Spain
A new factor entered the arena of world tennis in 1921 in the
appearance of a Spanish Davis Cup team. Among their number is a
star who bids fair to become one of the greatest players the
world has ever seen. A scintillating personality, brilliant
versatile game, and fighting temperament placed this young
unknown in the first rank in one year of competition.
MANUEL ALONZO
Seldom have I seen such wonderful natural abilities as are found
in this young Spaniard. Here is a player par excellence if he
develops as he gives promise. Alonzo is young, about 25, slight,
attractive in personality and court manners, quick to the point
of almost miraculous court covering. He is a great attraction at
any tournament.
His service is a fairly fast American twist. It is not remarkable
but is at least more severe than the average continental
delivery.
Alonzo has a terrific forehand drive that is the closest rival to
W. M. Johnston's of any shot I have seen. He is reliable on this
stroke, either straight or cross-court from the deep court but if
drawn in to mid-court is apt to miss it. His backhand is a flat
drive, accurate and low but rather slow and in the main
defensive.
His volleying is at once a joy and a disappointment. Such
marvellous angles and stop volleys off difficult drives! Yet
immediately on top of a dazzling display Alonzo will throw away
the easiest sort of a high volley by a pitiable fluke.
His overhead is at once severe, deadly and reliable. He smashes
with speed and direction. It is not only in his varied stroke
equipment that Alonzo is great but in his marvellous footwork.
Such speed of foot and lightning turning I have never before seen
on a tennis court. He is a quicker man than Norman E. Brookes and
higher praise I cannot give. I look to see Alonzo, who today
loses matches through lack of resource, become by virtue of
experience and tournament play the greatest player on the
continent.
His brother, J. M. Alonzo, although nowhere in Manuel's class, is
a fine all court player as are Count de Gomar and Flaquer, the
remaining members of the Cup team. If Alonzo and his teammates
are an indication of the type of players Spain is developing a
new and powerful factor in the tennis world is entering the field
to stay.
Some Other Champions
There are some individual players of interest from the countries
where tennis as a game has not reached a place worthy of national
analysation but who deserve mention among the great players of
the world.
First among them comes Nicholas Mishu of Rumania.
N. MISHU
What can I say of Mishu? As a tennis player he defies analysis.
His game is a freak. He adores to do the unusual and his game
abounds in freak shots that Mishu executes with remarkable skill.
He has many and varied services, underhand cuts, fore and
backhand, a "push" off his nose, and even one serve where he
turns his back on the court and serves the ball back over his
head.
His drives are cramped in swing and hit with excessive top spin.
His footwork is a defiance of all rules. His volleying game looks
like an accident, yet Mishu produces results. In 1921 he beat A.
H. Gobert in the World's Hard Court Championship at St. Cloud.
Mishu is a winner. I don't know how he does it but he does. He is
above all a unique personality. Cheery, individual, at times
eccentric, Mishu is a popular figure in tournaments abroad. He
plays with a verve and abandon that appeals to the European
galleries while his droll humour and good nature make him a
delightful opponent.
J. WASHER
Belgium is represented by J. Washer, my opponent in the final
round of the Hard Court Championship of the World in 1921. Washer
is a fine orthodox tennis player. His service is a well placed
twist delivery of medium pace. He has a terrific forehand drive
that gains in effectiveness owing to the fact he is a
left-hander. Like so many players with a pronounced strength, he
covers up an equally pronounced weakness by using the strength.
Washer has a very feeble backhand for so fine a player. He pokes
his backhand when he is unable to run around it.
His overhead is strong, speedy and reliable. His volleying lacks
punch and steadiness. He has had little tournament experience and
shows promise of great improvement if given the opportunity.
E. TEGNER
Denmark is represented by a player of promise and skill in the
person of E. Tegner. This young star defeated W. H. Laurentz at
St. Cloud in the Hard Court Championship of the World in 1921
when the latter was holder of the title.
Tegner is a baseline player of fine style. His strokes are long
free drives of fine pace and depth. His service is hardly
adequate for first flight tennis, yet while his ground game
cannot make up for the lack of aggression in his net attack.
Tegner is not of championship quality at the moment but his youth
allows him plenty of time to acquire that tournament experience
needed to fill in the gaps in his game. He is a cool, clever
court general and should develop rapidly within the next few
years.
H. L. DE MORPURGO
The Italian champion, H. L. de Morpurgo, is a product of his own
country and England where he attended college. He is a big, rangy
man of great strength. He uses a terrific service of great speed
but little control on his first ball and an exaggerated American
twist on the second of such extreme contortion that even his
great frame wears down under it.
His ground game is of flat drives that lack sufficient pace and
accuracy to allow him to reap the full benefit of his really
excellent net attack. His volleying is very good owing to his
great reach. His overhead, like his service, is hard but erratic.
Unfortunately he is slow on his feet and thus loses much of the
advantage of his large reach. He seems to lack confidence in his
game but that should come with more experience.
A. ZERLENDI
Tennis in Greece. No! not in ancient times but in modern, for
that little country has a remarkable little baseline star, by
name A. Zerlendi. This man is a baseliner of the most pronounced
type. He gets everything he can put his racquet to. He reminds me
irresistibly of Mavrogordato, seemingly reaching nothing yet they
all come back. I cannot adequately analyse his game because his
first principle is to put back the ball no matter how, and this
he carries into excellent effect. Zerlendi is a match winner
first and a stylist second.