Australasia
The death of that sterling sportsman, Anthony F. Wilding, and the
natural decline in the playing powers of Norman E. Brookes, owing
to the advance of years and his war experiences, leave
Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) in a somewhat uncertain
condition regarding its tennis prospects.
NORMAN E. BROOKES
Volumes have been written about N. E. Brookes and his tennis
genius, but I would not feel right if I could not pay at least a
slight tribute to the greatest tennis player and genius of all
time.
There is no need to dwell on Brookes' shots, his marvellous
mechanical perfection, his peculiar volleying style, his uncanny
anticipation. All these are too well known to need my feeble
description. They are but the expression of that wonderful brain
and dominant personality that lie behind that sphinx- like face
we know as Brookes'.
To see across the net those ever-restless, ever-moving eyes,
picking the openings in my never too- well guarded court, and
know that against me is pitted the greatest tennis, brain of the
century, is to call upon me to produce my best. That is what my
match with Brookes meant to me, and still does to-day. Brookes
should be an inspiration to every tennis player, for he has
proved the power of mind over matter in tennis: "Age cannot
wither nor custom stale his infinite variety."
Brookes is the most eminently just man on a tennis court I have
ever met, for no excitement or emotion clouds his eyesight or
judgment in decisions. He cannot abide bad decisions, yet he
hates them quite as much when they favour him as when they are
against him. I admit frankly I am a great admirer of Brookes,
personally and from every tennis sense. He is a master that I as
a student of the game feel proud to study under.
GERALD PATTERSON
Australia's leading player, Gerald Patterson, is one of the most
remarkable combinations of tennis virtues and tennis faults, I
have ever seen.
Patterson has a wonderful service. He has speed, direction,
control, and all kinds of twist. He hits his service consistently
hard and puts it in. His overhead is the most remarkable in the
game. He can kill from any place in the court. His, shot is
clean, with little effort, yet carries terrific speed. His
volleying above the net is almost faultless on his forehand. He
has an excellent forehand drive that is very severe and
consistent, but his backhand . . . Where in all the rest of
tennis history was there a first-class man with a backhand so
fundamentally wrong? His grip is bad, he pulls up on the ball and
"loops" it high in the air. I do not mean Patterson always misses
his backhand. He does not. He even makes remarkable shots off it
at times, but, if Patterson is pressed, his backhand is the first
portion of his game to crack, because it is hit inherently wrong.
Patterson relies mainly on speed to win matches. He is not a
strategist, and finesse is not part of his tennis equipment. He
has a magnificent physique, and relies largely on his, strength
to carry him through a long match and win in the end.
He is very quiet, and inclined to be somewhat careless on the
court, unless pressed, when his businesslike, determined play
shows what a great match player Patterson can become. He produces
his best game at the crucial moment of the match. Patterson is a
superior match player to his real tennis ability. His is not
truly a top-notch game. It has superlative features, but its
whole texture is not of the finest.
Patterson owes much of his success in 1919 to Brookes, under
whose guidance he played. The absence of the master mind
directing his attack proved a decided handicap in 1920, and
Patterson's attack was not so certain nor sustained as in the
previous season. Patterson's game plus Brookes' strategy would be
a great combination in one man.
PAT O'HARA WOOD
This young Australian is one of the greatest doubles players in
the world and bids fair to press the leading singles stars close.
Pat O'Hara Wood is a player without a weakness, yet also one
without a strength. He is a typical all court player with no
outstanding feature to his game unless it be his volleying. Pat
Wood has a natural aptitude for doubles which at times seriously
interferes with his singles game.
His service is a well placed speedy slice that he mixes up well.
It is not a great delivery but very effective. His ground
strokes, taken on the rising bounces, are flat drives, accurate
and varied as to direction but lacking punch. He does not hit
hard enough. He is a brilliant volleyer, cutting off at sharp
angles the hardest drives. His overhead is erratic. At times he
is deadly overhead but is prone to lapses into uncertainty. He is
remarkably quick and speedy of foot. His sense of anticipation is
magnificent. His generalship good, though not brilliant. It is
lack of punch, the inability to put the ball away, that keeps Pat
O'Hara Wood from the first flight in singles.
Clever, blessed with a keen sense of humour, a sterling sportsman
and delightful opponent, Pat O'Hara Wood is a big asset to tennis
and a man who is needed in the game.
J. C. HAWKES
The youngest of the Australasian players and a boy of great
promise is Jack Hawkes. He is only 22 and young in the game for
his age.
Let me state now I do not approve of Hawkes' style. His footwork
is wrong, hopelessly wrong and I fear that unless he corrects it,
it may keep him from attaining the place his natural abilities
promise. "Austral," the famous critic, describes him as "having
the genius of the game."
Jack Hawkes has an exaggerated American twist service that, since
he is a left-hander, places an unnecessary strain on his heart
muscles. It carries terrific twist but little speed and does not
Pay him for the amount of energy he expends.
His forehand drive is excellent, fast, deep, and well placed, yet
in making this he steps away from the ball, again wasting energy.
His backhand is a poke and very unreliable. To save it he runs
around everything possible, again causing unnecessary exertion.
His volleying is brilliant while his overhead is magnificent.
Hawkes' waste of energy has cost him many a match, yet for all
the inherent defects in his game he is so clever in using what he
has, his tactics are so good for so young a player that I believe
he will be one of the leading players of the world in a few
years. Under the watchful eyes of Norman Brookes I foresee Hawkes
changing his footwork to at least a reasonable copy of the old
master.
J. O. ANDERSON
This young player is again a promise rather than a star. He is a
big, rangy, hard-hitting type like Gerald Patterson. He is crude,
at times careless and unfortunately handicapped in 1920 and 1921
by a severe illness that only allowed him to resume play in the
middle of the latter year. His ground strokes are flat drives
fore and backhand. His forehand is a particularly fine shot. He
hits it with a short sharp snap of his arm that imparts great
speed and yet hides the direction. His backhand is defensive. His
volleying clever, accurate but soft. His overhand severe and
reliable. His service flat, fast and dangerous.
He needs finesse, experience and season, with which he may well
become one of the greatest players as the fundamental
potentialities are there.
NORMAN PEACH
The steady baseline game of England has its exponent in Australia
in Norman Peach. He has a beautiful driving game, with adequate
but not severe service, that one finds so much in England. At
times Peach will advance to the net but his volleying and
overhead are secondary to his baseline game. He is not a great
tennis player but is certainly one of high standard of play. He
is just below the first flight in Australia.
R. V. Thomas is one of the finest doubles players in the world as
is amply attested by his win of the world's title in 1919 with
Pat O'Hara Wood and their two successive wins of the Australian
Championship in 1919-20. Thomas with his hard-hitting off the
ground, and his brilliant volleying is a fine foil for Pat Wood's
steady accuracy.
Just a word about one veteran, a good friend of mine, who is
again playing fine tennis, Rodney L. Heath, hero of the famous
Davis Cup match in 1911 when he defeated W. A. Larned, is again
in the game.
Heath with his long beautiful groundstrokes, forehand, or
backhand, his incisive crisp volleys and fine, generalship based
on young experience, is a notable figure in the tennis world.
The mantle of Wilding and Brookes must fall on the shoulders of a
really great player. Who it will be is hard to say at present. No
outstanding figure looms on the horizon at the time of writing.
South Africa
The 1920 South African Davis Cup team players, following their
disastrous defeat by Holland, journeyed to England for the
Championship and following tournaments, and I had the opportunity
of studying three players of great promise. The remaining two
were excellent, but hardly as exceptional as the former.
Charles Winslow, the leading player in the team, has a remarkable
versatile game. He uses a high, bounding service of good speed,
which at times he follows to the net. His best ground stroke is a
severe chop, not unlike Wallace F. Johnson. He has a good drive
both forehand and backhand, which he only uses when pressed or in
attempting to pass a net man. He volleys very well, and covers
the net quickly. His overhead is very severe, steady, and
reliable. He is a fine natural player just below the top flight.
He is an excellent strategist, and mixes his shots very well. He
has exceptionally fast footwork, and repeatedly runs around his
backhand to chop diagonally across the court in a manner very
similar to Johnson.
B. I. C. Norton, the South African champion, a youngster of
twenty, is a phenomenal player of extreme brilliancy. He has
everything in stroke equipment, drives, slices, volleys, and a
fine service and overhead. Unfortunately Norton regards his
tennis largely as a joke. His judgment is therefore faulty, and
he is apt to loaf on the court. He tries the most impossible
shots that sometimes go in; and in the main, his court
generalship is none too good.
He is an irrepressible boy, and his merry smile and chatter make
him a tremendous favourite with the gallery. He has a very strong
personality that should carry him a long way.
Louis Raymond, the left-handed star of the South Africans, has an
excellent ground game coupled with a good service and fair
volleying and overhead. His game is not remarkable. He is a
hard-working, deserving player who attains success by industry
rather than natural talent. His judgment is sound and methods of
play orthodox, except for a tendency to run around his backhand.
C. R. Blackbeard, the youngest member of the team, and G. H.
Dodd, its captain, are both very excellent players of the second
flight. Blackbeard is very young, not yet twenty, and may develop
into a star. At present he chops too much, and is very erratic.
. . . . . . .
There are many other players whom I would analyse if I had the
time or space; but in these days of paper shortage and ink
scarcity, conservation is the keynote of the times.
Let me turn for a few moments to the women whose fame in the
tennis world is the equal of the men I have been analysing.