WELLINGTON WIN

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 328, 8 January 1937, Page 3

WELLINGTON WIN

NEW ZEALAND TENNIS COOMBE THE HIGHLIGHT Performance Reflects Australian Experience. For the first time for many yjears the results of the New Zealand tennis championships constitute a triumph for the Wellington contingent, which took all except one of the five major events and one of the two consolation sections, thus easily winning the Wilding Memorial Shield for the * most points gained at the meeting. The triumphant progress of D. C. Coombe, culminating in the decisive <• defeat of N/ Bedford (mentioned last year by Vivian McGrath as New Zealand’s; most promising colt) was at once the surprise and the highlight of the tournament. Miss D. Nichols’ win in the women’s singles* was, by comparison, merely routine, for she for some years now stood head and shoulders above all other women in the Dominion and there has been a distressing lack of junior talent capable of challenging her position. Doubles Game. Coombe, some years ago, became a serious factor in the doubles game and in the New Zealand championships at Wellington last year he showed that he war becoming increasingly formidable as a singles player. His game has* none of the brilliance possessed by many of the younger men who appear at New Zealand tournaments but it is also free to a large degree from the •weaknesses which make our best players ‘’easy meat” for visiting “cracks.” Coomibe plays all his shots whether from the baseline or net easily and with judgment and in marked contrast to many of his New Zealand opponents, he puts a maximum of brain-work into his play. Powerfully built, he can put plenty of force into his overhead work but his smashing and serving are characterised usually by judgment and control rather than by devastating speed. Baseline Weakness. The weakness of his singles game has all along been a lack of length and severity in his driving game and a tendency to become too stolid when faced with this type of attach. His recent experience in Australia where hard driving to the corners is the foundation of the game, probably improved his form greatly. The fact that he was able to wear down the dashing Bedford and take the fifth set with the lots of only one game is certainly an indication that if nothing else, he has learned in New South Wales, something about the control of the speed that is met in first class tennis to-day.