Evening star., 1935-02-03

adopted when it comes before the
international federation in March.
There is no mystery about this
sudden conversion. Its cause is to
be found in the person of Fred Perry,
who, in spite of his recent defeats
in Australia, is still probably entitled
to rank as the worlds No. l tennis
player. 1t was he, coupled with H.
w. Austin, who put Britain once more
on the tennis map after 20 years Of
subordination to Australia, the United
States and France. Together Perry
and Austin succeeded in lifting the
Davis Cup, and Perry himself achieved
the pinnacle of supremacy by becom-
ing the holder at one and the same
time of the British, American and
Australian championships.
y
These achievements naturally Gre
ated great public satisfaction, and
when it became known that Perry
was coquetting with the idea of be-
coming a professional the diSmay was
correspondingly deep. For If Perry
ceased to be available 1t was obvious
that the sudden blaze of glory that
had Lit up British tennis would be
eclipsed, especially as Austin's atti-
tude on the professional question was
known to be Shaky. If Perry went,
he might follow.
More than once during Perry's pro-
longed absence in America and Aus
tralia it has been stated, apparently
with authority, that he had decided
to take the plunge to follow Big Bill
Tilden, Ellsworth Vines and Henri
Cochet into the professional ranks
but his latest statement that he hopes
to meet Jack Crawford again at
Wimbledon suggests that he has at
all events postponed the step fol-
another year. So British tennis
breathes again, and the climb down
of the L. T. A. is a clear bid to
him to dismiss the idea permanently
Whether it will do that may be
questioned. Neither Perry nor Austin
| is a rich man. Both have their
careers to make In the world, and
both have sacrificed the most critical
years of their life to a game whose
demands upon the human physique
under the stress of the modern COM
petition have grown devastatingly
severe. How perilous they have be-
come is demonstrated by Austin in
an article in the London Evening
, Standard, in which, explaining Perry's
comparative breakdown in Australia
he enters a vigorous protest against
the five-set match as putting a strain
on the human physique that 1t ought
not to be called upon to undergo
1t is, he holds, not merely dangerous
to the player, but bad for the game,
because it substitutes the test OF
mere physical endurance for the
proper test of skill in the game and
is an unjust handicap upon a great
artist of inferior stamina like Jean
Borotra.
But I question whether the reform
Austin calls for in this matter or
the L. T. AS surrender on the film
question will check the drift to pro-
fessionalism. Championship tennis Is
and must be a whole-time career, and
if pushed it must provide living for
the player either in meal or malt
either, that is, in open remuneration
or in more subterranean and less
honorable ways. Already the flaming
sword Of rigid amateurisn has ex-
cluded four of the greatest players Of
the world from the sacred precincts
of Wimbledon, and more will fall
under the ban, until Wimbledon will
become the monopoly, of second-class
players.
Among the public a strong demand
Is growing up that the professional
ban should be lifted and that "open"
championships should be open in fact
and not merely In name-open, that
Is. to all comers, whether professional
or amateur.