Omaha daily bee., 1908-08-09
HANDLING TENNIS JOURNEYS
Things They Do Better on the Other
Side.
WHERE ENGLISH HUSTLE sOME
BiE Tournaments Are Put Out of the
Way in -Four Day with More
Players Than I'm Dur
Championship.

In the course Of a lawn tennis season in
this country about the way the tourna-
ments are handled. The complaints are
made about equally by players and man
ayers. The players object because there
are occasional defaults registered against
them which they believe to be unjust.
Those in charge of tournaments object to
the leisurely methods of some contestants
who contrive to make 1t very hard to con-
duct a tournament to its conclusion in a
week. In the season the tournaments fol-
low one another so closely that a week Is
the best that can be given to any one OF
them without interfering seriously with the
next.
Only rarely are tournaments so managed
that dilatory players are defaulted as they
should be. Sometimes a tournament with
only two competitions. such NJ mems
singles and doubles. drags through an
entire week when it might be run in three
days. The sanctions for these tournaments
permit them to cover a week and no more,
but the system here might better be mod
elled on the British style, and then there
would be a chance Of lodging another
thing complained OF.
Those who have the handling of open
tournaments object very much to having
invitation tournaments scheduled for the
same week. One club which has conducted
a large open tournament for several sea-
sons in regular conflict with an invitation
tournament has declared out of the game
for next season. The expense Of
5000 or s700 for a tournament which at
tracts only the second raters are too much
for the patience Of the lawn tennis COM
mittee of the club mentioned, and a de-
termination has been reached that the, club
has had enough. The first raters are in
vited elsewhere, and they are willing
enough to go for a weeks entertainment.
with mild play in the afternoon. followed
by a swim, then dinner, then bridge and a
perfectly fine lazy time.
II the United States National Lawn Ten
mis- association gave three or four-day
sanctions this might all be done ava with.
Then the invitation tournament could be
run off in three days and the other could
follow on. OF course IL rain comes up,
that forces a postponement. But in the
event of fair weather, which rules in the
season, these things could be fitted to-
gether. Those who object that three days
or four days would not be enough for a
tournament would do we'll TO study a few
OF the programs from the other side. For
instance, the Welsh championships. This
year this was a four-day affair, designed
to catch the best players from the Leices-
tershire tournament, which was on three
days preceding and overlapped it one day.
1t had to be finished so that some of the
players could go on to Shrewsbury for the
Shropshire tournament the first three days
of the succeeding week. No Sunday play,
either.
In the Wales tournament at Newport
there were actually eleven events. The
Welsh championships in mems singles and
doubles, mems singles for the championship
of South Wales and M~onmouthshire. mixed
doubles, handicap mems doubles. handicap
women's doubles, handicap mixed doubles,
handicap women singles. handicap mems
singles, first class; the same, second class,
and mems singles handicap for players in
the local clubs.
There were twenty-one entries in the
Welsh mems championship; fourteen in the
women's championship. The South Wales
and Monmouthshire championship drew
twelve players. There were thirteen pairs
In the mixed doubles open. Thirty pairs
were drawn in the handicap mems doubles.
Twelve pairs were in the handicap
women's doubles. In the handicap mixed
doubles tw~enty-four pairs played. Sixteen
women elected the handicap singles. There
nNit IWGuty players III lHB lHSL CLASS
mems singles and thirty-five in the second
class. The local clubs singles also drew
thirty-five players. There were thus 2s2
players or pairs involved. Actually on the
draw it was necessary to play go matches
In the four days to get the tournament off.
And this was done.
There are no more courts at Newport
Wales, than there are at Newport, r. l.,
but the difference in handling is great. 1t
is fair to compare the tournaments. be-
cause at our championships. at least. they
are all players OF the leisure class. In
England most of the lawn tennis following
In the big tournaments are players who
don't have to go to business and to hurry
from It to the tournament. They don't
arrive late anAplay one match in an after
noon. That is England's advantage. There
Is another in the late twilight.
There were ms players at Newport,
United States. and ia matches were
played in the singles. There was no chal-
lerge round. There were many defaults.
but the tournament took a full week. To
be sure. there wore all three out Of five
matches in our championships. and at the
Welsh tournament there were only such
matches In the Tina of the mems events.
But had there been a challenge round al
Newport, United States. it is not hard to
imagine that the tournament would have
run over into the following week. The play
was started early In the day and pro-
ceeded in haphazard fashion, very Otter
without complete officials for the matches
and still they did not do as much as did
the welsh management in four days. A
our championships there is no question
OF players not being there. They are ir
the city all the time and they are there
for the week. to do nothing else than Il
play the game.
To compare the Welsh championship
with the ordinary run OF our tournaments
would be unfair to us. but the smaller
ones In England are handled no less skill,
fully in comparison. It Is with the people
over there merely a question Of becoming
accustomed to discipline. When the welst
tournament gave some leeway to Anthony
f.. wilding, because he was a big fellow
English Lawn Tennis, the official paper
made some outspoken criticism. That woult
hardly happen here. where everything Il
done at the convenience Of the champions
and the small fry may go shift for them
selves.
II there were the play through system
in this country that obtains m most o
these smaller foreign tournaments. a who'll