1935-09-07 — Page 7

China Mail

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HONG KONG, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1935

No. 26

Helen Jacobs

THE

Jacobs

victory of Dorothy

Round at the Beckenham considered to be tournament. one of the most important pre- Wimbledon meetings, has caus- ed much speculation as to her chances of successfully defend ing her English title during the coming fortnight. To many of as her decisive win over Kay Stammers, who the day before had defeated Mrs. Moody in two. sets. was unexpected. Miss Stammers had produced bril- in accomplishing. liant tennis

other English what only one woman had been able to do, and this fact, coupled with her ex- traordinary success in the Brit- ish Hard-court Championships. seemed to indicate that Dorothy Round's slack form would not be equal to the task of winning.

However, the very quality that enabled Dorothy to win at Wimble-. don last year was evidently respon.. Becken- sible for her victory at ham-the ability to raise her game to its highest level when the oc- The most dili- casion demands. cult thing about playing Dorothy Dever knows Roard is that one what to expect from her. She might play quite indifferently in the ear- a tournament, and ly rounds of yet produce flawless tennis in tha final For this reason I feel that she will play as well at Wimbledon this year as she did last year.

до

It is fortunate for Hilda Sperl-

that she is ing's opponents quite the player on grass that she is on hard courts. There is not, to be sure. any marked decrease in her ability on grass, but there is. Just that difference in her retriet ing-capability that enables her ad- versary to count occasionally on an On the hard outright winner. court, where the ball seldom slides away, she is apparently indefatig ab and, knowing that it is pos- sible to retrieve almost any lob, will always try for and usually re-. turn it. She is the most decep-

tennis.. in women's Live player When she first became prominent in tennis, one was apt to underesti-. mate her game, because her strokes were produced in rather awkward style and it seemed that her unor- thodox grip for the volley would never permit her to become efficient at the net. Since then we have, all learned to regard her as the most difficult opponent in the world to defeat. The depth and regularity of ber shots, the amazing length of her reach and stride, and her ability most unexpected to bring of the returns, have given her a fair share of the world's tennis titles.

Kay, Stammers and Peggy Seri- ren, at their respective best, are. in my opinion, capable of the same Their degree of winning tennis. games are played in somewhat the same style: they both hit with the same power on their forehands and with increasing security on their backhands. Kay is, perhaps, bet- ter at the net than Peggy, although I have seen Peggy volley with great "force and accuracy, during an en-

Talks Talks On Women At Wimbledon

show Our photographs Helen Jacobs, left, Dorothy Round, centre, and Katherine Stammers right, all of whom

tire match Bat, in spite of their tennis, that can rise to superlative heights, they do not seem to pos- sess the consistency of form in the major tournaments that has brought Dorothy Round above their class.

Mme. Simone Mathieu must al- a serious ways be regarded as

Many of threat to any opponent. the critics believe that she is a more dangerous adversary on hard courts than on grass, but with this opinion I cannot agree. It may be easier for her to retrieve her op- ponent's shots on hard courts, but her own are certainly more effective a very fat on grass. She hits drive on the forehand and one with slight spin on the backhand. grass these shots tend to slide, and one seldom gets. the chance to bit them as hard as one does on hard courts. Her service, which is not up to the rest of her game, bounces. 30 much lower on grass that her opponent is usually prevented from hitting it for an outright winner. as I have often seen Peggy Scri- ven do in Paris.

Oa

short -Cross- Mme. Mathieu's court shots always pay their high- est dividends at Wimbledon, where she very wisely uses them at every The Centre Court opportunity. turf, in particular, is very favour....” able to her whole game, but, des- pite this fact she requires more con- - centration to play well in England than in France, where she seems to feel that her temperament is more compatible with the generai At various times atmosphere. there have been English players" who could not play their best at Wimbledon-Mrs. Holcroft-Watson and Eileen Whittingstall" come at once, to, mind-bat there have been very few American players who could not adapt their games to the courts of the All-England Club, who have, not felt that the atmos- uhere of friendliness, dignity, and importance. was an inspiration to their best efforts and their best- tennis, and who have not been able to profit from the experience.

are now competing in the Cham- National American pionships at Forest Hills.

"Miss Emmy Cepkova, the Czechoslovakian lawn tennis player, is some- times called "The Greta Garbo" of the lawa tennis courts.