The sun., 1916-01-02
MORE COURT TENNIS
IN VIEW This YEAR
British Professionals Here to
Try Skill Against Home
Players.
JAY GOULD CHALLENGED

there is doubt as to what the nature OF
| the matches will he and when they will
| be played. 1t Is certain from the autivi-
ties among both professionals and ANA
teurs at the various racquet and tennis
clubs throughout the country that there
will he a great deal more competition
during the coming season than last year.
when only the national championships
were played.
There are a number OF British pro-
fessionals in this country at the pres
ent time and II is more than likely that
a professional tournament will be ar
ranged with the hope that some one
can be unearthed who can give Jay Gould
at least II tussle for the open champion
ship which he took away from George II.
Covey in 1914. Walter Kipsella. the
present American professional title
| holder. has challenged Gould, but 1t Is
doubtful II these two will. meet In a
! match at least until after the profess
sional tournament is played.
Last year was one of the leanest sea-
sons In the history of the sport. and
this can be attributed TO number- OF
reasons. The war kept a great many
foreign players at home while In this
| veloped who could compare with Gould
In skill. The lack OF de elopment OF
piayers was not exceptional to las, year.
| but mas been the rule ever SINE the
game has been played in this country.
| For the last ten years tAe same old
crowd has been competing regularly for
| the amateur title and for the Aamd
| length OF time Gould has lowered above
| the rest.
As a matter OF fact. court tennis. al
though 1t Is one OF the oldest sports now
1 in existence. has not the faculty for
! drawing out young players. This is due
primarily TO the fact that the game is
little known IN this country. and Sec
| ondarily to the fact that there are 80
| few courts in the country. In spite OF
the fact that the game has been played
IN the United States for a great many
years there are only about "A dozen
courts in the country. and none of them
can be called new. At the present time
there are courts at the New York
Racquet and Tennis Club. at the Phila-
delpha Racquet Club, Boston Tennis
and Racque. Club, Tuxedo Club. Chicago
Racquet Club, Boston A. a.. Myopia
Hunt Club and at Aiken. s, C., and
Newport. George Gould has private
court at Georgian Court. Lakewood. and
on Long Island there are other private
I
Payne Whitney.
| That courts have not sprung up
Throughout; the country and caused a
| growth OF the game in keeping with the
growth OF other sports Is due to the
great cost of building them. The way
the cdurts are constructed now costs
thousands OF dollars. This is one OF the
remarkable features OF the sport when
its humble origin Is taken into cons'd-
| fnlIrfpentn NJ
tury an order OF French monks invented
! the game as form of exercise and
played II in the monastery courtyard.
In contrast to the expensive rackets and
balls used to-day, il is said that the
| monks played with pieces OF wood or
cork and had barrel slaves for bats
| The court OF to-day is u glorhed
replica OF the monastery courtyard OF
centuries ago Along the sides Of the
courtyard were low rofed galleries with
latticed windows. The galleries still :e-
main. and the spectators of to-day watch
| the matches from behind the latticed win =
| dows. \ window into the grill still re-
mains al the hazard end of the court
and takes its name from the grille OF
| old. An abuttment on the wall OF the
| old courtyard Is reproduced in what IL
known as the tambour on the left side
of the hazard end and the dedans, lead
ing out. as the word implies. are still
| retained.
! American interest in the sport has
| been spasmodic Al the time Gould won
! the open championship from Covey sport
lovers from all over the country wanted
! to know what court tennis was Their
interest centred upon the fact that an
| American amateur had beaten the pro-
fessional champion OF the world Some
were satisfied TO let il go ~ that and
| took II for granted that the game was
lawn tennis played INDOORS As a mat
ter of fact about the only way in which
court tennis resembles lawn tennis IL
| that the players tse a racket and ball
and the court Is divided in two NY n net.
| II is notable that court tennis en-
thusasts hold that their game in the
real tennis and that the lawn tennis of
to-day Is n simple adaptation OF II.
Many experts on both games assert
/ that the court tennis game IL Gar more
scientific and demands "A higher de-
velopment of skill and accuracy. The
strokes arc far different from those used
! in lawn tennis. The very scoring of the
game is one OF the great difficulties at
tached to 1t and requires "A mathemati-
cal genius To do II correctly When the
server tosees his ball TO the hazard court.
unlike lawn tennis, the scorer does not
merely have to look for "A return or an
error, In the FIRST place instead of
| striking fhe ball directly over the net
the server twirls 1t along the galleries
and the ball drops into the resolving or
hazard side with many strange bounce
or jump.
Should the striker return the ball over
the net, even that docs not necessarily
start a rally. The server has the option
OF returning or having "a chase scored
against him. The chases are lines
marked out on the floor of the court al
various distances from the net and are
scored by the receiver dropping the ball
on one OF these lines provided the server
does not return II, Two chases scored
against the server put him on the hazard
side and I'm order to get back service he
must score chascs nearer the back wall
in tho service court. Keeping track OF
chascs has made many wouldbe scorer
tear his hair with veXation. and that IL
only one of the many intricacies OF the
scoring system. which probably has beer
another deterrent OF the growth OF the
game