game seemed to lack the sting it had at the beginning of the season and she was frequently beaten through goim. to the net on weak drives. 3liss Ramsay's stonewall tactics bioke up Miss Marion Macfarlunc’s game. Miss Ramsay is very hard to beat from the base line, her chop drive and sliced backhand being very difficult shots to deal with, $ The only way to counter a player of this type is to make a point of going into net. Mrs. Scott-Watson played a great game against Miss P. Miller, winning 0— -> 10 —8. For the most part the game was a due] in base line driving Mrs. Scott-AVatson used a drop shot very effectively and finished off many long rallies with this shot. Some indication of the length of the match may be gained from the fact that at

! to decide two games. Mrs. Napier rose to tiie occasion and | gained a surprise victory over Miss : Newton. The winner played with great consistency and showed great improveI ment on her recent form, i Johns and Morrison beat Bartleet end Sturt in a close three-set match, i Bartleet and Sturt had the ascendj ancy in the early stages of the game ! and looked like the winners. Johns | and Morrison settled down, however ' toward the end of the second set and J from then on it was anybody’s game. : Johns was the most reliable of the i four and made many brilliant recoveries. Bartleet and Sturt were inclined to be erratic, especially on the j return of service. Robson and Ohlson were beaten by ; the Eden and Epsom veterans, Brown i and Campbell, after an exciting finish ! in the third set. In the first set ! Robson smashed brilliantly but both he and Ohlson broke down later under ! the persistent lobbing of their opponj ents. Brown and Campbell merited | their win. It must be 20 years or so ! since they first represented their club, i and it looks as if they will prove a j formidable combination in inter-club j games for some years to come. Wilson Brothers played good tennis ( against Lamb and Robinson. They • have the makings of a first-class i doubles combination. They have good shots and have youth on their side. Brinsden and Griffiths disposed of the strong opposition they met in Row- | lands and V. R. Johns in two straight sets. Brinsden. although he has | played very little tennis this season. seemed to be playing as well as ever | and greatly strengthened the Remuera j team. ltemuera. won four out of five { women’s doubles played. The Misses | Macfarlane played well to defeat l Misses Knight and Ramsay in two straight sets. Mesdames Tonks and : Hickson won the first set comfortably j against Misses Knott and Robson j The second set was a great struggle i the Remuera players finally winning j 11 —9. Remuera also won four out of the live mixed doubles played. On the j results, it was the Remuera women j who turned the tide against Eden and Epsom, the honours, as far as the men’s matches were concerned, being in favour of the losers. TENNIS EXHIBITION The visiting Australian tennis play-, ers, Kalms, Sproule, Teague and Done-* lioe, played exhibition games at the Takapuna Lawn Tennis Club yesterday afternoon. About 150 pupils of Takapuna Grammar School and primary schools of the North Shore attended. The play was of an educative nature. In singles, Sproule beat Kalms and Donohoe beat Teague. Kalms and Donohoe won from Teague and Sproule in a doubles game.