LAWN TENNIS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 101, 6 August 1910, Page 3

LAWN TENNIS.

! WILDING IS VICTORY ' OVER. I . RITCHIE. (HUMAN WINDMILL. London, June 22. No one could complain of any dulness at Wimbledon yesterday when the third day's play in the lawn tennis ehampioni ehips took place. There were many good games during the day, but the exhibition given by A. . P. Wilding in his match against M. J. U. ' Ritchie was at times positively dazzling, and must rank as one of the finest displays of lawn tennis ever seen. | Ritchie is in the front rank of English players, and, indeed, should have been the holder of the championship, for last year, in the challenge round against 1 Gore, he threw away the game, when he had got it, apparently, well won. He never was a brilliant player. His strength lies in his machine-like driving from the base line, which has many times broken the hearts of more impetuous players. J Wilding won the match by three sets j to one, but this conveys no idea of his actual superiority. His play' in the first two sets made Ritchie—last year's I challenger for the championship—look a : mere novice. The general course of c events was that there would bo a rally j from the base line; at exactly the psychological moment would glide up to the | net and the rally was ended —with anI other- point to Wilding, r The Kewi Zealander's judgment was marvellous. If he decided that a ball was i going out of court, it always did so. When he came up to the net and Ritchie ■ decided to try to lob, Wilding would ij either kill it, or, if this were impossible, ,lrun back, let it bounce, and smack it i'back so that it pitched within inches ot .1 the base line. His defensive strokes, were .' almost more deadly than his attacking .Jones. And he did everything with that -' debonnaiv and light touch which mere- , trieiously makes lawn tennis look one [ of the easiest games in the world. Ritchie is nothing if not dogged. He must have played thousands of games in his life, and by no stretch of imagina-, 'l tion can he be described as a "nouveau; u | ißitchie." He knows that until the last

point has been scored against .him there is hope. Wilding became a little too confident. He two-stepped up to the net with easy grace, and began to take liberties — i dangerous thing to do with a player iike M. J. G. Ritchie. Ritchie subsequently won the third set, and people had dreams of a Homeric struggle. But Wilding -became serious ; again. He played real lawn tennis and i won !be fourth set, o—2, and with it the h.atcl).