Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-20
TENNIS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
The Great Popularity Of the Game and
the Superiority Of Players.

The Great Popularity Of the Game and
the Superiority Of Players.
wAsHrSeroS REPRESENTED IN TIE MANCHESTER
MISUNDERSTANDING or ENGLISH COURTS
LONDON TENNIS EvESrs-PRoMrSExr LADY
PIAYERs-PoPUIARrTr OF THE DOUBLE aAME
Special Correspondence Of THE EVENING srAn
LONDON, July 8, 1889.
have Just returned from the Northern
England tennis tournament at Manchester
which is one of the greatest events in English
tennis circles. was especially struck by the
superior condition of the courts. Good turf in
England seems to be the rule rather than the
exception. The climate is especially favorable
for grass-growing, and then, too, the greatest
care is taken of the sward. 1t lie nurtured and
coached" until it attains almost perfect con-
dition. The turf at Manchester was as level as
q door, and showed few sunspots. Twenty
courts were constantly in use during the entire
week, there being over one hundred and fifty
entries.
WASHINGTON REPRESENTED.
simply to have America represented, en-
tered this tournament. but of course was de-
feated as expected, only succeeding in getting
four games out of sixteen from my opponent,
young colegian from Cambridge at Man.
chester Mr.. Hamilton, the young Irish cham
pion, succeeded in holding on to his trophy
the Renshaw Brothers (whose tennis star has
evidently sep lost their championship prize to
Messrs. Hillyard and Mahony, who played a
remarkably strong game. The play
OF the ladies was especially fine. Mrs. Hill
yard, who has gained even greater prominence
than her husband, carried off the single prize
(bracelets), but after winning one set from Miss
Lottle bod English champion) for the chal-
lenge cup, lost the deciding set, and the latter
sun remains the lady champion of England.
AMERICA BEHIND ENGLAND.
There is no doubt that America is far behind
England and ireland in its tennis players of
both sexes. Here the game is many years old,
and nearly every suburban home has tennis
ground. Then, too, the English devote more
time to athletic sports than Americans. This
seems to be necessary adjunct of English life.
Even the working classes devote their leisure
to some form of athletic sport.
Racing, cricket, racquets. lawn tennis, boat
ing and 'golph," are discussed in the clubs,
theaters, shops, trains buses, on the streets
and indeed. where not? That the athletic
spirit pervades the gentler sex in England to
large degree is evident from the number of
superior lady tennis players in the kingdom.
THE PHYSICAL SUPERIORITY OF THE ENGLISH
WOMAN
to those Of most other nations is well known to
be due to the greater amount Of exercise which
they take, and the English girl plays lawn ten
mis- better than the American because she is
physically her superior and can thus more
easily handle a racquet. Miss Lottie bod and
at least a dozen other ladies whom have
seen at the net can easily defeat most of
the men PLAYERS in Washington. Miss
Dod Is only eighteen years Of age, yet
her playing is really wonderful Her
service counts for nothing, being under
hand, and consequently easily returned. She
! relies for the strength Of her game upon accu-
rate placing, and her long and swift drives
from the base line to the further end of her
opponents court, the ball having a downward
curve and being impelled so swiftly as to make
1t almost impossible of return. Mrs Hillyard's
game is similar, except in an overland swift
serve which often scores. Among the best lady
players may be mentioned, also, the Misses
studmaa (Ireland), Miss Longrishe, Miss Rice
lIraland), Miss Butler (Scotland). Miss Martin,
Miss Stannel, Miss Hill, Miss bod (sister of
Miss Lottie Dod), and Miss Pick.
INTEREST IN TENNIS IN ENGLAND
As an evidence of the intense interest felt
here in tennis ii is sufficient to state that from
May to September II no less than seventy
i've open tournaments are played every year.
Nor does this include the large number of
| club tournaments held during the tennis sea-
son, which are simply illimitable. 1t is thus
evident that the English tennis devotee is
'foemen worthy of his steel" and hence
| 1t is that he is enabled to keep in constant
practice and to improve his game correspond
lngly. Every town and village has its clubs
larger cities being the centers of tennis asso-
| Citations, notably London, Dublin, Bath Man
chester and Liverpool. The London lawn
tennis season, which eliminates next week at
Wimbledon, is now in full swing and it Is sur
prising to note the immense advance which
the game has made in the metropolis, from the
~ t1n ,l~,.-r
entries for the Kent county tournaments
were two hundred and fourteen in number,
counting each pair as a single unit. So numer-
GUS were the entries in the gentlemen's handi-
cap, one hundred and nine, that il was neces-
airy to divide the players into three classes
During the week over two hundred matches
were played, twenty courts being constantly in
use by the contestants. The London public
show deeper interest in the game this year
than ever before. Hitherto Dublin, Bath,
Liverpool, and other populous cities and water
places have been far ahead of the capital in this
respect, but now London has only Dublin as a
rival for the title OF the metropolis Of lawn
tennis.
HANDICAP TOURNAMENTS
are nowhere more popular than in the London
district, although they are made features in
other places. At Manchester about forty
players met in handicaps. There is fast
growing multitude of players who have
0AlcA Soo II oAa VIC SdTucH party stdRe OF de-
velopment and have become respectable play
ers in handicaps At present there are only
two men in Great Britain who know the merits
OF the respective players sufficiently well to
serve as official handicappers. They are Mr.
N. L. Jackson, editor Of Pdsttme 1.-THE leading
tennis magazine (weekly) in Great Britain, and
Mr.. B. @. Evelegh of The Field, also weekly pub
LEGATION devoted to country gentlemen's sports.
These handicap tournaments must soon be
inaugurated in America. but 1t is doubtful if
there il any one now sufficiently acquainted
with our players to properly handicap them.
At present we have no well-conducted maya
zine devoted to tennis but should the game
hold its present level Of interest or increase in
popularity such journal will be almost neces-
sity. Every sport in England has one or more
periodicals to keep its devotees posted on the
daily events in the sporting world. The num-
Der OF papers Of this class is astonishing and
many publish three daily editions.
POPULARITY OF THE DOUBLE GAME.
Another feature in the tennis play of Eng
lishmen is the popularity of the double game.
The entries for doubles in the tournaments this
year have been unusually large. Authorities
here say that the double game gives scope for
greater delicacy Of play and q larger amount of
strategy than the single game. Another i'm
portant feature in the double game (which is
undoubtedly advansageous) is the manner in
which partners arrange themselves on the
court. The prehistoric (here) method
was with one man at the back Of the court and
the other volleyhg. This style of play has en-
tirely passed away among the leading
| MI vor and ia mile ~ h. fo~.~S 4.