Tennis.

The contest between Australia and New Zealand in the first tie of the Davis Cup series ran true to form. Andrews and Malfroy did as well as could be expected, and the remarkable “Marathon” between Crawford and Stedman only showed what can sometimes be done by a player, not quite in the first flight, who is in the pink of condition and who determinedly plays his own game, refusing to be lured off it by even the most wily opponent.

Stedman is a good, hard driver, not as clever as Andrews or Malfroy at tricky shots and cunning placements—so he refused to compete with Crawford at the net in the strategic game at which Crawford is supreme. Stedman stuck to the backline and whanged everything back as hard as he could, whereas if he had attempted to take the net, the astute Crawford would either have lobbed the ball past him or driven it to his feet. Probably the wet and greasy ground helped him, but good tennis tactics were the real cause of his success. Perry used to try the same game against Crawford with some success, but it is a feather in Stedman's cap that he held Crawford to such wonderful figures as 14–12, 17–15, 4-3 unfinished.

It is sad to consider that all the advantage that would accrue to New Zealand tennis if such experience were given to “pukka” New Zealand players, resident in New Zealand, who would pass on the gain to the younger players, is lost. Andrews and Malfroy are now cosmopolitan birds of passage and Stedman may, or may not, return to New Zealand tennis in the near future. Young players like Noel Bedford would benefit greatly from association with the returned Davis Cup players.

* * *