TENNIS NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 263, 4 October 1933, Page 12

TENNIS NOTES

(By “Volley.”) Controlled by the Teachers’ and Students’ Association of the Technical School, a very enjoyable Yankee tennis tournament was held at the Grey Street courts a day or two ago. There was an attendance of about fiftv players, and the games were under the supervision of Mr AV. Creed. Mr T. E. Douds won the men’s section, in which Mr C. Hands was runner-up. The ladies’ section was won by Miss K. Richards, with Miss Rennie runnerup. The Takaro Lawn Tennis Club is this year in the fortunate position of having three additional courts available for play, and now has most generous accommodation. The New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association has chosen C. E. Malfroy, No. 1 on the New Zealand ranking list, to play against the Australian players at Auckland on Friday. The Australians, Crawford and McGrath, will play in Auckland. It is believed that Crawford will not play in the singles, but will take part in the doubles. There is a probability that two prominent Australian players, C. Sproule and C. Donohoe, will be in the Dominion towards the end of the year, and will most likely take part in the New Zealand championships at Christchurch at Christmas. The AVanganui Lawn Tennis Club, at its annual meeting, decided to endeavour to arfange more matches with outside clubs, particularly those at Patea, Bulls and Feilding. The interesting announcement was made at a meeting of the Otago Lawn Tennis Association that two overseas teams—one from Australia, and one from England—would visit Dunedin towards the end of this month. The secretary reported that he had received a letter from the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association advising that an Australian team consisting of Messrs Turnbull a.nd Quist would visit Dunedin on October 23 (Labour Day), and would play matches at Logan Park. On October 25, Dunedin would be visited by the English players Perry, Lee and AVilde. The itinerary of the visiting lawn tennis players provides for a match England v. Australia a.t Christchurch on October 21 and England v. New Zealand on October 23.

A complaint that it had been treated with scant consideration and courtesy by the controlling authority regarding the application for the holding of the New Zealand championships in Timaru, no doubt because it was a minor body, was made by tlie chairman at a meeting of the South Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association. It was announced that the English team "would play a.t Timaru on October 18, and it was decided to endeavour to get the Australian team to visit Timaru either on its way to Oamaru or on the way back.

The exclusion of Invercargill from the itineraries of both the Australian and English touring lawn tennis teams provoked strong criticism of the management committee of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association at the annual meeting of the Southland Lawn Tennis Association also. In the course of a resolution expressing this viewpoint, it stated: “In the present circumstances this association sees no benefit to be gained by a continuance of the payment of affiliation fees, and while it would regret the necessity for seceding from the New Zealand Association, such action may become inevitable unless the parent body displays a greater sense of justice in its administration of the game.” Mr Bruce Harris, of ihe London Evening Standard, alone among the British and Continental critics, ranks F. J. Perry (Britain) above J. Crawford (Australia), who is followed by H. Cochet (France), H. Austin (Britain) and H. E. AUnes (U.S.A.), bracketed, J. Satoli (Japan), L. R. Steoffen (U.S.A.), F. X. Shields (U.S.A.), E. Menzel (Czechoslovakia) and H. G. N. Lee (Britain). Mr Harris contends that the direct evidence of Perry’s win against Crawford at Forest Hills outweighs the performances of either against “third parties.” Perry’s defeats in the French championship and at AVimbledon, he says, do not justify placing Crawford above him after he defeated Crawford. An announcement was made at a meeting of the Australian Lawn Tennis Association that £1220 had been received from the United States Association for the appearance of the Australian Davis Cup team in American matches. In a statement from Mr D. P. Turnbull, treasurer of the cup team, it was mentioned that the receipts from Davis Cup matches would amount approximatelv to from £1260 to £l<“ and from other European matches, including AVimbledon, £1205. It is anticipated that the tour will result in a profit. Crawford and McGrath are due back on October 9, and their programme for the season is already being mapped out for them, writes a Sydney correspondent. Of course, everybody here is delighted with their success, and Crawford’s defeats in America are generally regarded as due to the prolonged physical and mental strain thrown upon him by so many severe matches, through several consecutive seasons. It must be remembered that this season not only Crawford, but A r ines, Perry, Shields and many other leading players, have been compelled to admit that the game as now played is too exhausting for even trained athletes to carrv on at top speed for 'an indefinite time. Though nobody here wishes to rob Perry of the glory that he gained by winning the American championship, no one who has seen Crawford play can believe that he would persistently hit balls into the bottom of the net or out of court, to lose 6—o, 6—l, after leading two sets to one, if he had been really fit and well. His subsequent defeat by Shields helps to bear out this view of the case, and there is no doubt in our minds- that he “cracked” under the strain in the American final. As to MrGrath, that unfortunate youth, what with his natural ambition and the constant urging of enthusiastic admirers, has been nearly “played to death.” He is only 17 years old, he has been playing high-grade tennis m public for over two years, and it is impossible that he can be doing himself justice now. And the outlook for McGrath is serious; for at his age staleness may result in positive inability to reach the higher levels of the game now or in future. There can be little doubt that McGrath’s spasmodic failures, both at Paris and London, were due to too much play, and the warnings that we read frequently in the newspapers before our Davis Cup team left are now being redoubled, here. . Golf has claimed some prominent converts from the ranks of lawn tennis champions the world over. Former Australian international players now dodging the hazards of the links are Messrs J. O. Anderson, N. Peach, A. B. Jones, G. L. Patterson, J. B. Hawkes, R- E. Schelesinger, N. E. Brookes and J. AA r illard.