TENNIS TITLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 January 1939, Page 6

TENNIS TITLES

NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNEY MISS N. BEVERLEY BEATEN. J. W. GUNN DEFEATS A. D. BROWN. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Wilding Park was again bathed in glorious sunshine today, when the New Zealand lawn tennis championships were continued. A start was made today with the New Zealand men’s and women’s plate, open to competitors who have been eliminated in the first and second rounds of the singles events. For the second time within a week A. D. Brown, Dominion tennis- champion, has been defeated. J. W. Gunn eliminated him in the Canterbury championships and today he went down to N. V. Edwards, the slightly built Wellington champion, who was not seeded, when they met in the quarter finals of the New Zealand championships at Wilding Park. On two occasions Brown brought the score back to deuce when match point was called against him in the fourth set of his match with Edwards but the third time proved to be lucky for the Wellington man, Brown netting his return and so the champion was dethroned. It was Brown all the way in the first set. His forehand drive was working perfectly and his backhand was also standing up to the barrage Edwards directed against it. The second set found the Wellington man hit-, ting more cleanly and his definite campaign of tempting Brown into exchanges on the backhand proved profitable. The third set also went to Edwards and when he commenced to forge ahead in the fourth Brown, who had lost touch, continued to make many errors. Edwards was swinging his backhand shots wide to the corners and by varying the attack with an occasional stop volley or forehand shot along the inner line he gave Brown plenty of funning about.

Realising she had little hope of gaining many points against her hard-hit-ting opponent, Miss Thelma Poole put plenty of sting into her returns when she played Miss Maj- Hardcastle, of Queensland. The Australian won comfortably enough but there were times when she was beaten by a sizzling drive or pacy first service. J. W. Gunn, who reached the final of the Canterbury singles, had to fight, hard for the first set of his match with A. R. Cant today. In the first set, Cant led 4-2 arid 5-3. but the Auckland man evened the score at 5 all and he held the odd game thereafter. Cant played very steadily in the first set and oh occasions he made profitable excursions to the net. ’Gunn was oh top in the second and third sets.

H. A. Barnett was always too good for R. V. Robb.

.Another notable surprise was the defeat ’of Miss N. Beverley, third ranking player of New Zealand, by the young Canterbury player, Miss Heather Elsom.

An unfortunate feature of the tournament was the withdrawal from all events of the holder of three women’s titles. Miss Margaret Beverley, who was injured in a motor accident during the weekend. Results are: —

Women’s singles, quarter finals: Miss Wilson beat Miss Bishop, 6/4, 7/5; Miss Miller beat Miss H. Elsom, 6/0, 6/3; Miss Hardcastle beat Miss T. Poole, 6/2, 6/1; Miss Rice beat Miss Plummer, 6/4, 6/2. Men’s singles, third round: Gunn beat Cant, 9/7, 6/3, 6/2; Barnett beat Robb, 6/0, 6/4, 6/2. Quarter finals: Edwards beat Brown. 1/6. 6/3, 6/4, 6/2. ,