N.Z. MAY WIN TENNIS TEST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18055, 15 January 1927, Page 5

N.Z. MAY WIN TENNIS TEST.

VICTORY SEEMS ASSURED OVER NEW SOUTH WALES (Special to the 44 Star.”) WELLINGTON, January 14. After one days play in the tennis test match between New Zealand and New South Wales, victory for the Dominion seems assured. To-day a poorish New Zealand team won eight matches of the ten played and lost only S sets on the wav. Jt was u day of solid and unbrilliant tennis, with one notable exception. The match between G Ollivier. many times New Zealand champion, and Norman Peach, second man in the visiting team and Australia’s Davis Cup representative of 1921, provided patches of glorious hard hitting tennis and any number of notable shots. Two good recoveries were made by Don France against Fitzgerald and by Ollivier and Wilson against North and M’Oausland. The general run of play showed the New Zealanders with an edge, but not always possessing the energy to make their superiority felt. OLLIVIER v. PEACH. By far the best contest was that between Ollivier and Norman Peach. Peach was not on his game in the opening exchanges and Ollivier took the first two games on sound ground strokes. Peach took the third game to love and was finding his feet when Ollivier showed at his. best and, making some difficult gets, forced Peach into errors, one beautifully timed backhand cross court drive leaving Peacli standing on his way to the net. Following this the erratic Christchurch man let up and lost his service tamely, while Peach took his against poor service returns to make the score 3 all. Peach was now on his drive and was belting them over, but Ollivier ran into a 4-3 lead, swinging his perfectly played drives from wing to wing ami forcing Peach into hasty returns and errors. The Australian's game went from strength to strength. He led 4 0 love on aggressive strokes, and evened the score, but played with a spin too much and paid tlio penalty of trying to chop bails which were shooting low and beating him, when ho netted to give his opponent a vital 5-4 lead. Ollivier played a pretty lob volley for 30 love call in the final game and won the set on a netted volley by Peach.

Peach rushed through the first two games of the next set before Ollivier began to look like making a fight of it. Here the southerner hit out again, leading 4 0 love and making Peacli do ball chasing, but Ollivier was waiting for his chance too much instead of setting out to make it, and Peacli was not in the mood to make many errors unless he was forced to. He took the fourth game, but the next was never in doubt, Ollivier finding a gap whenever Peach tried a net advance, and the call was 3-2 against the New Zealander. Ollivier made a terrific burst in the sixth game, his driving drawing gasps from the crowd, but no matter how hard he belted them they came back with even more sting, and sometimes with considerably more placement. Thus Peach increased his lead. The Canterbury man was now at his best. He ran from 15-40 to deuce in the next game, slashing side-line drives giving Peach much country to cover, and the game produced a solid duet, first one player and then the other doing the hammering, which reduced his opponent to the defensive. Ollivier won at length, but he could not hold this form, Peach leading 4 0-love in the ninth game and taking it on a cross-court wallop which Ollivier could not even touch. Peach was now 5-3. Ollivier went back to his forcing tactics, and more placement and less punch proved to be what he wanted. He hit Peach round for a 5-4 call, and led 0-30 against service. Hitting too deep, the score went to 30-40, and the visitor raised deuce with a glorious smash and set point with a sizzling sideline drive, when Ollivier stormed the net behind a terrific forehand drive and volleyed out. The second set went to the Australian. Peach crushed Ollivier in the first game of the final set, and looked like taking the second game cheaply. Both were playing great ball now, and Peach was making such exceedingly fine gets that Ollivier never knew when he had him. For most of the game Peach did the running, but, though Olli,vier had numerous chances, he could not get the fatal final point. Peach raised the game point and lost it when a volley, which was a winner all the way, caught the net cord and allowed Ollivier to reach it, but the Australian took the next two points, the last with a superb recovery from a great smite by Ollivier to his forehand, the return leaving Ollivier flat-footed. The New South Welshman now hit his opponent off the court. Ho took the third game to love, Ollivier double-faulting at 0-40, and it looked as though the southerner had fallen down. But he was not done with yet. and ran to 0-40 against service, taking the game on a fine cross-court sweep. In the fifth game Ollivier changed his pace deceptively and collected game on Peach’s outs for 2-3. Peach continued to lilt in the next game, and was netting, Ollivier twice holding game point. But the New Zealander was not aggressive enough at those moments. Peach brought up game point on a nicely judged smash, and Ollivier commenced pounding his opponent’s backhand, but it was too late, and Peach took the game on a neat chop for 4-2. Ollivier led 40-30 next game, and finally won it on a soft and sweetly placed cross-court backhand after a terrific driving series. Then after 0-30 Peach took three points in a row. Ollivier running him right out of position for deuce. The game went Peach’s way, however, on a drop shot and netted service return by Ollivier. Peach’s net advances raised match point next game, and he took it with a fine stop volley. ANDREWS v. NORTH. Andrews's win against North was no tame in the extreme, North winning the first set S-6. The match was a duel between two men not at all anxious to take the net, and Andrews was more accurate off the ground. He smothered North in the second set, was out of position for every point. The second set was Andrews’s at 6-4, and the third at 6-2. FRANCE v. FITZGERALD. Don France started against Fitzgerald as if he was not interested in the match and let that clumsy but effective man take the first set 6-3 and lead 4-1 in the second set before settling down to win. AN INTERESTING DOUBLES MATCH. The double of the day was the contest between Ollivier and Wilson and North and M’Causland, top Australian pair. The New Zealanders got going more quickly and won the first set at 6-3. At the beginning it was a series of dropped service games, Wilson being the first to hold a delivery in the fifth game, when he played Oliiver into position three times. M’Causland lost his service again, and though Ollivier followed suit, failing to win a stroke, the home pair won out. The second set was all to Australia, the visitors leading 4,1 on a series of net raids, and checking with deep lobs any attempt on the part of their opponents to start a similar offensive. Wilson rallied and held his service, but that was as far as the New Zealanders could get. They lost the set 2-6. The final set looked like being a repetition of this. Then North’s accurate, net play and AL’Causland’s forceful driving sent them ahead 4-i, their opponents outing badly during’ the fourth and.fifth games. it was then that the New Zealanders rallied and took the next five games in a row. Wilson held the service and there was a stern struggle on North’s delivery, all four playing tennis. High loathe s sirlehnes, was what won the. New Zealanders the match. They sought net position every moment and teamed fgether better than before, when they bad been letting shots go. Usually their i et advance was behind a strong shot and once there they were firmly entrenched and defied efforts to dislodge them for long. Wilson was smashing well and Ollivier was taking everything Wilson left, so when for the first time in the match Ollivier held Ills service 4-all was called and the somewhat rattled M'Causland, who latterly had been breaking down at hot moments, double-faulted for game at 4-5. Wilson served bia way Irresistibly to 40 love, and the final game was won t»

fifteen, when Wilson burled the second smash which Ills opponents gave him. THE SCORES. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, January 14. After to-day's play In the tennis test match between New Zealand and New South Wales victory for the Dominion seems assured. New Zealand won eight matches out of the ten played and lost only eight sets. Results: SINGLES. C F'6°-' Andrews beat A - L - North, 6-S, G. Olllvler lost to X. Peach, 6-4, 4-6, Noel Wilson beat J. M Causland, 9-7, N- G. Sturt beat F. Peach. 6-1, 6-4. g }/■ G. Knott beat C. Brewster, 6-4, 4-6, DOUBLES. Knott and Sturt lost to Peach and Peach. l-G, 3-6'. OHivler and Wilson beat North and M Pausland, 6-3, 2-6. 6-4. Andrews and France beat Fitzgerald and Brewster, 6-2. 6-4. Brewster an R 1 6 StUrt beat Fil *£° rald and