AUSTRALIANS IMPRESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 927, 21 March 1930, Page 8

AUSTRALIANS IMPRESS

GOOD WINS IN TENNIS PRELIMINARIES INVITATION TOURNAMENT Good, keen play was general in the preliminary rounds of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association’s open invitation tournament, begun yesterday on firm courts at Stanley Street. The great lesson taught was in the j performances of the Australians, F. Kalms. C. E. Sproule, C. J. Donohoe. ! and W. X. Teague, who did not j

suffer a loss in singles or doubles play during the day. Frequently the visitors played brilliant tennis, although the times when they were troubled by the opposition were scarce. Their tennis was always well worth watching. Their wins, always decisive, indicated to the gallery that

the main titles in the tournament are almost certain to go to the Australians. This is particularly apparent m the men’s doubles, where the KulmsTeague and Donohoe-Sproule pairs were .supreme in their engagements yesterday. In the doubles, the Australians maintained a pressure of play which must have impressed the gallery. They sought chances, and, on the few occasions when they were pressed severely j by the opposition, demonstrated the 1 advantage of preserving understand- i ing between the man at the net and j the player at the baseline. Kulms’s agility and sense of anticipation combined effectively with Teague’s cleanly played strokes, and Donohoe’s extreme j vigour was nicely balanced by the I more deliberate play of Sproule. Un- i doubtedly the Australian pairs have \ been well arranged. They possess the ! virtue of dovetailed play, with essen- | tl (^VI differences in methods on the part I of the participants. KALMS UNTROUBLED The most important singles game of the day, between Kalms and M. M. Morrison, was played on a minor court. The gallery of spectators almost entirely deserted the principal courts to follow the encounter. Both players had byes in the first round and the game was played late in the afternoon. Morrison was uncomfort- - ! able facing the imperturbable Kalms I m the first exchanges, and this awk- ; wardness proved to be costly. The ! Aucklander settled down as the game ' pi ogressed, but the Australian always i had rather too much in hand. Kalms won, 6—3, 6—4-. The other singles game or the day was when A. C. Stedman had the utmost difficulty in beating E. W. Griffiths, 9—7. G—4. Two young players, Norman Sturt and A. IV. Lamb, had a dogged game in the second round of the singles Sturt’s placing Avon him the first set, b -.but Lamb played so energeticallv in the second that he rattled Sturt, and won the set, 7—5. Only extreme caution on Sturt’s part allowed him to win the deciding set by 6 to 2. In the combined doubfes, the Australians and their partners all won comparatively easily.