TENNIS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2383, 26 December 1908, Page 3

TENNIS.

THE DAVIS CUP

ALEXANDER’S OPINION

. United Press Association. Copyright (Received, (December 24, 11.30 p. 111.)

MELBOURNE, Dec. 24. Alexander, on the eve of his departure for Europe, expressed Ins conviction that America will secure the Davis Cup next year. ‘He considers Brookes, Wilding, Dunlop, Parker, Rice and Heath equal to the best six in England or America, and reckons Dunlop one of the finest doubles players in the world.

WILDING INTERVIEWED

[Special to. “Times.”]

WELLINGTON, Dec. 24. A New Zealand “Times” interviewer has been letting himself go over Wilding, the lawn, tennis champion. “Fresh from one of the fights of his .life, and brimming over with genial smiles, Wilding, the hero of the Davis Cup., sank into an easy chair before a “Times” reporter last night, and bunched his fingers round Eif knee. Then,' after some comments about the game, the champion thought for a moment, but it was such a moment when one gets an instantaneous impression of personality. The straight, firm brows, contracted slightly, over eyes of an extraordinary intense blue; there was a singular straightness of feature from the high sloping forehead down to the stubborn chin, that bespoke a determination that knew no halting place, the eves suddenly melted, and a genial sniile rippled gently through every feature. “No,” responded Mr. Wilding, suddenly, straightening his tie, and pushing bad? an imaginary hair off his forehead, “I cannot recall how many were the games I played and won. It' really,does not matter, If you want U) say anything you can

put down that I have Avon the Nice and South of France championships the last two years.” Mr. Wilding, evidently at a . very early stage in his career, is paying tlie penalty for greatness. Bret Hart-e, parodying-one of Charlotte Bronte’s heroes, could scarcely have done better. .