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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10961 ***
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lambert Chambers]
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+BY
+
+MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+First published in 1910, London
+
+TO MY FATHER WHOSE KEENNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUCH A
+GREAT HELP TO ME DURING MY LAWN TENNIS CAREER
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a
+book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and
+clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my
+favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its
+literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am
+still too much affected by the "brilliant and feverish glow" of
+enthusiasm to dream of offering one.
+
+Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic
+pride, but only with a passionate fondness for what I consider a great
+sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly,
+I should like to thank all those who have assisted me with suggestions
+and the loan of photographs, especially my "arena colleagues" who have
+rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.
+
+DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  I.   ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+  II.  PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+  III. MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+  IV.  RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+  V.   TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+  VI.  SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+  VII. MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE
+    LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  THE FORE-HAND DRIVE
+
+  THE BACK-HAND DRIVE
+
+  SERVICE
+      From photographs by Dexter.
+
+  MRS. G.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES
+  MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+  MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING
+  MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOHERTY
+
+  MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP
+    AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY,
+    AND MISS E.W. THOMSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)
+
+  GROUP PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902
+
+  AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE
+
+  "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF"
+    A picture-postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert Chambers by Miss May Sutton
+      from her home in California.
+
+  AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM
+  SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY
+
+  THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS
+    SUTTON (AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  MOTOR-CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL ENGLAND GROUND
+    AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES' CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (now MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS)
+    WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER
+
+  MRS. HILLYARD
+  MRS. STERRY
+  MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+  MISS D. BOOTHBY
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+  MRS. LARCOMBE
+  MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+  MISS A.M. MORTON
+  MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+
+
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+
+I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
+athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
+Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
+ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
+tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
+enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
+brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
+than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
+for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
+they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
+woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
+said for these contentions, but to my mind the _pros_ materially
+outweigh the _cons_.
+
+As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
+evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
+more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
+A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth
+the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in
+an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the anticipation of a
+scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.
+Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm,
+collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that
+invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second
+objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on
+what is meant by the essential feature of "womanliness." I am afraid
+most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, "Frailty, thy name is
+woman." Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps
+call it "delicacy," and refer to the "weaker sex," but they mean that
+just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her
+weakness. They argue that you must impair this "weakness" by strenuous
+games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness,
+just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely
+physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a
+second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second
+editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, "Nature
+meant to make woman its masterpiece." I well remember reading in a
+stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men
+and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while
+the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing
+ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their
+war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked
+themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind,
+was a picture of true "womanliness." Inferior in neither moral strength
+nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement,
+giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he
+needs for the special experience.
+
+If this, then, be "womanliness," can athletic games injure it? Do they
+spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific
+excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at
+critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is
+undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame,
+more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested
+match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.
+These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the
+qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their
+sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and
+sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You
+are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do
+these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a
+thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and
+stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and
+absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.
+
+The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle
+prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.
+The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits,
+and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that
+it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He
+therefore said to him, "Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with
+certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle
+of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take
+this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You
+must do this every day." His highness acquiesced, and in a short time
+the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved
+his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis
+ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour
+and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle
+that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude
+of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before
+me the subject is put tersely thus: "Health and strength depend on rapid
+disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion."
+Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid
+exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind
+alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no
+doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion
+demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to
+say, "During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air." This
+oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage
+to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the
+wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us
+with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active
+exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis
+player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily
+overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of
+oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of
+vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.
+
+Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are
+many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone
+it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends
+naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged,
+from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the
+knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from
+it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the
+game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not
+physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific
+application--finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women
+are just as capable of exercising as men.
+
+I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with
+any first-class man of the same year you will find a great disparity
+between their actual play. That is to say, the first-class man would be
+able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a
+close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous
+odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner
+at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this pronounced discrepancy.
+Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it
+all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater
+activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own
+game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with
+less accuracy and power.
+
+Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive
+game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can
+be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all
+over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time
+required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets,
+balls, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The
+club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the
+game are small as compared with golf.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES'
+CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE
+ROUND.]
+
+Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course
+by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well--far from it.
+But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of
+healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes
+to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is
+no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which
+women can combine with and compete against men without in any way
+spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the
+most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not
+wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which
+this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of
+the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf
+is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite
+first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an
+abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a
+mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is
+it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the
+combination of both sexes.
+
+Then it is asserted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.
+This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some
+little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and
+promptly answered by a spirited article with illustrations of some
+well-known lady hockey players--proof positive of the fallacy that
+hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions
+are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that
+instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never
+seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a
+fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see,
+although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more,
+registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and
+look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it
+is hardly possible or natural to be "just so" every second of a long
+struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not
+absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of
+excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This
+has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.
+Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial
+muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural
+appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman
+should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why,
+then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much,
+and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two
+perhaps, their appearance is distorted?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+
+Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. "I
+have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better
+game?" That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are
+very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the
+great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match
+must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all
+know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them
+out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided
+in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up
+game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of
+playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak
+strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely
+the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do
+this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even
+given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed
+continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did
+this. The characteristic answer came back: "I cannot take a back hand. I
+should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball." But what
+does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you
+are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve;
+she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.
+In fact, it was very little of a _practice_ game to her. How can your
+game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what
+is feeble?
+
+Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind
+who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master
+it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all
+your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your
+game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded
+becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that
+you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing
+the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a
+sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and
+all the patience which must be exercised.
+
+Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak
+strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But
+after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise,
+that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your
+game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily
+disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth
+playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you
+must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet
+disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit,
+or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if
+you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players
+never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many
+of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will
+certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent
+desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A
+struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his
+pastime--often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so
+obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so
+thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find
+him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He
+may play in a few competitions, but his time is more seriously occupied
+with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous
+strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the
+game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before
+he pits his skill against others.
+
+I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there
+is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the
+competitors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the
+same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never
+advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to
+another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. Assisted by a generous
+handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let
+me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes
+correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open
+competitions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are
+to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially
+by young players who have not completed what I may call
+stroke-education.
+
+When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as
+strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an
+experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are
+anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more
+enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to
+advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not
+hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your
+friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books
+that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often
+noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open
+events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a
+miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players
+grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The
+book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one
+solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference
+in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball
+at all.
+
+A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own
+case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the
+ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of
+practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw
+the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an
+hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke
+you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one
+champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke
+that had to be mastered was passed through the mill and assiduously
+exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the
+purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in
+the given direction.
+
+To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these
+elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal
+exhaustively with this subject, such as "The Complete Lawn-Tennis
+Player," by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old
+ground.
+
+The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is _The Fore-hand Drive_. A
+good fore-hand is one of the chief assets of the game; a good length
+must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as
+near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe
+shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very
+accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come
+afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.
+Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in
+front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I
+mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away
+from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about
+the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and
+simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.
+This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can
+only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or
+too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.
+
+[Illustration: THE FORE-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.
+Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along--your movement must be
+so perfectly timed--to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to
+follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight
+of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. _Timing
+your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following
+well through at the finish_--these are the chief secrets of good and
+powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep
+your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right
+on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot
+realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke;
+and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the
+chief attributes of success.
+
+_The Back-hand Drive_ is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only
+with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but
+stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The
+position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is
+where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your
+right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of
+the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back,
+with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the
+centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from
+your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction
+of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court,
+from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through
+be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face
+the net.
+
+[Illustration: THE BACK-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+_The lob_ is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly
+practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and
+accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent
+move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking,
+of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you
+breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to
+get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly
+always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of
+players are weaker there.
+
+There are three kinds of lobs: (1) _The high lob_, sent well out of
+reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking
+some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out
+of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to
+run back and return it. (2) _The low lob_, which only just passes over
+your opponent's racket--a much more risky shot than the high lob, but
+with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting
+the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot,
+because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very
+fast-dropping ball. (3) _The lob-volley_ is one of the prettiest strokes
+and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with
+success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your
+opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played
+with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the
+ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a
+high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal
+for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath
+the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the
+racket.
+
+_The Half Volley_.--This stroke has great possibilities, and is
+efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for
+defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact,
+within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it
+can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained,
+as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it
+wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of
+players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another
+reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.
+
+_A short drop shot_ from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any
+position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back
+of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is
+difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient
+practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be
+expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.
+
+I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.
+Owing to its success--my opponent never even attempted to reach it--I
+won ace after ace. At the end of the match my opponent indignantly
+upbraided me. "I cannot admire your length," she protested. Neither did
+she think it was "fair to play sneaks," adding, "Anybody could win if
+they cared to play like that." In her opinion it wasn't tennis! I'm
+afraid I did not take this censure very seriously. As the object of the
+game is to put the ball as far out of reach of your opponent as
+possible, I could not see what difference there was between making her
+run from side to side of the base-line or to the net and back again.
+Both methods as regards placing are just as good tennis, and should be
+used judiciously in turn. But this sort of argument did not appeal to my
+opponent; she still thought any one could win who cared to play that
+"unsporting game." Perhaps the incident caused her to think a little,
+and it may be she tried the stroke in her next match. If so, I am quite
+sure she did not find it so easy to play accurately as she had imagined.
+
+The danger of this stroke is that unless it is just in the right spot,
+instead of giving you an advantage it will be a very easy ball for your
+opponent to score off. If it is short, it will find the net; if hit too
+far, it becomes a bad-length ball and will get the punishment it
+deserves. It is difficult to explain how this stroke should be played. I
+think it is best to stand very close to the ball and get rather in front
+of it, drawing the racket across it from right to left--stroking the
+ball, as it were, rather than hitting it. It requires a delicate touch,
+and can be very deceptively played. Your opponent is kept in the dark
+until the last moment, when the ace has probably been won.
+
+_The Service_.--I should, as a rule, advise an overhead service. At the
+same time, an underhand cut service is very useful as a change. Variety
+of stroke and tactics should always be encouraged.
+
+For an _overhead service_ stand sideways to the net, with your left foot
+just behind the base-line, the left shoulder facing the net, and the
+right foot a little to the right of and behind the left. Throw the ball
+high up over your right ear, bend your body well back and your right
+shoulder down. Raise the racket at the same time as you throw up the
+ball, hit it with the centre of your racket, bringing your body forward
+with all its weight on to the ball, and transferring your weight from
+the right foot to the left at the moment of impact. Bring your racket
+right through, and finish a little to the left of your left knee. At
+the time you throw the ball into the air the left shoulder must be
+facing the net, and as your racket hits the ball and follows through to
+your left knee your body should be brought round to face the net.
+
+[Illustration: BEGINNING OF SERVICE MIDDLE OF SERVICE]
+
+Do not at first attempt a fast service; keep your ardour down until you
+have gained a mastery of the ball and can vary its direction. Place is
+always better than pace; this applies, generally speaking, to other
+strokes besides the service. Try to cultivate a second service which
+bears a likeness to the first. That is to say, if you have served a
+fault (and the best players in the world cannot be absolutely sure that
+their first delivery will not pitch just over the side-line or
+service-line or hit the top of the net), do not be contented with a soft
+and guileless second which has no length and which gives your opponent
+an excellent chance of making a winning drive. Most players are weaker
+on their backhand. Remember that fact and place your ball accordingly.
+It is a good plan, when serving from the right-hand court, to aim for
+the spot where the centre line bisects the service-line. Length and
+direction will both be good, and in nine cases out of ten your opponent
+will be required to move to make the return--always a point in your
+favour.
+
+Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is
+essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are
+stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary
+knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable
+for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they
+have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular
+merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the
+racket the more liable is it to go astray. Another reason why you should
+temper zeal with discretion is that a vigorous service will tire you out
+like nothing else, and in a long match stamina should be judiciously
+preserved. You never know when an extra spurt may not be required to
+turn the scale in your favour. I have often noticed the difference in
+length and sting between the service of some players at the beginning of
+the match and in the third set, and I am sure that one of the reasons
+why so many matches are ultimately lost after a promising start is the
+decline in the service, in its sustained vigour and in its length.
+
+By the way, why do many lady players, even those who compete at open
+tournaments, stand several feet behind the base-line when serving? Are
+they aware that the length of their service is probably just so many
+feet short of what it ought to be and that they voluntarily give
+themselves an extra journey to recover short returns, even if they reach
+them at all? You will never find expert players, who appreciate what I
+may call the geometry of the court, penalise themselves in this manner.
+Yet the habit, for some reason or other, would appear to be on the
+increase.
+
+_Low Volleys_.--For these strokes the head of your racket should be
+above your wrist, your elbow low down, and your knees slightly bent. You
+should, in fact, stoop so that your eye is level with the flight of the
+ball. The late Mr. H.S. Mahony used to say that if girls would only bend
+down more to the ball they would be able to volley much better. You
+should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor
+relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the
+place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to
+remember the oft-repeated maxim: "Keep your eye on the ball." Watch it
+up to the moment of striking. Do not always "smash" every overhead ball
+when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste
+of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a
+mistake. For a _smash_ the right shoulder should be down and well under
+the ball, the head and weight well back, the weight transferred at the
+moment of striking from the right to the left leg, the body balanced
+with extended left arm, and the body-weight brought right on to the ball
+as it is hit. Finish to the left of your left knee as in the service.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+
+When you have acquired a certain knowledge of the game and can play the
+various strokes in the correct way, then, as I have said, tournament and
+match play is the very best method of improvement. I would emphasize the
+need for a certain standard of efficiency, because I am convinced that
+at the present time there are too many weak players competing at open
+meetings. The style of these players has only to be watched to be
+condemned, and their knowledge of the game is hopelessly limited.
+Invariably making strokes in a wrong way, tournament play only serves to
+consolidate weaknesses and check advance.
+
+But assuming you have practised on sound lines and are fit to take part
+in what, after all, should be a test of trained skill, tournaments will
+then be a great help to you. You will more often than not play against
+better players than yourself--an advantage denied you in practice--and
+against all varieties of attack and defence. You have the chance of
+watching first-class matches and learning at first hand how the
+different strokes should be played. You should be careful, however, to
+limit the number of your tournaments, especially when the excitement and
+strain are new to you; otherwise you will do much more harm than good. I
+am convinced that, generally speaking, players attend too many meetings.
+Instead of their play improving, it may deteriorate. They run the
+fearful risk of staleness--one of the greatest dangers to a lawn tennis
+player--and they become physically worn out. As soon as you find you are
+losing interest in the game, when it becomes an effort to go into court,
+give the game a rest. It is clear you have overdone it and need a
+period of recuperation. One or two tournaments at a time, and then a
+rest to practise the new strokes and tactical moves you have learnt and
+seen, would, I feel sure, be much more helpful to your game than
+tournament touring, week-in and week-out.
+
+Some people advise you to dismiss the coming match entirely from your
+mind before going into court. Personally I find this physically
+impossible, and I do not commend the suggestion. I think it is much
+better to study your opponent's game before pitting your own against it.
+Many matches may be lost while you are finding out the right line of
+attack. Therefore I advise you to think about the match you are going to
+play. Mentally rehearse your mode of campaign. But do not worry over the
+possible result. At all costs it must not be allowed to disturb your
+sleep the night before--there is nothing puts me off my game so much as
+a sleepless night.
+
+As soon as you know who your opponent is, seize every opportunity to
+watch her play, get to know her strong and her weak points, and map out
+your plan of campaign. Then come the first preliminaries, the toss for
+choice of sides or service. In choosing your side you must take into
+consideration the position of the sun, the wind, the slope of the court
+(if any), and the background. If you have won the toss and do not mind
+on which side you start playing, and also have a good service, elect to
+begin the service. If you have won the toss and for some good reason do
+not wish to serve first, you can make your opponent serve; but remember
+that you also give her choice of courts.
+
+One of the great things to remember in match play is this--do not strive
+to win outright with every stroke. Especially does this maxim apply to
+the return of the service. So many players are inaccurate with this
+important stroke simply because their sole ambition is to make it end
+the rest. Much better to work for your opening. Try to imagine where
+your opponent will be after taking a certain stroke, and then according
+to this position determine which is the best stroke to play next. It is
+similar to playing chess. You should think a move or sometimes two moves
+in advance. Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief
+factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to
+send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious
+to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before
+you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not
+where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back
+to the original place--that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly
+leaving. She will most probably be beaten by this simple device. Trite
+though the hint may appear, always try to send the ball where it will
+be least expected.
+
+[Illustration: TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED
+DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE SATCHVILLE MRS. C.W. HILLYARD AND MR.
+NORMAN BROOKES MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W.HILLYARD]
+
+Again I would urge the importance of keeping your whole attention
+absorbed on the game. Complete concentration is absolutely essential.
+You _must_ lose yourself in the game--eye, mind, and hand all working
+together. If you find that events transpiring outside the court are
+attracting your attention, you cannot be watching the ball. Many
+players, even when concentrating, take their eye off the ball too soon,
+with the result that it is not properly timed and not hit cleanly in the
+centre of the racket.
+
+In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never
+give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the
+experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player
+has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore,
+unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of
+the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win
+the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING MISS EASTLAKE
+SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOUGHERTY TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A
+PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE'S SATCHVILLE]
+
+The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time;
+never for one moment slack off. For if you do it is very hard to get
+going again, and you may find yourself caught up and passed at the post
+before you have a chance of getting back into your stride. I well
+remember being a set up and five games to one against Miss C.M. Wilson
+(now Mrs. Luard) one year at Newcastle, when victory for me meant
+permanent possession of the challenge cup. This cup was very valuable,
+for it had a splendid list of names inscribed upon it; it had been going
+for very many years. Miss Wilson seemed so off her game, and I was
+winning so comfortably, that I could almost see that cup on my
+sideboard! But it was not to be. (At any rate not that year. I was lucky
+enough to win the Cup outright in 1908, when it was even more
+valuable, as Miss Sutton's name had been added.) Whether I
+unconsciously slacked off, thinking the match was mine (which is a fatal
+thing to do at any time), or whether Miss Wilson suddenly found her
+game, is impossible for me to say, but she eventually won that match and
+the cup and championship for the year. She never gave in, but played
+most pluckily right up to the end. I remember another match where the
+result hung in the balance for some time. I was playing Miss A.N.G.
+Greene at Eastbourne in 1907; again the Cup would be my own property if
+I won it. I met Miss Greene in the second round. She won the first set,
+and was five games to four in the second set, and seven times she only
+wanted one point to win that match. I was able to make it five games
+all. It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after
+having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it
+completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite
+easily.
+
+Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching
+up your opponent, that when you do draw level _you do not relax your
+efforts_. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The
+strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when
+you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. A
+rest is taken, often involuntarily. It is fatal, because before you
+realize it and can get going again your opponent has run out a winner.
+This happened to me at Wimbledon in 1908 against Mrs. Sterry. I was
+behind the whole time, and it was a great relief in the second set to
+hear the score at last called five games all. But I had hardly taken a
+breather when Mrs. Sterry secured the set by seven games to five. The
+eleventh game I played almost unconsciously, so relieved was I at
+getting on even terms, when I ought to have spared no effort to win
+that critical game, even if I had failed. These three matches--and I
+could mention many others--show how important it is to play hard right
+up to the last stroke of the match, letting nothing put you off, never
+losing your temper, taking umpire's bad decisions and all the little
+annoyances that may disturb you in a sportsmanlike manner--keeping your
+whole attention, in fact, absolutely concentrated on the game.
+
+[Illustration: MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT
+WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907]
+
+In a single it is best when serving to stand as near the centre of the
+base-line as possible. In this position you have greater command of your
+court, and there is not so much scope for your opponent to put the ball
+out of your reach. Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion and
+ex-champion of England, in her desire to stand as near the centre of the
+court as she possibly can, gets so close that umpires find it very
+difficult to tell whether she is serving from the right court or the
+wrong. In fact, I think I am right in saying she has actually been
+pulled up for stepping over the centre line of the base-line. If you
+stand as close as she does you are liable to step over the line
+unconsciously. Stand as near the centre line as possible, but without
+any risk of stepping over it. On the other hand, there are players who
+prefer to serve from the other extreme end. Mr. A.W. Gore, the present
+champion of England, is one of these, but personally I cannot see any
+advantage in this position. It seems to leave so much open court, of
+which your adversary will not be slow to make use.
+
+Use the overhead service for choice, but have an underhand service ready
+at your command--it may come in very useful for a change. Remember that
+a good-length, well-placed service is better than a very fast one, and
+much less tiring in a long match. Keep your opponent wondering where the
+service will come next; vary it as much as you possibly can, both as to
+pace and direction. Be sure to make your opponent move to take it.
+
+I have tried the American service, but I think the strain is too severe
+for the average girl, and the advantage gained would be very slight, for
+the rest of your game would deteriorate, owing to fatigue. It places so
+much tension on all the muscles of the body, and I do not think it would
+do a girl's health any good to cultivate it. Of course if she were
+abnormally strong and did not feel the effects of the physical effort,
+she would be a tower of strength in the land, and her service would be
+an invaluable one.
+
+I am not an advocate of persistent volleying in a lady's single. I think
+it is too great a tax on the physique. Nor do I think it pays in the
+long-run. A volleyer, to my mind, is much easier to play against than a
+base-liner, and most of the first-class base-line players agree with me.
+The great physical exertion entailed in running continually to the net
+will after a time make the ground strokes weaker and weaker; and you
+_must_ have good length to be able to come up and volley with any
+success. Miss E.W. Thomson (now Mrs. Larcombe), one of our best lady
+volleyers, put up a magnificent game in the first set against Miss
+Sutton at Wimbledon in the championship singles of 1905. She had
+carefully watched Miss Sutton's game and thought out the best way to
+play her. Volleying most judiciously, she would force Miss Sutton up to
+the net with a short drop stroke, and then, lobbing over her head nearly
+on to the base-line, take up a position at the net, winning the ace with
+a neat cross volley. These tactics she repeated again and again, and
+actually led by five games to two. If she could have lasted she must
+have won that match. But she could not keep it up. She became obviously
+exhausted, did not get up to the net quickly enough, and her length got
+shorter and shorter. Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next
+easily. I do not know what would have happened if Miss Thomson, when
+she found she was tiring, had stayed back for a little while and then
+resumed her tactics at the net. Perhaps she would have come much nearer
+to victory.
+
+A very large majority of non-volleyers in singles have won the ladies'
+championship, and I think that fact helps to prove my argument. Miss
+Maud Watson, Miss Rice, Mrs. Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton,
+Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are
+the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley.
+You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play
+and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length
+ball.
+
+In _Doubles_ of course it is different. I think then a girl should
+volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make
+the game so much more attractive. I think it would be an excellent plan
+if ladies' doubles were always played like men's doubles, both players
+moving together and keeping parallel with one another, going up to the
+net together and retiring to the back of the court together. Competitors
+would improve their volleying, and the double, instead of being the
+dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
+would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
+change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
+would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
+formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
+Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
+tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
+the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
+improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.
+
+Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
+volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
+event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
+experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
+played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
+base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
+event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
+volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
+wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
+Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
+ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
+pities.
+
+In _Mixed Doubles_ a girl has a very important part to play.
+Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
+partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
+double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
+he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
+"plums." She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
+the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
+down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
+moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
+tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
+Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
+way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
+Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
+off, however "jumpy" the opposing man is, or however much he is running
+across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
+is without looking at him.
+
+To play a mixed double you must be able to lob. It is really the most
+necessary stroke to cultivate. A very good return of the opposing lady's
+service, when both men are at the net, is a lob back to the server. It
+is much safer than lobbing over the man's head--if at all short your
+ball will be instantly killed--and it also gives your partner at the net
+plenty of time to anticipate any kind of return. It will be difficult
+for the server to return a good-length lob out of your partner's reach.
+The opposing man at the net will not be able to do anything with this
+lob--it is quite out of his reach--and it would be useless for him to
+run across as he might do for a cross drive. It is usually best, I
+think, for a lady to serve down the centre of the court in a mixed
+double. It shuts up the angles of the court more, and there is less risk
+of her partner being passed down his side line.
+
+Do not enter for too many events in a tournament. You may get thoroughly
+worn out and not able to do yourself justice in any, and you would
+probably have to play when you were very tired--bad for your game, and
+worse still for your partner's chance in a double. Remember that before
+playing an important match it is very injudicious to watch another game.
+It is likely to put your eye out. If possible, do not travel by train
+just before playing, or carry anything heavy, such as your tennis bag,
+for this will make your hand shaky and unsteady.
+
+To sum up, there are five golden rules which I have found very helpful
+to me when playing an important match. I give them to you in the hope
+that they may prove equally valuable. Always remember that constant
+practice of these rules will make their pursuit natural in a match.
+
+I. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL
+
+You have so often been told this, I know, and perhaps the familiar ring
+about the advice may evoke contempt. Yet unless this rule is implicitly
+obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye
+off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You
+must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on
+to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court
+and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same
+time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting
+his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! Always be on your
+guard against this inclination. It is at first done almost
+unconsciously, but it soon becomes a habit.
+
+
+II. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GAME
+
+This is a most important rule. As I have remarked before, complete
+concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried
+about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your
+game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment
+playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well
+demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain.
+The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more
+or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the
+whole time.
+
+
+III. KEEP PERFECT CONTROL OF THE TEMPER
+
+This rule some players will find much more difficult than others. You
+hear of a person having the right temperament for games, of being
+naturally imperturbable. It is a priceless quality, for to my mind it is
+half the battle if nothing can disturb your equanimity. To be calm and
+placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any
+way put out, whatever little worries may turn up--and sometimes these
+worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit--that is one of
+the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not
+natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. But it requires
+much practice and an abundance of will-power and self-control. It is a
+very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be
+upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your
+opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up
+harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at
+something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have
+a much better chance of winning the match.
+
+
+IV. KEEP YOUR HEART IN THE GAME
+
+By this I mean do not get easily downhearted and discouraged. Fight
+pluckily to the end, however things are going against you. Courage and
+pluck are wanted above all things to carry you successfully through your
+matches. Never say die, however hopeless the score may sound against
+you. If you are very done up, try not to make it too obvious. Your
+opponent may be just as played out as you are. Seeing your signals of
+distress, she will buoy herself up and continue the struggle with
+renewed hope and vigour.
+
+
+V. KEEP YOUR METHOD ON THE MOVE
+
+This maxim is rather difficult to explain. What I mean is, you should
+vary your manner of play and re-adapt it in order to counteract your
+opponent. Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great
+mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving
+unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on
+the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in
+the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do
+what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her
+plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt
+myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. It
+gives her plenty of excellent practice, of course, and when you find she
+is beginning not to mind it so much, give it a rest. When you go back to
+it you will probably find it successful again. Use your brain, and
+always know what you are trying to do. Play with an object of attack and
+defence. Do not merely return the ball aimlessly; let each stroke have
+its little work to do to complete the whole victory. This is difficult,
+I know, but it is so much more fascinating, and is, I am sure, the way
+the game was meant to be played. There is much science that can be
+brought into lawn tennis, always something new to learn. And that is the
+reason why we never tire of playing it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+
+A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
+inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
+particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
+so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
+suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
+first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
+you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
+enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a "Slazenger" racket,
+preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
+manufacturers.
+
+The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
+wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
+back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
+part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
+with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
+If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
+been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung--the frame
+would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
+than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
+and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
+of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
+the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
+my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
+prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.
+
+The handle should be about five inches in circumference--at least, that
+is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
+circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
+hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
+the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
+tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
+requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
+handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
+when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
+and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
+experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?
+
+You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
+tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
+in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
+necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
+sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
+usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
+rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
+will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.
+
+Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
+to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
+when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
+bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
+plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
+little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
+stock.
+
+And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
+during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
+tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
+experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
+their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
+"garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse--a most
+unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
+you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
+action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
+which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
+volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
+to the net--all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
+and facility.
+
+[Illustration: ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS
+E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)]
+
+I advise a plain gored skirt--not pleated; I think these most
+unsuitable on court--about four or five inches from the ground. It
+should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
+Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
+untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides--dropping at the
+back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
+the laundry. A plain shirt without "frills or furbelows"--if any
+trimming at all, tucks are the neatest--a collar, tie, and waistband, go
+to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
+desire.
+
+The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
+matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
+flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
+White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
+not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
+material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
+to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
+urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
+brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
+brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
+same colour.
+
+I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
+the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
+it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
+seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
+not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
+the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
+look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
+other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
+is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
+drag about the court.
+
+If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
+called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
+men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
+wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
+movements.
+
+I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
+the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
+tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
+make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the "gym"
+shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
+find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
+shoe--there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
+wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
+pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
+and can always replace them without any great expense.
+
+I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
+not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
+to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
+good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
+article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
+tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
+however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
+contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
+material--blanket is very popular and serviceable--and it should reach
+to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.
+
+I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
+are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
+ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
+match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
+bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
+adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
+her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
+most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
+player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
+firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
+directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
+portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
+naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
+bracelet in court.
+
+_Training for match play_ is rather a difficult subject for me to write
+about, for I have never gone in for proper "training." The great secret
+is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
+strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
+successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
+you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
+important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
+is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
+beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
+your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
+leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
+it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
+for an important match is to be always in "training"; not to have to
+alter your habits before a match is the secret. To change your diet and
+mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
+upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
+course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
+before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
+some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
+the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
+course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
+cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
+change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
+I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
+whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
+exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
+heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
+player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
+the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
+bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
+and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
+necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
+no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
+always "fit," and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
+without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
+sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
+if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
+important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
+necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
+open.
+
+As to _Courts_, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
+as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
+to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
+think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
+is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
+genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a _good_ grass
+court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
+appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
+to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
+weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
+day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
+good grass courts are few and far between.
+
+The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
+such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
+maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
+are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
+courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
+constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
+than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
+pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
+grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, "almost
+as rare a sight as a dead donkey." Happily we get this rare spectacle at
+Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902]
+
+What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
+convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
+more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
+on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
+courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
+good game the very first time he played on a first-class court--I refer
+to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
+the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
+He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
+that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
+and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
+never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
+false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
+thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
+When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
+found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
+and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
+much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
+depressing conditions--you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
+After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
+in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
+play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
+call "cabbage patches"--("Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage," was
+his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
+understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.
+
+A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
+good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
+Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
+three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
+wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
+few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
+On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
+if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
+it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
+game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.
+
+Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
+we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
+same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
+and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
+the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess--we should
+welcome it over here--is that when it rains play is quite out of the
+question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
+often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
+courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
+watering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+
+I wish an "Order of Play" could be used more at English tournaments.
+That is to say, I wish matches could be arranged to take place at a
+certain hour, following the plan adopted at Wimbledon and at all the
+meetings on the Continent. Such an arrangement would greatly add to the
+comfort and enjoyment of competitors, and would, I imagine, be a great
+boon to the referee. Spectators, I know, would welcome it. I think a
+time-table might prove unworkable where handicap events are concerned,
+but in the case of open events I feel sure it could be introduced with
+great advantage to all concerned. I have so often sat hour after hour at
+a London tournament (having only entered for the open events), perhaps
+playing one match, perhaps not playing at all. If I had been told
+overnight that I should not be wanted, or exactly at what hour my match
+would take place, it would have been so much more satisfactory and saved
+so much wasted time. This waiting about takes away half the pleasure of
+playing in London meetings. Even if there are good matches going on you
+do not care to watch them incessantly; there may be a chance of your
+playing off a tie, and it would tend to put your eye out. On one
+occasion, having a long way to go to a tournament in which I was only
+entered for the open mixed doubles, I telephoned to know whether I
+should be wanted or not. "Well," replied the referee, "if I call you and
+you are not on the ground, I shall scratch you. In your own interest you
+had better come over." For my partner's sake, as well as my own, I was
+bound to go. As I expected, I sat the whole afternoon and evening doing
+absolutely nothing. When I begged to be allowed to play, as I had come
+some distance for this one match, the referee examined his programme and
+said, "Oh, it is quite impossible to-day. They have not played the round
+in front of you yet!"
+
+[Illustration: AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS]
+
+This sort of thing implies gross mismanagement, besides resulting in
+unnecessary wear and tear for the competitors. If there was an order of
+play arranged for each day, all the bother would be obviated. I believe
+that business men who cannot get away in the early afternoon have their
+matches timed and arranged for them. Why are not all competitors treated
+alike?
+
+While I am on this subject of "waiting about," let me say that I think
+ladies do not take nearly enough care of themselves after playing. They
+ought to wrap up well if they have not time to change before their next
+match. Men are much more careful. They put on their coats immediately
+they leave the court, and change their clothes as soon as they can. But
+you will see girls chatting after a match, and even having tea, without
+deigning to put on an extra wrap. It is courting disaster. The colds and
+more dangerous ailments that arise from this little want of care
+naturally afford people a line of attack when they object to girls
+engaging in violent exercise.
+
+You cannot be too careful after strenuous play. I am well aware that
+ladies are catered for very badly at most of the tournaments in regard
+to changing-room accommodation. Some places we have had to put up with
+are disgraceful. I think most lady players will agree with me when I say
+that Wimbledon and Queen's Club are about the only two grounds where you
+can change with any degree of comfort. This is not right, and I am sure
+if men had to experience the changing-room accommodation afforded for
+our use there would not be many of them competing at tournaments. I
+think the two clubs I have mentioned are the only two where we even get
+a bathroom! Some tournaments provide a draughty tent for our use.
+Moreover, there is generally only one dressing-room, and feminine
+spectators often crowd round the one looking-glass, staring at the
+players as if they were animals on show! It is sometimes even impossible
+to sit down to rest after a hard and tiring contest.
+
+I appeal to secretaries of tournaments for some reform. A number of lady
+players have asked me to use this opportunity to point out some of our
+most pressing grievances. I hope these remarks, which are none too
+strong, may bear fruit. Visitors who come over from other countries are
+always loud in their complaints, and I am not surprised. I believe the
+Beckenham authorities are doing all they can to impart a little more
+comfort to the ladies' changing and resting-room, and they have greatly
+improved their accommodation. It is time other meetings followed their
+example. At the seaside meetings it does not so much matter. Most of the
+players stay near the ground and can go to their own rooms and be back
+in time to play again, if necessary; but in London tournaments, where
+there is often a long drive or train journey before one reaches home, it
+is most important that there should be a good changing-room.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE _Front row (left to
+right_): THE LATE MISS C. MEYRE, MR. G.W. HILLYARD, MRS. HILLYARD, MRS.
+LAMBERT CHAMBERS, MR. N.E. BROOKES, MR. A.J. ROBERTS]
+
+There is another improvement which I feel sure would be greatly welcomed
+by competitors, and that is a separate tea-tent for their use. Often a
+player has only a few minutes to get her tea, and, with the general
+public engaged in the same amiable pursuit, she is not able to be served
+and has to go away tealess. If there were a competitors' tea-tent, a
+player could obtain her tea in comfort when she wanted it.
+
+Always bear in mind that a referee at a tournament has a most "worrying
+time of it." Players can and should help to make his task lighter.
+There are many ways in which they can assist to make the tournament as
+successful as possible. One is by being punctual and ready dressed to
+play when wanted, and another is by umpiring when they are disengaged
+and have not an important match just coming on. "Taking the chair" may
+help them not to dispute an umpire's decision when they are in court
+themselves. They will realize how difficult umpiring is, and that bad as
+umpires often are they are doing their best. To dispute a decision or to
+argue with the umpire never helps matters; it usually makes him nervous.
+A bad decision must be taken as a fortune of war, and borne in a
+sportsmanlike manner. But you must never allow the crowd to influence
+the umpire. It is a hopeless expedient, for many people who watch
+matches are ignorant of the rules of the game.
+
+Sometimes--I suppose it is Hobson's choice--an umpire is chosen from the
+"gate." If he knows little or nothing of his duties the result is
+disastrous. Should there be difficulty in getting an umpire who knows
+something of his work, I think the match should take care of itself. I
+have experienced umpires who do not even know how to score!
+
+And now a word or two about _Clubs._ It is very difficult to manage a
+lawn tennis club successfully; much tact is required. I think it is
+almost impossible to prevent a club being "cliquey," and I should always
+advise a player who wishes to improve her game to join one which is more
+concerned with its tennis than its social side. Some clubs still use the
+game for a garden-party, where long trailing skirts, sunshades, and
+basket chairs predominate. Perhaps a game or two is played in the cool
+of the evening. That sort of club should be avoided if you are a keen
+and enthusiastic player.
+
+The committee of a club should be a small one, consisting of members
+who are devoted to the best interests of the game. Their aim should be
+to keep in touch with all the latest developments, and above all to keep
+up to date, advancing with the times. A committee sometimes embraces old
+supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They
+have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like
+innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the
+benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good
+match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the
+members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly
+rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and
+combine well together. A committee should do all in its power to improve
+the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having
+well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with
+side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a
+player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters
+for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her
+game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad
+management of a club.
+
+[Illustration: "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF" _A picture postcard sent to Mrs.
+Lambert-Chambers by Miss May Sutton from her home in California_.]
+
+It is an excellent plan for members of the committee to drop in at some
+of the tournaments and see how things are done there. Developments may
+have occurred of which they know nothing, and they could pick up many a
+wrinkle by a tour of inspection. Before one secretary of a fairly large
+tournament went to Wimbledon he had never seen a canvas background.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+
+I have been asked to write what I can remember of my earliest tennis
+days. This is rather difficult, as it is now thirteen years since I
+entered for my first tournament in 1896. It is never easy or pleasant to
+write one's own biography, but I have been assured that readers will be
+interested to hear something of my career in court.
+
+I have said that 1896 was the first year I entered for a tournament,
+which is quite true; but I always reckon that my tournament experience
+did not really start until the year 1898, because in the two previous
+years I only entered for one tournament (The Gipsy), and only in the
+handicap at that, and I came out first round. In 1898 I played in three
+tournaments, and in more events at each one.
+
+My earliest recollections of a racket and tennis ball go back to when I
+was quite small. My greatest amusement was to play up against a brick
+wall, with numerous dolls and animals of all kinds as spectators--really
+as big a gate as we get now at some tournaments! Each toy in turn was
+chosen as my opponent. Needless to say, I always won these matches. My
+adversaries took very little interest in the proceedings. This was some
+years before I even played in a court, and I think it was a very good
+way of starting the game.
+
+I then played in a court we had at home, which was not very good;
+gooseberry bushes prevented our running outside the court at all. I next
+joined a club at Ealing Common, and at the age of eleven won my first
+prize, the Handicap Singles at our club tournament. Of course I was
+receiving enormous points, and I remember to this day how bored the best
+lady players in the club were when they had to play me. My game then,
+from all accounts, involved a sequence of very high lobs. I am now quite
+envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days. I had absolutely no
+pace, but was active and very steady, and desperately serious and keen
+about the game. At this time also I used to play at college, preferring
+tennis to cricket, which was the exception. Cricket was the great game.
+Tennis was pushed into the background, and very little interest was
+taken in it, even when the matches were played to decide the winner of
+the racket presented each year to the best player in the school by some
+kind parent. I won this racket one year, but could never use it, as it
+was heavily weighted with an enormous silver shield on which was a
+lengthy inscription. Of course the balance of the racket was absolutely
+upset.
+
+There was not much chance of improving at school, because nobody took
+the trouble to have the court or net of the right dimensions. The rules
+of the game were not even known. Every ball that touched the line was
+given out. I remember a very heated argument I had with a mistress who
+was umpiring a match for me, the result of which was that I had lines to
+write for impertinence!
+
+In 1899 I joined the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club, and won the singles
+championship cup three years in succession, thus keeping it for my own
+property. At one time Mrs. Hillyard and Mrs. Sterry had both been
+members of this same club. Curiously enough, Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry,
+Miss Sutton, and myself have all lived, at different periods of our
+lives, very close together--Mrs. Hillyard at Greenford, Mrs. Sterry and
+myself at Ealing, and Miss Sutton at Acton. I think about this time I
+very much improved my game by constantly playing singles against the
+best men in the club, and also doubles with three men. This was
+undoubtedly excellent practice for me.
+
+[Illustration: AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM]
+
+In 1898 I won my first prizes in open tournaments, the handicap singles
+at Chiswick Park and Queen's Club. At Chiswick I received 15.4, and met
+Miss C. Cooper in the semi-final. I remember quite well my "stage
+fright" when I went into court against this famous player, even at the
+tremendous odds of owe 15.3 and give 15.4. I lost the first set easily,
+and the game was then postponed until the next day owing to failing
+light. After that first set, a friend said to me, "If you could only
+forget it's Miss Cooper, I am certain you could win." The next day I
+tried to follow out this advice, and eventually won the match with the
+score of 3/6, 6/1, 6/4. At Queen's I met Miss C. Cooper again. She was
+owing 40 and I was receiving 2/6. I again managed to win, this time in
+two sets, 6/2, 6/3. At Eastbourne the same year, my third tournament, I
+was in the second-class handicap owing 15, and survived a few rounds.
+Miss C.M. Wilson was also in the second class at 4/6, but we did not
+meet. Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene, Miss Garfit, Miss Robb, Mrs.
+Hillyard, Miss Dyas, Miss Austin, and Miss C. Cooper were in the first
+class. The classification for that year (1898) was:
+
+  Miss C. Cooper          Scratch
+
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Miss Dyas               1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss Steedman           2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+
+  Miss Garfit             4/6
+  Mrs. Kirby              4/6
+  Miss Legh               4/6
+
+The first player of any repute that I beat in Open Singles was Miss E.R.
+Morgan, whom I defeated in 1899 at Chiswick Park. I was beaten in the
+next round by Miss B. Tulloch after a severe tussle. I again won the
+Handicap Singles at Queen's. I was on the scratch mark, the farthest
+back I had yet been. Miss Austin was back-marker at owe 30.3.
+
+The classification for 1899 was:
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss Martin             Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss M.E. Robb          4/6
+  Miss Steedman           5/6
+
+  Miss Bromfield          15
+  Mrs. Kirby              15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+In 1900 Miss Marion Jones, then American lady champion, came over to
+England. I played one of the most exhausting matches against her that I
+have ever experienced. It was at Queen's Club in the Handicap Singles. I
+was owing 3/6 and Miss Jones receiving 3/6. There was a good deal of
+discussion at the time about this match, and in spite of the tremendous
+heat (we do not get such summers now) we were persuaded to go into
+court. In truth it was a gruelling day. I remember men walked about the
+streets fanning themselves. We played for hours in a blazing sun, and I
+eventually won, the score being 8/10, 6/2, 7/5. After the match Miss
+Jones was taken to the dressing-room in a fainting condition, and when I
+reached home I had an attack of sunstroke, and had my head packed in
+ice. The umpire was also seriously ill for some time. It was only the
+international element in the game and the controversy about the relative
+points that made us fight it out to the bitter end.
+
+We both thoroughly agreed with the notice of this match which appeared
+in _Lawn Tennis_ the following week:
+
+"The ladies had their example of untiring effort and splendid patience
+in the second round of the Handicap Singles, when Miss Marion Jones, the
+American champion (receive 3/6) met Miss D.K. Douglass (owe 3/6). The
+tie was played off under exceptionally trying circumstances. A fiercely
+hot sun was pouring its rays on the court, and there was scarcely a
+breath of air, yet for 2-1/2 hours, without hats, did these ladies
+strive for mastery. The first set fell to Miss Jones after 18 games had
+been played. The second was secured by Miss Douglass with comparative
+ease, neither the odds nor the previous exertions appearing to affect
+her. The third set brought out a remarkable display of patience,
+determination, and cool judgment, for when it stood out at 5 games to 1
+in Miss Jones's favour, Miss Douglass won the next 6 games right off,
+each game being fought out with great resolution. It may be doubted
+whether either for tennis' sake or 'kudos' such a contest under such
+conditions is wise. I was not surprised to hear it mentioned that not
+only had both competitors severely felt the strain, but that even the
+umpire had suffered."
+
+This year (1900) it is interesting to note that the champion of to-day,
+Miss D. Boothby, won the Handicap Singles at Beckenham, receiving 15.4.
+This year, too, saw my first appearance at Wimbledon. I was not in the
+lists very long, meeting Miss L. Martin first round. I do not think the
+game lasted long, and I have only a very faint recollection of it; but
+I remember thinking Miss Martin's strokes were the finest I had ever
+seen. At Eastbourne a couple of months later I was lucky enough to meet
+Miss C. Cooper on a very off day and run her close in the open singles.
+The match caused quite a sensation. We started rather late, in the tea
+interval, and nobody took the least interest in what was considered a
+forgone conclusion. However, when it got abroad that Misss Cooper had
+actually lost the first set, people came hurrying round the court in
+great consternation lest Miss Cooper, whom they all knew so well,
+should go down to a play who was quite unknown; I had been in the second
+class only the year before. Miss Cooper eventually secured the match,
+3/6, 9/7, 9/7. I met Mrs. Sterry on many subsequent occasions before I
+could get anything like so close to her. I really used to get quite
+weary of being beaten by her. When the Handicap Singles came out the day
+after this match I was put to owe 15 in the first class, which pleased
+me immensely. Miss Robb, Mrs. Greville, and Miss C. Cooper were owe 15.3
+and Mrs. Hillyard owe 30. I was in the classification for the first time
+at the end of this year.
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+
+  Miss Martin             2/6
+  Mrs. Greville           2/6
+
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               4/6
+  Miss Bromfield          5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             5/6
+  Miss C. Hill            5/6
+  Miss Longhurst          5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss A.M. Morton        15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      15
+
+In 1901 I won my first Challenge Cup in an open tournament, beating
+Mrs. Greville in the challenge round at Beckenham. Mrs. Greville's
+defeat came as a great surprise to every one. It was her third year for
+the cup, and this may have accounted for her being much below her usual
+form. I had certainly improved a great deal, even in that one week, for
+I had had a hard match every day, meeting Miss Tulloch, Miss Morton, and
+Countess Schulenberg (with whom I had a tremendous three-set match) in
+the preceding rounds. Mrs. Greville, on the other hand, had been
+standing out--the custom at Beckenham, one that I personally always find
+a great disadvantage. I was easily beaten this year at Wimbledon by Mrs.
+Sterry. Classification for 1901:
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      2/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           3/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+  Miss Lowther            4/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        4/6
+  Miss Thomson            5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             15
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss Longhurst          15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+At Wimbledon, in 1902, I had two very strenuous matches, which improved
+my game immensely. The first, against Mrs. Durlacher, I just won. The
+second, against the late Miss Robb, I just lost, after one of the
+closest matches I have ever played. Miss Robb won the championship this
+year. It was a great fight; and though of course it is hard to judge, I
+always feel I played in that game as well as I have ever played. The
+score in Miss Robb's favour was 6/4, 2/5, 9/7. Thus we both won
+seventeen games. This year I paid my first visit to Newcastle, a
+tournament which I always look forward to and enjoy as much as any
+meeting. The management is all one can desire, the people so keen and
+hospitable. I had a good hard fight with Mrs. Sterry, losing 7/5, 7/5,
+and winning with her the Ladies' Doubles cups. At Brighton I was again
+beaten by Mrs. Sterry, although managing this time to get a set. At
+Eastbourne the following week I won my first match against Mrs. Sterry
+in Open Singles, the score being 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. I was simply delighted,
+after so many reverses, to win a match against this player. I had been
+beaten so often by her, and sometimes felt as though I never should be
+rewarded by a victory to my credit. The classification of players for
+1902 was as follows:
+
+  Miss Robb               Scratch
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      1/6
+  Miss L. Martin          1/6
+  Miss Longhurst          1/6
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           2/6
+  Miss H. Lane            2/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        3/6
+  Miss Greville           3/6
+  Miss Steedman           3/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        3/6
+  Miss Lowther            3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          3/6
+  Miss Thomson            4/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          4/6
+
+In 1903 I paid my first visit to the Northern tournament, held at
+Manchester that year. I won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship
+with Mr. F.L. Riseley, and was beaten in the challenge round of the
+Ladies' Singles by Miss L. Martin after a very hard struggle: 4/6, 7/5,
+6/4. It seemed a great pity that Miss Martin was not able to play at
+Wimbledon that year. It was a lean year, and for me a lucky one, for
+with so many of the best players not competing for the championship
+(Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry, Miss Robb, and Miss Martin were all
+absentees) I was given a chance of winning the coveted title. I met Miss
+E.W. Thomson in the final, who had beaten Miss Morton and Miss Wilson in
+the preceding rounds. I had had a good fight against Miss Lowther before
+reaching the final. Although I was expected to beat Miss Thomson, and
+actually did win the match, I scarcely deserved my triumph. Miss Thomson
+played by far the better tennis, and it was really very hard luck on her
+that she did not succeed. At one time she was a set up and four games to
+one, and I was forced to play on the defensive nearly the whole time.
+Miss Thomson played beautifully, placing with great accuracy down the
+lines and across the court. Indeed, her placing was so good that I
+always seemed to be yards away from her return, when I had thought there
+was plenty of time to get to the ball. It has always been a marvel to me
+how I won that match; but I think it was chiefly condition--Miss Thomson
+was never a very good stayer.
+
+[Illustration: SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY. _In the centre is the All
+England Championship, won by Mrs. Lambert Chambers in 1903, 1904, 1906_]
+
+By the way, Miss Thomson and I were introduced to each other at the
+Gipsy Tournament--my first tournament. I had no partner for the Ladies'
+Doubles Handicap, and the secretary put us together on the programme.
+Little did I dream then that we should one day fight out the final of
+the Championship on the centre court at Wimbledon, or as a pair twice
+win the All England Doubles Championship. Classification for 1903:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+  Miss L. Martin          Scratch
+  Miss E.W. Thomson       1/6
+  Miss Lowther            1/6
+  Miss C M. Wilson        2/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Morton             3/6
+  Miss Longhurst          3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          4/6
+  Miss H. Lane            4/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Mrs. Houselander        5/6
+  Miss Stawell-Brown      5/6
+
+In 1904 I again won the championship, beating Mrs. Sterry in the
+challenge round. This year and 1906 were my most successful years. I was
+fortunate enough in both to go through the season without a reverse in
+open singles. Classification for 1904 was as follows:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        1/6
+
+  Miss Thomson            2/6
+  Miss Morton             2/6
+
+  Miss W. Longhurst       3/6
+  Miss V. Pinckney        3/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Lane               3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Stawell Brown      4/6
+  Mrs. Winch              4/6
+  Miss Garfit             5/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Miss D. Boothby         5/6
+  Miss M. Coles           5/6
+  Miss A. Ransome         5/6
+  Miss E. Longhurst       15
+  Miss Squire             15
+  Miss Eastlake Smith     15
+  Miss Paterson           15
+  Miss Tootell            15
+
+In 1905 I paid my first visit to the South of France. I was unlucky
+enough to sprain my wrist; but in spite of this mishap, the change of
+conditions, courts, and surroundings were all so novel that I thoroughly
+enjoyed my visit. The courts at the Beau Site, Cannes, are absolutely
+perfect, both as regards surface and background; and when one has got
+used to the different bound of the ball and the rather trying glare of
+the sun, one could not wish for better conditions for good tennis. Many
+a famous match has been fought out on these courts; and situated as they
+are in the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Beau Site, where most of the
+players stay, the environment is ideal. I was only able to play in the
+Monte Carlo tournament, after a few days' practice on the Beau Site
+courts, for it was just at the start of the Nice tournament that the
+accident to my wrist occurred. It was very disappointing to default
+after coming so far to take part in these tournaments. Several months
+elapsed before I could use my wrist again, and I was not able to play in
+any of the tournaments before I defended my title at Wimbledon.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS SUTTON
+(AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS]
+
+This year Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion, paid her first
+visit to England, and carried all before her, winning the championship
+of England and many other events, all without the loss of a single
+set--truly a wonderful performance. If any one had pluck it was Miss
+Sutton. To come to a strange country, practically friendless (Miss
+Sutton made many friends over here, but she came over alone), and to
+play and defeat one after another of the best players in this country,
+was a feat which filled us all with unbounded admiration.
+
+[Illustration: MOTOR CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL-ENGLAND GROUND AT
+WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906]
+
+I have played Miss Sutton five times, losing three and winning two of
+the matches. Of the three matches I lost, two were at Wimbledon, in the
+challenge rounds of 1905 and 1907, and the third at Beckenham in the
+challenge round of 1907. My two victories were both gained in 1906, in
+the challenge rounds at Liverpool and Wimbledon. Certainly the most
+exciting match I have ever played, and the one that gave me the most
+pleasure to win, was my match at Wimbledon against Miss Sutton in 1906.
+The match itself was not exactly enjoyable--the strain was too great; so
+much seemed to depend upon me, both for my own reputation, and that of
+my country. When Mr. Palmer, secretary of the All England Club, escorted
+us into the centre court and left us, with a word of encouragement in my
+ear, I felt helpless and destitute. You cannot realize what it means to
+face four thousand people and know that so much depends on your own
+exertions and coolness. Miss Sutton, I think, must have felt this
+loneliness in a still greater degree, for she was away from her country,
+her own people and friends. I have never had such a craving to speak to
+some one as I had in this match--just one friendly word to tell me
+whether I was playing the right sort of game or not. I confess my
+feelings were very strung up.
+
+I remember in the second set, when Miss Sutton led at three games to
+love, I said to the umpire as we crossed over, "I wonder, have I gone
+off, or is she playing much better?" But, of course, his face was like a
+mask; he didn't vouchsafe a word. Not that I expected him to speak, but
+I felt I simply must say something to some one. He told me afterwards he
+wanted to say, "I don't know; but stick to it whatever happens!"
+Concentration on the game in this match was terribly difficult, as the
+crowd was so huge and seemed so excited; it was almost impossible to
+forget the people and lose yourself in the game. I can quite well
+remember a dispute going on in the open stand for quite a long time
+during the first set. I think a lady would not put down her sunshade;
+there was quite a commotion about it. And then people near would shout
+advice to me, or scream out, "It's over! Run!" This happened two or
+three times; and although I knew they were trying to help me, which in
+itself was cheering and encouraging, it was very distracting and
+disconcerting. But after some time I lost it all, and became engrossed
+in the game. I think in 1907 Miss Sutton was much steadier and played a
+better all-round game, but I do not think she had quite the same
+terrific fore-hand drive as in the first two years she was over here.
+Her strokes were safer perhaps, but not so formidable and powerful.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (NOW MRS. LAMBERT
+CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER.]
+
+One of the great charms of playing in various tournaments is the means
+it affords of visiting all the different towns and countries. It may
+involve considerable travelling and expense, but the touring abroad is
+both an education and a delight. Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Homburg,
+Baden-Baden and Dinard, all bring the pleasantest reminiscences. Many of
+us have travelled about together, which is the jolliest way of doing
+the tournaments. I remember one most enjoyable trip, when Miss Lowther
+motored the Hillyards and myself through Germany--an ideal way of
+"doing" tournaments! The place at which a meeting is held, its
+surroundings, also the facilities it offers for amusement in the evening
+after your day's tennis is over, add to the enjoyment and make a
+material difference. It will always be one of my chief delights, in
+thinking of my tennis career, to remember the hospitality and many
+courtesies I have everywhere received, and the many friends I have made,
+who I trust will remain friends long after my tennis is a thing of the
+past.
+
+It is extraordinary how naïve the general public sometimes are. People
+will watch first-class tennis, sitting for hours together perhaps in
+great discomfort, and yet display a lamentable want of knowledge about
+the game. In fact, to many its object is a mystery! This seems hardly
+possible, but it is quite true. I once overheard a lady who was
+watching a match in the centre court at Wimbledon remark, "There, that's
+the very first time that man has hit the net with the ball, and he has
+had hundreds of tries!" I thought the man mentioned must be playing
+pretty good tennis! One really wonders why these onlookers spend so much
+time round a court, or where the pleasure can come in for them.
+
+At a garden party not so very long ago where tennis was on the
+programme, the visitors, arriving on the court, found one solitary ball,
+tied round with a long piece of string, the other end being attached to
+the net. To a natural inquiry the hostess replied, "Oh, they lost so
+many balls in the shrubbery last year, I really couldn't afford it, and
+thought of this plan. It has been most successful. This ball has lasted
+for ages!" Another lady at Eastbourne, whom I had noticed because she
+never left her seat, bringing her lunch with her so as not to lose a
+moment's play, asked me at the end of the week, while watching a double,
+whether the partners were side by side or opposite, as in bridge!
+
+One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the
+first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me,
+"You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis."
+"Making?" I say. "Spending, you mean!"--which always makes them stare in
+amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very
+common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are
+no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's
+Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course,
+cannot compete in open tournaments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+_The following contributions, in response to a request for some account
+of their most noteworthy encounter on court, have been kindly furnished
+for this volume by leading lady players._
+
+
+MRS. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+(_Champion_, 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900)
+
+One of the most exciting matches I remember was the final for the
+Championship at Wimbledon, played on the centre court on July 6, 1889,
+between Miss Rice and me. I started very nervously, as Miss Rice had
+given me rather a fright in the Irish Championship the month before,
+when she appeared in Dublin as a "dark horse." On that occasion I had
+only scraped through 7/5, 7/5. I began the match at Wimbledon by
+serving a double fault, and lost several games by doing the same thing
+in the first set. My length was awful, and Miss Rice was playing well
+from the start. She had a very fine fore-hand drive, but, like myself, a
+bad back-hand. She led at 3 games to 1, and took the first set at 6/4.
+In the second set I regained my confidence a little, winning three love
+games out of the first four; but Miss Rice won the next four games in
+succession, the score being called 5/3 and 40/15 against me. At this
+point, in my despair, I said to Mr. Chipp, who was umpiring the match,
+"What _can_ I do?" His grim answer was, "Play better, I should think." I
+then fully realized that I had not been playing my best game, and that
+to win I must hit harder. This I did, with the result that my length
+improved and I snatched this game from the fire--although Miss Rice was
+three times within a stroke of the match--and I eventually won the set
+at 8/6.
+
+The last set was well fought out, for, although I began well and led at
+3/1, Miss Rice won the next three games in succession and reached 40/30
+in the following game. This was her last effort, as I ran out at 6/4,
+winning the Championship for the second time. I think it was one of the
+closest matches I ever played, and I see by _Pastime_ that I only won 18
+games to her 16, and 110 strokes to her 100, and I felt I was most lucky
+to win at all.
+
+[Signature: Blanche Hillyard]
+
+
+MRS. STERRY
+
+(_Champion_, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908)
+
+Of course it goes without saying that my most memorable and exciting
+matches will all be those in which I have excelled or been the most
+distinguished person at the immediate moment! Let me just say that I am
+not going to give details of any match, as that is beyond my power and,
+I assume, of little interest to the reader.
+
+Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age
+of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember,
+bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club
+on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of
+nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning--that was the first
+really important match of my life.
+
+Another great game will always be imprinted on my memory, and that was
+in 1894, the first year that the late Mr. H.S. Mahony and I won the All
+England Mixed Championship. We beat Mrs. Hillyard and Mr. W. Baddeley in
+the final. The excitement of the onlookers was intense, and never shall
+I forget the overpowering sensation I felt as we walked, after our win,
+past the Aigburth Cricket Ground Stand, packed to its limit. How the
+people clapped and cheered us! It was tremendous.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. HILLYARD]
+
+[Illustration: MRS. STERRY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS V.M. PINCKNEY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS D. BOOTHBY]
+
+Another memory--the year 1895. Certainly I must be honest and say it
+wasn't exactly a good championship win, for Miss Dodd, Mrs. Hillyard,
+and Miss Martin were all standing out. Any of these could have beaten
+me. Nevertheless it was a delightful feeling to win the blue ribbon of
+England, especially as my opponent in the final, Miss Jackson, had led
+5-love in both sets! By some good fortune I was able to win seven games
+off the reel in each case.
+
+One more match--in 1907. I had heard a great deal about Miss May Sutton
+(who made her first appearance in England in 1905) beating everybody
+without the loss of a set. I had also heard she was a giant of strength,
+and that the harder one hit the more she liked it. The first time I met
+her was at Liverpool in 1907--I did not play the previous season. I was
+determined to introduce unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in
+order to entice her up to the net. The result was that many of her
+terrific drives went out, and I think this was primarily the reason why
+I was the first lady in England to take a set from her. I recollect her
+telling me, after the match was over, that my game was very different to
+any other she had ever played, and that she was not anxious to meet me
+again--remarks I took as a great compliment.
+
+There are scores of games just the reverse of pleasant which are
+imprinted on my memory, but I am not going to revive them at my own
+expense, hoping they have been forgotten and forgiven to my account, by
+any unfortunate partners I have ever let down.
+
+[Signature: Chattie R. Sterry.]
+
+MRS. DURLACHER
+
+_(Doubles Champion,_ 1899; _Mixed Doubles Champion of Ireland, 1898,
+1901, 1902)_
+
+
+A match that remains in my memory perhaps more than any other was the
+final of the Irish Championship Singles at Dublin in 1902, when Miss
+Martin and I met and had a long struggle for supremacy. At one time it
+really seemed as if I must win this match, as I led at 5 games to 1 and
+was within a stroke of the match. But I could not make that one point.
+Once when I had the advantage and only wanted an ace to win the match,
+one of my returns ran along the top of the net, and then, unfortunately
+for me, dropped my side. Miss Martin stuck to her guns persistently and
+eventually pulled the match out of the fire, winning the next six games
+straight off and thus becoming Irish Champion for 1902. It was very
+disappointing to lose after being so near victory. The score in Mis
+Martin's favour was 6/8, 6/4, 7/5.
+
+[Signature: Ruth Durlacher]
+
+
+MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+
+_(Champion of London, 1907, 1908)_
+
+In recalling the most remarkable lawn tennis match that I have ever
+played, I do not think I can do better than give the Open Mixed Double
+semi-final that took place on the final day of the Kent Championship
+Meeting at Beckenham on June 1, 1908. Mr. Roper Barrett and I met Mr.
+Prebble and Miss Boothby, and the story of the match is one of startling
+lapses and recoveries. In the first set Mr. Prebble and Miss Boothby
+profited by the combination born of frequent association in Mixed
+Doubles. Miss Boothby was very good from the back of the court and Mr.
+Prebble seemed to make mincemeat of my returns. It was their set by 6/4.
+In the second set Mr. Roper Barrett was quite wonderful, and killed
+every ball that he could possibly reach. The result was that the set was
+easily ours by 6/1. Our opponents, however, had something in reserve,
+and, I playing badly, they ran away to 5/0 in the third set. All seemed
+over. My partner and I made a great effort and got one game, and we
+congratulated ourselves on saving a love set. Then the excitement began,
+and we added game after game to our side. I am sure the crowd beame
+intensely interested, and quite worked themselves up as we drew to 5
+all. Mr. Barrett at this time was simply invincible, and I managed
+somehow to keep the balls out of Mr. Prebble's reach and play everything
+to Miss Boothby, upon whom devolved the responsibility. My partner
+volleyed at all kinds of remarkable angles, and, as _The Sportsman_ in
+describing the match, remarked, "sat on the net and was in complete
+command." We took seven games consecutively and won the set at 7/5, and
+with it a memorable match.
+
+[Signature: Violet M. Pinckney]
+
+
+MISS D. BOOTHBY
+
+(_Champion_, 1909)
+
+Without doubt my most exciting match was the final last year at
+Wimbledon. In every player's heart there must be a faint hope that one
+day she may win the All England Championship. At least it has always
+been in mine.
+
+From Christmas and all through the spring my family and friends had
+dinned into my ears that now was my chance, and if I did not win this
+year I never would. Only when I was leading one set up and 2-love in the
+second did all these things flash across my mind. I suddenly got
+nervous. Oh, the misery of it! I served double fault after double fault
+(I learnt afterwards that I gave away sixteen points in this way), and
+my friends told me that it was a relief to them when my service went
+over the net at all, however slowly. My opponent, Miss Morton, caught
+up, won the set 6/4, and led me 4/2 in the final set. All this time I
+had been fighting hard to regain confidence. At last my nerve came
+back--I was determined to win, and, only after a very great effort, just
+succeeded in capturing the Championship with the narrow margin of 8/6 in
+the final set.
+
+It was not until I had finished and had come off the court that I
+realized how very excited I had been, and how relieved I was when it was
+all over. Only those who have had experience can know how exhausting it
+is to concentrate one's whole thoughts and efforts, without cessation,
+for an hour or more. Fortunately you do not feel the strain until
+afterwards, when it does not matter, and then you can look back with
+very great pleasure and satisfaction on a hard-won fight.
+
+[Signature: Dora P. Boothby.]
+
+
+MRS. LARCOMBE
+
+(_Doubles Champion_, 1903, 1904; _Mixed Doubles Champion_, 1904, 1905)
+
+
+My "most memorable match" was in the All England Mixed Doubles
+Championship at Liverpool in 1904. Mr. S.H. Smith and I were playing
+Miss Wilson and Mr. A.W. Gore, and we had a great struggle for victory.
+I do not remember the exact score, but at one time our opponents were
+within an ace of the match. Miss Wilson served to me in the left
+court--a good service out on the side line. I played a straight
+back-hand shot down the line, passing Mr. Gore's forehand--rather a
+desperate stroke, as if it failed to pass him it meant certain death
+from one of his straight-arm volleys. Perhaps he was not guarding his
+line so well as usual, under the impression that I would not have the
+courage to try to pass him at such a critical moment--anyway, we won the
+point; and eventually the match and the championship, beating the
+holders, Miss D.K. Douglass and Mr. F.L. Riseley, in a most exciting
+match--almost as "memorable" to me, because I hit Mr. Riseley three
+times with smashes. I remember that side-line stroke and those three
+"hits" with great joy!
+
+[Signature: Ethel W. Larcombe.]
+
+MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+
+(_Covered Court Champion_, 1907)
+
+I find it a matter of some difficulty to decide which is the most
+memorable of the more important matches in which I have played. Four or
+five as I recall them seem, each in turn, to have left a lasting
+impression on my memory for one reason or another. Yet none of them
+appear more worthy of note than the others. The match which I think I
+shall remember long after many others are forgotten took place last year
+(1909) in the comparatively small and little-known tournament at Romsey.
+For the first time for some years I had missed winter practice on the
+covered courts at Queen's Club and in the South of France, and when I
+started again late in June, on moderate club courts and against none too
+keen opponents, I found myself looking forward with apprehension to my
+first effort in public. In the semi-final of the Ladies' Open Singles
+at Romsey I met Miss Sugden, whose well-merited reputation as a lawn
+tennis player is more or less a local one, chiefly for the reason that
+she has not competed in any of the first-class tournaments. It was a
+close afternoon, and the court being heavy we both felt the heat very
+much as the game progressed. I never really looked like winning the
+first set; my opponent led 4/1, and though I managed to equalize she
+easily ran out at 6/4. It was in the second set that the real struggle
+took place. In spite of all my efforts, Miss Sugden won game after game,
+until the game stood at 5/1 against me and 30 all; but by good luck I
+snatched that game and the two following. At 5/4 and my service we had
+deuce quite ten or twelve times, but in the end I managed to win and
+took the set at 7/5. After that I felt better, and with renewed
+confidence and steadier nerves I won the final set at, I think, 6/3.
+
+There was nothing particularly remarkable in the match, but somehow I
+felt that confidence in myself for the future depended in a great
+measure on my success in this event, and, in spite of having a very
+sporting opponent, I never felt more relieved in my life than when the
+last stroke was played.
+
+[Signature: Gladys S. Lamplough.]
+
+
+MISS A.M. MORTON
+
+(_Runner up for the Championship_, 1909)
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Larcombe]
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lamplough]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.M. Morton]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.N.G. Greene]
+
+I feel I owe an apology to Mrs. Luard for writing about a match in which
+I happened to beat her, as she is, and was then, a player altogether a
+class above me. No doubt it became "memorable," as I certainly never
+expected to win at the outset, and still less so when I was undergoing
+one of those ghastly "creep-ups" in the final set. It happened in 1904
+at Wimbledon, on the centre court, in the semi-final of the
+Championship. Miss Wilson (as she then was) started well and won the
+first set 6/3, the second went to me at 6/4, and the third set seemed as
+if it would go to either of us in turn. Everything went well for me till
+I actually got to 5/1 and it was 15/40 on her service; then I lost two
+points quite easily--those winning shots are so hard to make! And at
+deuce we had a tremendous rally, which ended in a good side-line shot by
+my opponent that I couldn't get to and didn't even try. The linesman
+called "out," which I contradicted, and general confusion took place,
+the spectators joining in the fray--and it all arose through the ball
+being given "out" in the middle of the long rally when a train was
+passing, and we neither of us heard it. I never knew the explanation
+till after the match and was quite convinced I had "sneaked" the point,
+and somehow I went all to pieces, and everything went as badly as it
+had gone well before, till Miss Wilson crept up to 6/5. Then I made an
+expiring effort just in time. I dare say she was tired, for I won that
+game fairly easily. We had a great fight for the thirteenth, which I
+fortunately won, and finished the match with a love game. And no one was
+more surprised than I.
+
+[Signature: A.M. Morton.]
+
+
+MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+
+_(East of England Champion_, 1903, 1905)
+
+It is difficult to decide on the most memorable match one has ever
+played. Each in turn seems at the time to be the most important. One
+which I found very exciting at the time was against Mrs. Luard in the
+final for the Cup at Felixstowe. I won the first set 6/3, and led 5/1
+and 40/30 in the next, when Mrs. Luard sent me a short easy ball--a
+certain "kill" at any other time. I sent it out. Four times after that I
+was within a point of the match, but could not quite pull it off, and
+Mrs. Luard, playing up brilliantly, not only won that set, but led 5/2
+in the third. Then I made a final effort, and though it was always
+touch-and-go I managed to make it 6/5. In the next game Mrs. Luard was
+40-love, but after a great struggle I got it, and so won the match,
+though it was anybody's game to the end.
+
+[Signature: A.N.G. Greene.]
+
+
+
+
+  INDEX
+
+
+  A
+
+  All England Club
+  Athletics for girls
+  Austin, Miss
+
+
+  B
+
+  Back-hand drive
+  Baddeley, Mr. W.
+  Baden-Baden
+  Barrett, Mr. Roper
+  Beau Site, Hotel
+  Beckenham
+  Boothby
+  Brighton
+
+
+  C
+
+  Cannes
+  Championship, the
+  Chipp, Mr. H.
+  Chiswick Park
+  Clubs
+  "Complete Lawn Tennis Player, The"
+  Cooper, Miss C. (see also Sterry, Mrs.)
+  Courts
+
+
+  D
+
+  Diet
+  Dinard
+  Dod, Miss
+  Doherty, Mr. R.F.
+  Doubles
+  Douglass, Miss D.K.
+  Dress
+  Dressing-rooms
+  Driving
+  Drop-shots
+  Dublin
+  Durlacher, Mrs.
+  Dyas, Miss
+
+
+  E
+
+  Ealing L.T.C.
+  Ealing Common L.T.C.
+  Eastbourne
+
+
+  F
+
+  Felixstowe
+  Fore-hand drive
+  France, South of
+
+
+  G
+
+  Garfit, Miss
+  Gipsy Tournament
+  Gore, Mr. A.W.
+  Greene, Miss A.N.G.
+  Greville, Mrs.
+
+
+  H
+
+  Half-volley
+  Head-work
+  Health, effect on
+  Hillyard
+    Mr. G.W.
+    Mrs.
+  Homburg
+
+
+  J
+
+  Jackson, Miss
+  Jones, Miss M.
+
+
+  L
+
+  Lamplough, Mrs.
+  Larcombe, Mrs.
+    See Thomson, Miss
+  _Lawn Tennis_
+  Lawn tennis and golf
+    cost of
+  Liverpool
+  Lobbing
+  Lob-volley
+  Low volleys
+  Lowther, Miss
+  Luard, Mrs.
+    (see also Wilson, Miss C.M.)
+
+
+  M
+
+  Mahony, Mr. H.S.
+  Manchester
+  Martin, Miss L.
+  Match play
+  Mixed doubles
+  Monte Carlo
+  Morgan, Miss E.R.
+  Morton, Miss
+  Myers, A. Wallis
+
+
+  N
+
+  Newcastle
+  Nice
+
+
+  P
+
+  Palmer, Mr.
+  _Pastime_
+  Pinckney, Miss V.
+  Practice, how to
+  Prebble, Mr. A.D.
+
+
+  Q
+
+  Queen's Club
+
+
+  R
+
+  Rackets
+  Reading
+  Rice, Miss
+  Riseley, Mr. F.L.
+  Robb, Miss
+  Romsey
+
+
+  S
+
+  Schulenberg, Countess
+  Service
+    American
+  Shoes
+  "Slazenger"
+  Smash
+  Smith, Mr. S.H.
+  _Sportsman, The_
+  Staleness
+  Sterry, Mrs.
+  Sugden, Miss
+  Sutton, Miss
+
+
+  T
+
+  Tactics
+  Thomson, Miss E.W.
+  Thorpe Satchville
+  Tournaments, abuse of
+  Tournaments, management of
+    value of
+  Training
+  Tulloch, Miss B.
+
+
+  U
+
+  Umpires
+
+
+  V
+
+  Volleying
+
+
+  W
+
+  Watson, Miss M.
+  Wilson, Miss C.M.
+  Wimbledon
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10961 ***
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lawn Tennis For Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers.
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10961 ***</div>
+
+<br>
+
+<center><a name="img1"></a><img src="./images/img01.jpg" alt="Mrs. Lambert Chambers" /><br>
+<img src="./images/sig1.gif" alt="D.K. Lambert Chambers" /></center>
+<center>Mrs. Lambert Chambers</center>
+
+<h1>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</h1>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS</h2>
+<br />
+<br />
+<center>WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS</center>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center">First published in 1910, London</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center">
+TO<br>
+MY FATHER <br>
+WHOSE KEENNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT <br>
+HAVE ALWAYS BEEN <br>
+SUCH A GREAT HELP TO ME <br>
+DURING MY LAWN TENNIS CAREER</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="PREFACE"></a><h2>PREFACE</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a
+book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and
+clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my
+favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its
+literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am
+still too much affected by the &quot;brilliant and feverish glow&quot; of
+enthusiasm to dream of offering one.</p>
+
+<p>Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic
+pride, but only with a passionate fondness for what I consider a great
+sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly,
+I should like to thank all those who have assisted me with suggestions
+and the loan of photographs, especially my &quot;arena colleagues&quot; who have
+rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.</p>
+
+<p>DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CONTENTS"></a><h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+ <a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CONTENTS"><b>CONTENTS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"><b>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#LAWN_TENNIS_FOR_LADIES"><b>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I - ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II - PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III - MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV - RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V - TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI - SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII - MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a><br>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<a href="#img1">MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img2">WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img3a">THE FORE-HAND DRIVE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img4a">THE BACK-HAND DRIVE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img5a">SERVICE</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From photographs by Dexter.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img6">MRS. G.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES, MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W. HILLYARD</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img7">MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING, MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOHERTY</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img8">MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img9">ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY, AND MISS E.W. THOMSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img10">GROUP PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img11">AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img12">A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img13">&quot;MY SISTERS AND MYSELF&quot;</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A picture-postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert Chambers by Miss May Sutton</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">from her home in California.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img14">AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img15">SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img16">THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">SUTTON (AMERICA) <i>v</i>. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img17">MOTOR-CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL ENGLAND GROUND AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES' CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img18">WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (now MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img19">MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. STERRY, MISS V.M. PINCKNEY, MISS D. BOOTHBY</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From a photograph by G. &amp; R. Lavis, Eastbourne.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img20">MRS. LARCOMBE, MRS. LAMPLOUGH, MISS A.M. MORTON, MISS A.N.G. GREENE</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From a photograph by G. &amp; R. Lavis, Eastbourne.</span><br>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="LAWN_TENNIS_FOR_LADIES"></a>
+<h2>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h2>ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS</h2>
+<a name="1"></a>
+<p>I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
+athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
+Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
+ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
+tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
+enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
+brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
+than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
+for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
+they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
+woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
+said for these contentions, but to my mind the <i>pros</i> materially
+outweigh the <i>cons</i>.</p>
+
+<p>As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
+evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
+more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
+A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth
+the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in
+an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the anticipation of a
+scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.
+Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm,
+collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that
+invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second
+objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on
+what is meant by the essential feature of &quot;womanliness.&quot; I am afraid
+most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, &quot;Frailty, thy name is
+woman.&quot; Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps
+call it &quot;delicacy,&quot; and refer to the &quot;weaker sex,&quot; but they mean that
+just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her
+weakness. They argue that you must impair this &quot;weakness&quot; by strenuous
+games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness,
+just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely
+physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a
+second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second
+editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, &quot;Nature
+meant to make woman its masterpiece.&quot; I well remember reading in a
+stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men
+and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while
+the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing
+ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their
+war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked
+themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind,
+was a picture of true &quot;womanliness.&quot; Inferior in neither moral strength
+nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement,
+giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he
+needs for the special experience.</p>
+<a name="5"></a>
+<p>If this, then, be &quot;womanliness,&quot; can athletic games injure it? Do they
+spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific
+excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at
+critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is
+undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame,
+more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested
+match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.
+These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the
+qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their
+sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and
+sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You
+are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do
+these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a
+thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and
+stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and
+absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.</p>
+
+<p>The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle
+prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.
+The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits,
+and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that
+it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He
+therefore said to him, &quot;Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with
+certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle
+of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take
+this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You
+must do this every day.&quot; His highness acquiesced, and in a short time
+the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved
+his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis
+ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour
+and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle
+that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude
+of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before
+me the subject is put tersely thus: &quot;Health and strength depend on rapid
+disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion.&quot;
+Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid
+exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind
+alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no
+doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion
+demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to
+say, &quot;During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air.&quot; This
+oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage
+to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the
+wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us
+with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active
+exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis
+player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily
+overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of
+oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of
+vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.</p>
+
+<p>Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are
+many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone
+it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends
+naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged,
+from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the
+knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from
+it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the
+game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not
+physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific
+application&mdash;finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women
+are just as capable of exercising as men.</p>
+<a name="9"></a>
+<p>I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with
+any first-class man of the same year you will find a great disparity
+between their actual play. That is to say, the first-class man would be
+able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a
+close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous
+odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner
+at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this pronounced discrepancy.
+Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it
+all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater
+activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own
+game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with
+less accuracy and power.</p>
+<a name="10"></a>
+<p>Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive
+game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can
+be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all
+over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time
+required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets,
+balls, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The
+club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the
+game are small as compared with golf.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img2"></a><img src="./images/img02.jpg" alt="WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE ROUND." /></center><center>WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE ROUND.</center>
+<a name="11"></a>
+<p>Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course
+by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well&mdash;far from it.
+But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of
+healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes
+to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is
+no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which
+women can combine with and compete against men without in any way
+spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the
+most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not
+wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which
+this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of
+the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf
+is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite
+first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an
+abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a
+mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is
+it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the
+combination of both sexes.</p>
+
+<p>Then it is asserted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.
+This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some
+little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and
+promptly answered by a spirited article with illustrations of some
+well-known lady hockey players&mdash;proof positive of the fallacy that
+hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions
+are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that
+instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never
+seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a
+fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see,
+although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more,
+registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and
+look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it
+is hardly possible or natural to be &quot;just so&quot; every second of a long
+struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not
+absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of
+excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This
+has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.
+Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial
+muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural
+appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman
+should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why,
+then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much,
+and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two
+perhaps, their appearance is distorted?</p>
+
+
+<a name="14"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h2>PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE</h2>
+
+<p>Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. &quot;I
+have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better
+game?&quot; That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are
+very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the
+great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match
+must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all
+know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them
+out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided
+in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up
+game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of
+playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak
+strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely
+the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do
+this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even
+given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed
+continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did
+this. The characteristic answer came back: &quot;I cannot take a back hand. I
+should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball.&quot; But what
+does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you
+are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve;
+she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.
+In fact, it was very little of a <i>practice</i> game to her. How can your
+game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what
+is feeble?</p>
+
+<p>Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind
+who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master
+it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all
+your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your
+game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded
+becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that
+you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing
+the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a
+sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and
+all the patience which must be exercised.</p>
+<a name="17"></a>
+<p>Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak
+strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But
+after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise,
+that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your
+game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily
+disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth
+playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you
+must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet
+disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit,
+or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if
+you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players
+never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many
+of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will
+certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent
+desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A
+struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his
+pastime&mdash;often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so
+obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so
+thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find
+him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He
+may play in a few competitions, but his time is more seriously occupied
+with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous
+strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the
+game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before
+he pits his skill against others.</p>
+<a name="19t"></a>
+<p>I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there
+is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the
+competitors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the
+same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never
+advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to
+another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. Assisted by a generous
+handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let
+me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes
+correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open
+competitions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are
+to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially
+by young players who have not completed what I may call
+stroke-education.</p>
+<a name="19"></a>
+<p>When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as
+strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an
+experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are
+anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more
+enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to
+advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not
+hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your
+friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books
+that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often
+noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open
+events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a
+miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players
+grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The
+book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one
+solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference
+in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own
+case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the
+ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of
+practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw
+the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an
+hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke
+you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one
+champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke
+that had to be mastered was passed through the mill and assiduously
+exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the
+purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in
+the given direction.</p>
+<a name="21"></a>
+<p>To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these
+elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal
+exhaustively with this subject, such as &quot;The Complete Lawn-Tennis
+Player,&quot; by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old
+ground.</p>
+<a name="22"></a>
+<p>The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is <i>The Fore-hand Drive</i>. A
+good fore-hand is one of the chief assets of the game; a good length
+must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as
+near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe
+shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very
+accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come
+afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.
+Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in
+front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I
+mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away
+from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about
+the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and
+simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.
+This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can
+only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or
+too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.</p>
+
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img3a"></a><img src="./images/img03a.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: BEGINNING" /><br>
+The Fore-hand drive: Beginning</td>
+    <td><center><a name="img3b"></a><img src="./images/img03b.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: MIDDLE" /></center>
+<center>The Fore-hand drive: Middle</center></td>
+    <td><a name="img3c"></a><img src="./images/img03c.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: FINISH" /><br>
+The Fore-hand drive: Finish</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<p>The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.
+Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along&mdash;your movement must be
+so perfectly timed&mdash;to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to
+follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight
+of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. <i>Timing
+your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following
+well through at the finish</i>&mdash;these are the chief secrets of good and
+powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep
+your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right
+on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot
+realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke;
+and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the
+chief attributes of success.</p>
+<a name="15"></a>
+<p><i>The Back-hand Drive</i> is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only
+with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but
+stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The
+position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is
+where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your
+right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of
+the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back,
+with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the
+centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from
+your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction
+of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court,
+from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through
+be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face
+the net.</p>
+<a name="24"></a>
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img4a"></a><img src="./images/img04a.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: BEGINNING" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Beginning</td>
+    <td><a name="img4b"></a><img src="./images/img04b.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: MIDDLE" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Middle</td>
+    <td><a name="img4c"></a><img src="./images/img04c.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: FINISH" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Finish&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<a name="25"></a>
+<p><i>The lob</i> is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly
+practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and
+accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent
+move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking,
+of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you
+breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to
+get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly
+always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of
+players are weaker there.</p>
+<a name="26"></a>
+<p>There are three kinds of lobs: (1) <i>The high lob</i>, sent well out of
+reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking
+some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out
+of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to
+run back and return it. (2) <i>The low lob</i>, which only just passes over
+your opponent's racket&mdash;a much more risky shot than the high lob, but
+with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting
+the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot,
+because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very
+fast-dropping ball. (3) <i>The lob-volley</i> is one of the prettiest strokes
+and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with
+success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your
+opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played
+with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the
+ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a
+high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal
+for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath
+the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the
+racket.</p>
+<a name="27h"></a>
+<p><i>The Half Volley</i>.&mdash;This stroke has great possibilities, and is
+efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for
+defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact,
+within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it
+can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained,
+as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it
+wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of
+players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another
+reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.</p>
+<a name="27"></a>
+<p><i>A short drop shot</i> from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any
+position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back
+of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is
+difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient
+practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be
+expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.</p>
+
+<p>I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.
+Owing to its success&mdash;my opponent never even attempted to reach it&mdash;I
+won ace after ace. At the end of the match my opponent indignantly
+upbraided me. &quot;I cannot admire your length,&quot; she protested. Neither did
+she think it was &quot;fair to play sneaks,&quot; adding, &quot;Anybody could win if
+they cared to play like that.&quot; In her opinion it wasn't tennis! I'm
+afraid I did not take this censure very seriously. As the object of the
+game is to put the ball as far out of reach of your opponent as
+possible, I could not see what difference there was between making her
+run from side to side of the base-line or to the net and back again.
+Both methods as regards placing are just as good tennis, and should be
+used judiciously in turn. But this sort of argument did not appeal to my
+opponent; she still thought any one could win who cared to play that
+&quot;unsporting game.&quot; Perhaps the incident caused her to think a little,
+and it may be she tried the stroke in her next match. If so, I am quite
+sure she did not find it so easy to play accurately as she had imagined.</p>
+
+<p>The danger of this stroke is that unless it is just in the right spot,
+instead of giving you an advantage it will be a very easy ball for your
+opponent to score off. If it is short, it will find the net; if hit too
+far, it becomes a bad-length ball and will get the punishment it
+deserves. It is difficult to explain how this stroke should be played. I
+think it is best to stand very close to the ball and get rather in front
+of it, drawing the racket across it from right to left&mdash;stroking the
+ball, as it were, rather than hitting it. It requires a delicate touch,
+and can be very deceptively played. Your opponent is kept in the dark
+until the last moment, when the ace has probably been won.</p>
+<a name="30"></a>
+<p><i>The Service</i>.&mdash;I should, as a rule, advise an overhead service. At the
+same time, an underhand cut service is very useful as a change. Variety
+of stroke and tactics should always be encouraged.</p>
+
+<p>For an <i>overhead service</i> stand sideways to the net, with your left foot
+just behind the base-line, the left shoulder facing the net, and the
+right foot a little to the right of and behind the left. Throw the ball
+high up over your right ear, bend your body well back and your right
+shoulder down. Raise the racket at the same time as you throw up the
+ball, hit it with the centre of your racket, bringing your body forward
+with all its weight on to the ball, and transferring your weight from
+the right foot to the left at the moment of impact. Bring your racket
+right through, and finish a little to the left of your left knee. At
+the time you throw the ball into the air the left shoulder must be
+facing the net, and as your racket hits the ball and follows through to
+your left knee your body should be brought round to face the net.</p>
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img5a"></a><img src="./images/img05a.jpg" alt="BEGINNING OF SERVICE" /><br>
+BEGINNING OF SERVICE</td>
+    <td><a name="img5b"></a><img src="./images/img05b.jpg" alt="MIDDLE OF SERVICE" /><br>
+MIDDLE OF SERVICE</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Do not at first attempt a fast service; keep your ardour down until you
+have gained a mastery of the ball and can vary its direction. Place is
+always better than pace; this applies, generally speaking, to other
+strokes besides the service. Try to cultivate a second service which
+bears a likeness to the first. That is to say, if you have served a
+fault (and the best players in the world cannot be absolutely sure that
+their first delivery will not pitch just over the side-line or
+service-line or hit the top of the net), do not be contented with a soft
+and guileless second which has no length and which gives your opponent
+an excellent chance of making a winning drive. Most players are weaker
+on their backhand. Remember that fact and place your ball accordingly.
+It is a good plan, when serving from the right-hand court, to aim for
+the spot where the centre line bisects the service-line. Length and
+direction will both be good, and in nine cases out of ten your opponent
+will be required to move to make the return&mdash;always a point in your
+favour.</p>
+
+<p>Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is
+essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are
+stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary
+knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable
+for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they
+have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular
+merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the
+racket the more liable is it to go astray. Another reason why you should
+temper zeal with discretion is that a vigorous service will tire you out
+like nothing else, and in a long match stamina should be judiciously
+preserved. You never know when an extra spurt may not be required to
+turn the scale in your favour. I have often noticed the difference in
+length and sting between the service of some players at the beginning of
+the match and in the third set, and I am sure that one of the reasons
+why so many matches are ultimately lost after a promising start is the
+decline in the service, in its sustained vigour and in its length.</p>
+
+<p>By the way, why do many lady players, even those who compete at open
+tournaments, stand several feet behind the base-line when serving? Are
+they aware that the length of their service is probably just so many
+feet short of what it ought to be and that they voluntarily give
+themselves an extra journey to recover short returns, even if they reach
+them at all? You will never find expert players, who appreciate what I
+may call the geometry of the court, penalise themselves in this manner.
+Yet the habit, for some reason or other, would appear to be on the
+increase.</p>
+<a name="34"></a>
+<p><i>Low Volleys</i>.&mdash;For these strokes the head of your racket should be
+above your wrist, your elbow low down, and your knees slightly bent. You
+should, in fact, stoop so that your eye is level with the flight of the
+ball. The late Mr. H.S. Mahony used to say that if girls would only bend
+down more to the ball they would be able to volley much better. You
+should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor
+relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the
+place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to
+remember the oft-repeated maxim: &quot;Keep your eye on the ball.&quot; Watch it
+up to the moment of striking. Do not always &quot;smash&quot; every overhead ball
+when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste
+of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a
+mistake. For a <i>smash</i> the right shoulder should be down and well under
+the ball, the head and weight well back, the weight transferred at the
+moment of striking from the right to the left leg, the body balanced
+with extended left arm, and the body-weight brought right on to the ball
+as it is hit. Finish to the left of your left knee as in the service.</p>
+
+
+<a name="36"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h2>MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY</h2>
+
+<p>When you have acquired a certain knowledge of the game and can play the
+various strokes in the correct way, then, as I have said, tournament and
+match play is the very best method of improvement. I would emphasize the
+need for a certain standard of efficiency, because I am convinced that
+at the present time there are too many weak players competing at open
+meetings. The style of these players has only to be watched to be
+condemned, and their knowledge of the game is hopelessly limited.
+Invariably making strokes in a wrong way, tournament play only serves to
+consolidate weaknesses and check advance.</p>
+<a name="37"></a>
+<p>But assuming you have practised on sound lines and are fit to take part
+in what, after all, should be a test of trained skill, tournaments will
+then be a great help to you. You will more often than not play against
+better players than yourself&mdash;an advantage denied you in practice&mdash;and
+against all varieties of attack and defence. You have the chance of
+watching first-class matches and learning at first hand how the
+different strokes should be played. You should be careful, however, to
+limit the number of your tournaments, especially when the excitement and
+strain are new to you; otherwise you will do much more harm than good. I
+am convinced that, generally speaking, players attend too many meetings.
+Instead of their play improving, it may deteriorate. They run the
+fearful risk of staleness&mdash;one of the greatest dangers to a lawn tennis
+player&mdash;and they become physically worn out. As soon as you find you are
+losing interest in the game, when it becomes an effort to go into court,
+give the game a rest. It is clear you have overdone it and need a
+period of recuperation. One or two tournaments at a time, and then a
+rest to practise the new strokes and tactical moves you have learnt and
+seen, would, I feel sure, be much more helpful to your game than
+tournament touring, week-in and week-out.</p>
+
+<p>Some people advise you to dismiss the coming match entirely from your
+mind before going into court. Personally I find this physically
+impossible, and I do not commend the suggestion. I think it is much
+better to study your opponent's game before pitting your own against it.
+Many matches may be lost while you are finding out the right line of
+attack. Therefore I advise you to think about the match you are going to
+play. Mentally rehearse your mode of campaign. But do not worry over the
+possible result. At all costs it must not be allowed to disturb your
+sleep the night before&mdash;there is nothing puts me off my game so much as
+a sleepless night.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as you know who your opponent is, seize every opportunity to
+watch her play, get to know her strong and her weak points, and map out
+your plan of campaign. Then come the first preliminaries, the toss for
+choice of sides or service. In choosing your side you must take into
+consideration the position of the sun, the wind, the slope of the court
+(if any), and the background. If you have won the toss and do not mind
+on which side you start playing, and also have a good service, elect to
+begin the service. If you have won the toss and for some good reason do
+not wish to serve first, you can make your opponent serve; but remember
+that you also give her choice of courts.</p>
+<a name="40"></a>
+<p>One of the great things to remember in match play is this&mdash;do not strive
+to win outright with every stroke. Especially does this maxim apply to
+the return of the service. So many players are inaccurate with this
+important stroke simply because their sole ambition is to make it end
+the rest. Much better to work for your opening. Try to imagine where
+your opponent will be after taking a certain stroke, and then according
+to this position determine which is the best stroke to play next. It is
+similar to playing chess. You should think a move or sometimes two moves
+in advance. Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief
+factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to
+send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious
+to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before
+you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not
+where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back
+to the original place&mdash;that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly
+leaving. She will most probably be beaten by this simple device. Trite
+though the hint may appear, always try to send the ball where it will
+be least expected.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img6"></a><img src="./images/img06.jpg" alt="TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE SATCHVILLE MRS. C.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W.HILLYARD" /></center>
+
+<p>Again I would urge the importance of keeping your whole attention
+absorbed on the game. Complete concentration is absolutely essential.
+You <i>must</i> lose yourself in the game&mdash;eye, mind, and hand all working
+together. If you find that events transpiring outside the court are
+attracting your attention, you cannot be watching the ball. Many
+players, even when concentrating, take their eye off the ball too soon,
+with the result that it is not properly timed and not hit cleanly in the
+centre of the racket.</p>
+
+<p>In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never
+give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the
+experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player
+has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore,
+unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of
+the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win
+the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img7"></a><img src="./images/img07.jpg" alt="MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOUGHERTY TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE'S SATCHVILLE" /></center>
+<a name="43"></a><a name="42"></a>
+<p>The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time;
+never for one moment slack off. For if you do it is very hard to get
+going again, and you may find yourself caught up and passed at the post
+before you have a chance of getting back into your stride. I well
+remember being a set up and five games to one against Miss C.M. Wilson
+(now Mrs. Luard) one year at Newcastle, when victory for me meant
+permanent possession of the challenge cup. This cup was very valuable,
+for it had a splendid list of names inscribed upon it; it had been going
+for very many years. Miss Wilson seemed so off her game, and I was
+winning so comfortably, that I could almost see that cup on my
+sideboard! But it was not to be. (At any rate not that year. I was lucky
+enough to win the Cup outright in 1908, when it was even more
+valuable, as Miss Sutton's name had been added.) Whether I
+unconsciously slacked off, thinking the match was mine (which is a fatal
+thing to do at any time), or whether Miss Wilson suddenly found her
+game, is impossible for me to say, but she eventually won that match and
+the cup and championship for the year. She never gave in, but played
+most pluckily right up to the end. I remember another match where the
+result hung in the balance for some time. I was playing Miss A.N.G.
+Greene at Eastbourne in 1907; again the Cup would be my own property if
+I won it. I met Miss Greene in the second round. She won the first set,
+and was five games to four in the second set, and seven times she only
+wanted one point to win that match. I was able to make it five games
+all. It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after
+having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it
+completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite
+easily.</p>
+<a name="44"></a>
+<p>Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching
+up your opponent, that when you do draw level <i>you do not relax your
+efforts</i>. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The
+strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when
+you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. A
+rest is taken, often involuntarily. It is fatal, because before you
+realize it and can get going again your opponent has run out a winner.
+This happened to me at Wimbledon in 1908 against Mrs. Sterry. I was
+behind the whole time, and it was a great relief in the second set to
+hear the score at last called five games all. But I had hardly taken a
+breather when Mrs. Sterry secured the set by seven games to five. The
+eleventh game I played almost unconsciously, so relieved was I at
+getting on even terms, when I ought to have spared no effort to win
+that critical game, even if I had failed. These three matches&mdash;and I
+could mention many others&mdash;show how important it is to play hard right
+up to the last stroke of the match, letting nothing put you off, never
+losing your temper, taking umpire's bad decisions and all the little
+annoyances that may disturb you in a sportsmanlike manner&mdash;keeping your
+whole attention, in fact, absolutely concentrated on the game.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img8"></a><img src="./images/img08.jpg" alt="MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907" /></center>
+<a name="45"></a>
+<p>In a single it is best when serving to stand as near the centre of the
+base-line as possible. In this position you have greater command of your
+court, and there is not so much scope for your opponent to put the ball
+out of your reach. Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion and
+ex-champion of England, in her desire to stand as near the centre of the
+court as she possibly can, gets so close that umpires find it very
+difficult to tell whether she is serving from the right court or the
+wrong. In fact, I think I am right in saying she has actually been
+pulled up for stepping over the centre line of the base-line. If you
+stand as close as she does you are liable to step over the line
+unconsciously. Stand as near the centre line as possible, but without
+any risk of stepping over it. On the other hand, there are players who
+prefer to serve from the other extreme end. Mr. A.W. Gore, the present
+champion of England, is one of these, but personally I cannot see any
+advantage in this position. It seems to leave so much open court, of
+which your adversary will not be slow to make use.</p>
+
+<p>Use the overhead service for choice, but have an underhand service ready
+at your command&mdash;it may come in very useful for a change. Remember that
+a good-length, well-placed service is better than a very fast one, and
+much less tiring in a long match. Keep your opponent wondering where the
+service will come next; vary it as much as you possibly can, both as to
+pace and direction. Be sure to make your opponent move to take it.</p>
+<a name="47"></a>
+<p>I have tried the American service, but I think the strain is too severe
+for the average girl, and the advantage gained would be very slight, for
+the rest of your game would deteriorate, owing to fatigue. It places so
+much tension on all the muscles of the body, and I do not think it would
+do a girl's health any good to cultivate it. Of course if she were
+abnormally strong and did not feel the effects of the physical effort,
+she would be a tower of strength in the land, and her service would be
+an invaluable one.</p>
+<a name="48"></a>
+<p>I am not an advocate of persistent volleying in a lady's single. I think
+it is too great a tax on the physique. Nor do I think it pays in the
+long-run. A volleyer, to my mind, is much easier to play against than a
+base-liner, and most of the first-class base-line players agree with me.
+The great physical exertion entailed in running continually to the net
+will after a time make the ground strokes weaker and weaker; and you
+<i>must</i> have good length to be able to come up and volley with any
+success. Miss E.W. Thomson (now Mrs. Larcombe), one of our best lady
+volleyers, put up a magnificent game in the first set against Miss
+Sutton at Wimbledon in the championship singles of 1905. She had
+carefully watched Miss Sutton's game and thought out the best way to
+play her. Volleying most judiciously, she would force Miss Sutton up to
+the net with a short drop stroke, and then, lobbing over her head nearly
+on to the base-line, take up a position at the net, winning the ace with
+a neat cross volley. These tactics she repeated again and again, and
+actually led by five games to two. If she could have lasted she must
+have won that match. But she could not keep it up. She became obviously
+exhausted, did not get up to the net quickly enough, and her length got
+shorter and shorter. Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next
+easily.  Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next easily. I do
+not know what would have happened if Miss Thomson, when she found she
+was tiring, had stayed back for a little while and then resumed her
+tactics at the net. Perhaps she would have come much nearer to victory.</p>
+<a name="49"></a>
+<p>A very large majority of non-volleyers in singles have won the ladies'
+championship, and I think that fact helps to prove my argument. Miss
+Maud Watson, Miss Rice, Mrs. Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton,
+Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are
+the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley.
+You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play
+and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length
+ball.</p>
+<a name="50"></a>
+<p>In <i>Doubles</i> of course it is different. I think then a girl should
+volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make
+the game so much more attractive. I think it would be an excellent plan
+if ladies' doubles were always played like men's doubles, both players
+moving together and keeping parallel with one another, going up to the
+net together and retiring to the back of the court together. Competitors
+would improve their volleying, and the double, instead of being the
+dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
+would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
+change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
+would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
+formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
+Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
+tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
+the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
+improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.</p>
+<a name="51"></a>
+<p>Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
+volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
+event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
+experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
+played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
+base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
+event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
+volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
+wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
+Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
+ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
+pities.</p>
+<a name="52"></a>
+<p>In <i>Mixed Doubles</i> a girl has a very important part to play.
+Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
+partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
+double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
+he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
+&quot;plums.&quot; She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
+the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
+down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
+moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
+tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
+Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
+way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
+Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
+off, however &quot;jumpy&quot; the opposing man is, or however much he is running
+across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
+is without looking at him.</p>
+<a name="53"></a>
+<p>To play a mixed double you must be able to lob. It is really the most
+necessary stroke to cultivate. A very good return of the opposing lady's
+service, when both men are at the net, is a lob back to the server. It
+is much safer than lobbing over the man's head&mdash;if at all short your
+ball will be instantly killed&mdash;and it also gives your partner at the net
+plenty of time to anticipate any kind of return. It will be difficult
+for the server to return a good-length lob out of your partner's reach.
+The opposing man at the net will not be able to do anything with this
+lob&mdash;it is quite out of his reach&mdash;and it would be useless for him to
+run across as he might do for a cross drive. It is usually best, I
+think, for a lady to serve down the centre of the court in a mixed
+double. It shuts up the angles of the court more, and there is less risk
+of her partner being passed down his side line.</p>
+<a name="54"></a>
+<p>Do not enter for too many events in a tournament. You may get thoroughly
+worn out and not able to do yourself justice in any, and you would
+probably have to play when you were very tired&mdash;bad for your game, and
+worse still for your partner's chance in a double. Remember that before
+playing an important match it is very injudicious to watch another game.
+It is likely to put your eye out. If possible, do not travel by train
+just before playing, or carry anything heavy, such as your tennis bag,
+for this will make your hand shaky and unsteady.</p>
+
+<p>To sum up, there are five golden rules which I have found very helpful
+to me when playing an important match. I give them to you in the hope
+that they may prove equally valuable. Always remember that constant
+practice of these rules will make their pursuit natural in a match.</p>
+
+<p>I. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL</p>
+
+<p>You have so often been told this, I know, and perhaps the familiar ring
+about the advice may evoke contempt. Yet unless this rule is implicitly
+obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye
+off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You
+must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on
+to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court
+and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same
+time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting
+his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! Always be on your
+guard against this inclination. It is at first done almost
+unconsciously, but it soon becomes a habit.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GAME</p>
+
+<p>This is a most important rule. As I have remarked before, complete
+concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried
+about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your
+game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment
+playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well
+demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain.
+The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more
+or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the
+whole time.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. KEEP PERFECT CONTROL OF THE TEMPER</p>
+
+<p>This rule some players will find much more difficult than others. You
+hear of a person having the right temperament for games, of being
+naturally imperturbable. It is a priceless quality, for to my mind it is
+half the battle if nothing can disturb your equanimity. To be calm and
+placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any
+way put out, whatever little worries may turn up&mdash;and sometimes these
+worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit&mdash;that is one of
+the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not
+natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. But it requires
+much practice and an abundance of will-power and self-control. It is a
+very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be
+upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your
+opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up
+harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at
+something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have
+a much better chance of winning the match.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. KEEP YOUR HEART IN THE GAME</p>
+
+<p>By this I mean do not get easily downhearted and discouraged. Fight
+pluckily to the end, however things are going against you. Courage and
+pluck are wanted above all things to carry you successfully through your
+matches. Never say die, however hopeless the score may sound against
+you. If you are very done up, try not to make it too obvious. Your
+opponent may be just as played out as you are. Seeing your signals of
+distress, she will buoy herself up and continue the struggle with
+renewed hope and vigour.</p>
+<br>
+<a name="58"></a>
+<p>V. KEEP YOUR METHOD ON THE MOVE</p>
+
+<p>This maxim is rather difficult to explain. What I mean is, you should
+vary your manner of play and re-adapt it in order to counteract your
+opponent. Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great
+mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving
+unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on
+the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in
+the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do
+what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her
+plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt
+myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. It
+gives her plenty of excellent practice, of course, and when you find she
+is beginning not to mind it so much, give it a rest. When you go back to
+it you will probably find it successful again. Use your brain, and
+always know what you are trying to do. Play with an object of attack and
+defence. Do not merely return the ball aimlessly; let each stroke have
+its little work to do to complete the whole victory. This is difficult,
+I know, but it is so much more fascinating, and is, I am sure, the way
+the game was meant to be played. There is much science that can be
+brought into lawn tennis, always something new to learn. And that is the
+reason why we never tire of playing it.</p>
+
+
+<a name="60"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h2>RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING</h2>
+
+<p>A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
+inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
+particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
+so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
+suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
+first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
+you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
+enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a &quot;Slazenger&quot; racket,
+preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
+manufacturers.</p>
+
+<p>The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
+wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
+back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
+part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
+with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
+If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
+been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung&mdash;the frame
+would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
+than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
+and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
+of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
+the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
+my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
+prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.</p>
+
+<p>The handle should be about five inches in circumference&mdash;at least, that
+is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
+circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
+hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
+the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
+tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
+requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
+handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
+when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
+and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
+experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?</p>
+
+<p>You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
+tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
+in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
+necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
+sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
+usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
+rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
+will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.</p>
+
+<p>Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
+to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
+when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
+bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
+plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
+little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
+stock.</p>
+<a name="64"></a>
+<p>And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
+during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
+tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
+experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
+their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
+&quot;garden-party&quot; trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse&mdash;a most
+unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
+you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
+action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
+which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
+volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
+to the net&mdash;all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
+and facility.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img9"></a><img src="./images/img09.jpg" alt="ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)" /></center>
+
+<p>I advise a plain gored skirt&mdash;not pleated; I think these most
+unsuitable on court&mdash;about four or five inches from the ground. It
+should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
+Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
+untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides&mdash;dropping at the
+back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
+the laundry. A plain shirt without &quot;frills or furbelows&quot;&mdash;if any
+trimming at all, tucks are the neatest&mdash;a collar, tie, and waistband, go
+to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
+desire.</p>
+<a name="67"></a>
+<p>The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
+matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
+flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
+White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
+not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
+material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
+to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
+urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
+brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
+brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
+same colour.</p>
+
+<p>I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
+the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
+it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
+seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
+not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
+the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
+look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
+other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
+is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
+drag about the court.</p>
+
+<p>If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
+called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
+men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
+wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
+movements.</p>
+
+<p>I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
+the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
+tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
+make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the &quot;gym&quot;
+shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
+find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
+shoe&mdash;there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
+wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
+pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
+and can always replace them without any great expense.</p>
+
+<p>I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
+not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
+to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
+good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
+article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
+tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
+however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
+contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
+material&mdash;blanket is very popular and serviceable&mdash;and it should reach
+to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.</p>
+
+<p>I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
+are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
+ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
+match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
+bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
+adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
+her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
+most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
+player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
+firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
+directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
+portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
+naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
+bracelet in court.</p>
+<a name="69"></a>
+<p><i>Training for match play</i> is rather a difficult subject for me to write
+about, for I have never gone in for proper &quot;training.&quot; The great secret
+is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
+strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
+successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
+you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
+important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
+is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
+beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
+your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
+leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
+it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
+for an important match is to be always in &quot;training&quot;; not to have to
+alter your habits before a match is the secret. <a name="72d"></a>To change your diet and
+mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
+upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
+course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
+before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
+some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
+the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
+course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
+cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
+change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
+I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
+whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
+exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
+heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
+player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
+the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
+bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
+and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
+necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
+no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
+always &quot;fit,&quot; and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
+without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
+sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
+if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
+important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
+necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
+open.</p>
+<a name="72"></a>
+<p>As to <i>Courts</i>, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
+as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
+to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
+think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
+is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
+genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a <i>good</i> grass
+court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
+appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
+to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
+weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
+day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
+good grass courts are few and far between.</p>
+<a name="74"></a>
+<p>The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
+such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
+maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
+are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
+courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
+constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
+than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
+pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
+grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, &quot;almost
+as rare a sight as a dead donkey.&quot; Happily we get this rare spectacle at
+Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img10"></a><img src="./images/img10.jpg" alt="GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902" /></center>
+<a name="76"></a>
+<p>What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
+convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
+more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
+on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
+courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
+good game the very first time he played on a first-class court&mdash;I refer
+to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
+the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
+He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
+that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
+and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
+never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
+false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
+thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
+When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
+found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
+and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
+much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
+depressing conditions&mdash;you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
+After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
+in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
+play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
+call &quot;cabbage patches&quot;&mdash;(&quot;Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage,&quot; was
+his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
+understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.</p>
+<a name="76q"></a>
+<p>A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
+good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
+Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
+three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
+wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
+few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
+On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
+if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
+it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
+game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.</p>
+<a name="77"></a>
+<p>Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
+we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
+same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
+and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
+the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess&mdash;we should
+welcome it over here&mdash;is that when it rains play is quite out of the
+question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
+often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
+courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
+watering.</p>
+
+
+<a name="78"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h2>TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT</h2>
+
+<p>I wish an &quot;Order of Play&quot; could be used more at English tournaments.
+That is to say, I wish matches could be arranged to take place at a
+certain hour, following the plan adopted at Wimbledon and at all the
+meetings on the Continent. Such an arrangement would greatly add to the
+comfort and enjoyment of competitors, and would, I imagine, be a great
+boon to the referee. Spectators, I know, would welcome it. I think a
+time-table might prove unworkable where handicap events are concerned,
+but in the case of open events I feel sure it could be introduced with
+great advantage to all concerned. I have so often sat hour after hour at
+a London tournament (having only entered for the open events), perhaps
+playing one match, perhaps not playing at all. If I had been told
+overnight that I should not be wanted, or exactly at what hour my match
+would take place, it would have been so much more satisfactory and saved
+so much wasted time. This waiting about takes away half the pleasure of
+playing in London meetings. Even if there are good matches going on you
+do not care to watch them incessantly; there may be a chance of your
+playing off a tie, and it would tend to put your eye out. On one
+occasion, having a long way to go to a tournament in which I was only
+entered for the open mixed doubles, I telephoned to know whether I
+should be wanted or not. &quot;Well,&quot; replied the referee, &quot;if I call you and
+you are not on the ground, I shall scratch you. In your own interest you
+had better come over.&quot; For my partner's sake, as well as my own, I was
+bound to go. As I expected, I sat the whole afternoon and evening doing
+absolutely nothing. When I begged to be allowed to play, as I had come
+some distance for this one match, the referee examined his programme and
+said, &quot;Oh, it is quite impossible to-day. They have not played the round
+in front of you yet!&quot;</p>
+
+<center><a name="img11"></a><img src="./images/img11.jpg" alt="AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS" /></center>
+
+<p>This sort of thing implies gross mismanagement, besides resulting in
+unnecessary wear and tear for the competitors. If there was an order of
+play arranged for each day, all the bother would be obviated. I believe
+that business men who cannot get away in the early afternoon have their
+matches timed and arranged for them. Why are not all competitors treated
+alike?</p>
+
+<p>While I am on this subject of &quot;waiting about,&quot; let me say that I think
+ladies do not take nearly enough care of themselves after playing. They
+ought to wrap up well if they have not time to change before their next
+match. Men are much more careful. They put on their coats immediately
+they leave the court, and change their clothes as soon as they can. But
+you will see girls chatting after a match, and even having tea, without
+deigning to put on an extra wrap. It is courting disaster. The colds and
+more dangerous ailments that arise from this little want of care
+naturally afford people a line of attack when they object to girls
+engaging in violent exercise.</p>
+<a name="81"></a>
+<p>You cannot be too careful after strenuous play. I am well aware that
+ladies are catered for very badly at most of the tournaments in regard
+to changing-room accommodation. Some places we have had to put up with
+are disgraceful. I think most lady players will agree with me when I say
+that Wimbledon and Queen's Club are about the only two grounds where you
+can change with any degree of comfort. This is not right, and I am sure
+if men had to experience the changing-room accommodation afforded for
+our use there would not be many of them competing at tournaments. I
+think the two clubs I have mentioned are the only two where we even get
+a bathroom! Some tournaments provide a draughty tent for our use.
+Moreover, there is generally only one dressing-room, and feminine
+spectators often crowd round the one looking-glass, staring at the
+players as if they were animals on show! It is sometimes even impossible
+to sit down to rest after a hard and tiring contest.</p>
+
+<p>I appeal to secretaries of tournaments for some reform. A number of lady
+players have asked me to use this opportunity to point out some of our
+most pressing grievances. I hope these remarks, which are none too
+strong, may bear fruit. Visitors who come over from other countries are
+always loud in their complaints, and I am not surprised. I believe the
+Beckenham authorities are doing all they can to impart a little more
+comfort to the ladies' changing and resting-room, and they have greatly
+improved their accommodation. It is time other meetings followed their
+example. At the seaside meetings it does not so much matter. Most of the
+players stay near the ground and can go to their own rooms and be back
+in time to play again, if necessary; but in London tournaments, where
+there is often a long drive or train journey before one reaches home, it
+is most important that there should be a good changing-room.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img12"></a><img src="./images/img12.jpg" alt="A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE <i>Front row (left to right</i>): THE LATE MISS C. MEYRE, MR. G.W. HILLYARD, MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS, MR. N.E. BROOKES, MR. A.J. ROBERTS" /></center>
+
+<p>There is another improvement which I feel sure would be greatly welcomed
+by competitors, and that is a separate tea-tent for their use. Often a
+player has only a few minutes to get her tea, and, with the general
+public engaged in the same amiable pursuit, she is not able to be served
+and has to go away tealess. If there were a competitors' tea-tent, a
+player could obtain her tea in comfort when she wanted it.</p>
+<a name="84"></a>
+<p>Always bear in mind that a referee at a tournament has a most &quot;worrying
+time of it.&quot; Players can and should help to make his task lighter.
+There are many ways in which they can assist to make the tournament as
+successful as possible. One is by being punctual and ready dressed to
+play when wanted, and another is by umpiring when they are disengaged
+and have not an important match just coming on. &quot;Taking the chair&quot; may
+help them not to dispute an umpire's decision when they are in court
+themselves. They will realize how difficult umpiring is, and that bad as
+umpires often are they are doing their best. To dispute a decision or to
+argue with the umpire never helps matters; it usually makes him nervous.
+A bad decision must be taken as a fortune of war, and borne in a
+sportsmanlike manner. But you must never allow the crowd to influence
+the umpire. It is a hopeless expedient, for many people who watch
+matches are ignorant of the rules of the game.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes&mdash;I suppose it is Hobson's choice&mdash;an umpire is chosen from the
+&quot;gate.&quot; If he knows little or nothing of his duties the result is
+disastrous. Should there be difficulty in getting an umpire who knows
+something of his work, I think the match should take care of itself. I
+have experienced umpires who do not even know how to score!</p>
+<a name="85"></a>
+<p>And now a word or two about <i>Clubs.</i> It is very difficult to manage a
+lawn tennis club successfully; much tact is required. I think it is
+almost impossible to prevent a club being &quot;cliquey,&quot; and I should always
+advise a player who wishes to improve her game to join one which is more
+concerned with its tennis than its social side. Some clubs still use the
+game for a garden-party, where long trailing skirts, sunshades, and
+basket chairs predominate. Perhaps a game or two is played in the cool
+of the evening. That sort of club should be avoided if you are a keen
+and enthusiastic player.</p>
+
+<p>The committee of a club should be a small one, consisting of members
+who are devoted to the best interests of the game. Their aim should be
+to keep in touch with all the latest developments, and above all to keep
+up to date, advancing with the times. A committee sometimes embraces old
+supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They
+have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like
+innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the
+benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good
+match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the
+members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly
+rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and
+combine well together. A committee should do all in its power to improve
+the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having
+well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with
+side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a
+player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters
+for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her
+game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad
+management of a club.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img13"></a><img src="./images/img13.jpg" alt="&quot;MY SISTERS AND MYSELF&quot; <i>A picture postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert-Chambers by Miss May Sutton from her home in California</i>." /></center>
+<a name="87"></a>
+<p>It is an excellent plan for members of the committee to drop in at some
+of the tournaments and see how things are done there. Developments may
+have occurred of which they know nothing, and they could pick up many a
+wrinkle by a tour of inspection. Before one secretary of a fairly large
+tournament went to Wimbledon he had never seen a canvas background.</p>
+
+
+<a name="88"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h2>SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<p>I have been asked to write what I can remember of my earliest tennis
+days. This is rather difficult, as it is now thirteen years since I
+entered for my first tournament in 1896. It is never easy or pleasant to
+write one's own biography, but I have been assured that readers will be
+interested to hear something of my career in court.</p>
+
+<p>I have said that 1896 was the first year I entered for a tournament,
+which is quite true; but I always reckon that my tournament experience
+did not really start until the year 1898, because in the two previous
+years I only entered for one tournament (The Gipsy), and only in the
+handicap at that, and I came out first round. In 1898 I played in three
+tournaments, and in more events at each one.</p>
+
+<p>My earliest recollections of a racket and tennis ball go back to when I
+was quite small. My greatest amusement was to play up against a brick
+wall, with numerous dolls and animals of all kinds as spectators&mdash;really
+as big a gate as we get now at some tournaments! Each toy in turn was
+chosen as my opponent. Needless to say, I always won these matches. My
+adversaries took very little interest in the proceedings. This was some
+years before I even played in a court, and I think it was a very good
+way of starting the game.</p>
+<a name="89"></a>
+<p>I then played in a court we had at home, which was not very good;
+gooseberry bushes prevented our running outside the court at all. I next
+joined a club at Ealing Common, and at the age of eleven won my first
+prize, the Handicap Singles at our club tournament. Of course I was
+receiving enormous points, and I remember to this day how bored the best
+lady players in the club were when they had to play me. My game then,
+from all accounts, involved a sequence of very high lobs. I am now quite
+envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days. I had absolutely no
+pace, but was active and very steady, and desperately serious and keen
+about the game. At this time also I used to play at college, preferring
+tennis to cricket, which was the exception. Cricket was the great game.
+Tennis was pushed into the background, and very little interest was
+taken in it, even when the matches were played to decide the winner of
+the racket presented each year to the best player in the school by some
+kind parent. I won this racket one year, but could never use it, as it
+was heavily weighted with an enormous silver shield on which was a
+lengthy inscription. Of course the balance of the racket was absolutely
+upset.</p>
+
+<p>There was not much chance of improving at school, because nobody took
+the trouble to have the court or net of the right dimensions. The rules
+of the game were not even known. Every ball that touched the line was
+given out. I remember a very heated argument I had with a mistress who
+was umpiring a match for me, the result of which was that I had lines to
+write for impertinence!</p>
+<a name="91"></a>
+<p>In 1899 I joined the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club, and won the singles
+championship cup three years in succession, thus keeping it for my own
+property. At one time Mrs. Hillyard and Mrs. Sterry had both been
+members of this same club. Curiously enough, Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry,
+Miss Sutton, and myself have all lived, at different periods of our
+lives, very close together&mdash;Mrs. Hillyard at Greenford, Mrs. Sterry and
+myself at Ealing, and Miss Sutton at Acton. I think about this time I
+very much improved my game by constantly playing singles against the
+best men in the club, and also doubles with three men. This was
+undoubtedly excellent practice for me.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img14"></a><img src="./images/img14.jpg" alt="AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM" /></center>
+<a name="93"></a><a name="92"></a>
+<p>In 1898 I won my first prizes in open tournaments, the handicap singles
+at Chiswick Park and Queen's Club. At Chiswick I received 15.4, and met
+Miss C. Cooper in the semi-final. I remember quite well my &quot;stage
+fright&quot; when I went into court against this famous player, even at the
+tremendous odds of owe 15.3 and give 15.4. I lost the first set easily,
+and the game was then postponed until the next day owing to failing
+light. After that first set, a friend said to me, &quot;If you could only
+forget it's Miss Cooper, I am certain you could win.&quot; The next day I
+tried to follow out this advice, and eventually won the match with the
+score of 3/6, 6/1, 6/4. At Queen's I met Miss C. Cooper again. She was
+owing 40 and I was receiving 2/6. I again managed to win, this time in
+two sets, 6/2, 6/3. At Eastbourne the same year, my third tournament, I
+was in the second-class handicap owing 15, and survived a few rounds.
+Miss C.M. Wilson was also in the second class at 4/6, but we did not
+meet. Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene, Miss Garfit, Miss Robb, Mrs.
+Hillyard, Miss Dyas, Miss Austin, and Miss C. Cooper were in the first
+class. The classification for that year (1898) was:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Austin</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Dyas</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Garfit</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Kirby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Legh</td></tr></table>
+<a name="94m"></a>
+<p>The first player of any repute that I beat in Open Singles was Miss E.R.
+Morgan, whom I defeated in 1899 at Chiswick Park. I was beaten in the
+next round by Miss B. Tulloch after a severe tussle. I again won the
+Handicap Singles at Queen's. I was on the scratch mark, the farthest
+back I had yet been. Miss Austin was back-marker at owe 30.3.</p>
+
+<p>The classification for 1899 was:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Austin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss M.E. Robb</td><th align="left">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td><th align="left">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Kirby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="94"></a>
+<p>In 1900 Miss Marion Jones, then American lady champion, came over to
+England. I played one of the most exhausting matches against her that I
+have ever experienced. It was at Queen's Club in the Handicap Singles. I
+was owing 3/6 and Miss Jones receiving 3/6. There was a good deal of
+discussion at the time about this match, and in spite of the tremendous
+heat (we do not get such summers now) we were persuaded to go into
+court. In truth it was a gruelling day. I remember men walked about the
+streets fanning themselves. We played for hours in a blazing sun, and I
+eventually won, the score being 8/10, 6/2, 7/5. After the match Miss
+Jones was taken to the dressing-room in a fainting condition, and when I
+reached home I had an attack of sunstroke, and had my head packed in
+ice. The umpire was also seriously ill for some time. It was only the
+international element in the game and the controversy about the relative
+points that made us fight it out to the bitter end.</p>
+<a name="95"></a>
+<p>We both thoroughly agreed with the notice of this match which appeared
+in <i>Lawn Tennis</i> the following week:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The ladies had their example of untiring effort and splendid patience
+in the second round of the Handicap Singles, when Miss Marion Jones, the
+American champion (receive 3/6) met Miss D.K. Douglass (owe 3/6). The
+tie was played off under exceptionally trying circumstances. A fiercely
+hot sun was pouring its rays on the court, and there was scarcely a
+breath of air, yet for 2-1/2 hours, without hats, did these ladies
+strive for mastery. The first set fell to Miss Jones after 18 games had
+been played. The second was secured by Miss Douglass with comparative
+ease, neither the odds nor the previous exertions appearing to affect
+her. The third set brought out a remarkable display of patience,
+determination, and cool judgment, for when it stood out at 5 games to 1
+in Miss Jones's favour, Miss Douglass won the next 6 games right off,
+each game being fought out with great resolution. It may be doubted
+whether either for tennis' sake or 'kudos' such a contest under such
+conditions is wise. I was not surprised to hear it mentioned that not
+only had both competitors severely felt the strain, but that even the
+umpire had suffered.&quot;</p>
+<a name="97"></a><a name="98"></a>
+<p>This year (1900) it is interesting to note that the champion of to-day,
+Miss  D. Boothby, won the Handicap Singles at  Beckenham, receiving 15.4.
+This year, too,  saw my first appearance at Wimbledon. I  was not in the
+lists very long, meeting Miss  L. Martin first round. I do not think the
+game lasted long, and I have only a very  faint recollection of it; but I
+remember  thinking Miss Martin's strokes were the  finest I had ever seen.
+At Eastbourne a  couple of months later I was lucky enough  to meet Miss
+C. Cooper on a very off day  and run her close in the open singles.  The
+match caused quite a sensation. We  started rather late, in the tea
+interval, and  nobody took the least interest in what was  considered a
+forgone conclusion. However,  when it got abroad that Misss Cooper  had
+actually lost the first set, people came  hurrying round the court in
+great consternation  lest Miss Cooper, whom they all knew  so well,
+should go down to a play who was quite unknown; I had been in the second
+class only the year before. Miss Cooper eventually secured the match,
+3/6, 9/7, 9/7. I met Mrs. Sterry on many subsequent occasions before I
+could get anything like so close to her. I really used to get quite
+weary of being beaten by her. When the Handicap Singles came out the day
+after this match I was put to owe 15 in the first class, which pleased
+me immensely. Miss Robb, Mrs. Greville, and Miss C. Cooper were owe 15.3
+and Mrs. Hillyard owe 30. I was in the classification for the first time
+at the end of this year.</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td><th align="left">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Evered</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Hill</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="99"></a>
+<p>In 1901 I won my first Challenge Cup in an open tournament, beating
+Mrs. Greville in the challenge round at Beckenham. Mrs. Greville's
+defeat came as a great surprise to every one. It was her third year for
+the cup, and this may have accounted for her being much below her usual
+form. I had certainly improved a great deal, even in that one week, for
+I had had a hard match every day, meeting Miss Tulloch, Miss Morton, and
+Countess Schulenberg (with whom I had a tremendous three-set match) in
+the preceding rounds. Mrs. Greville, on the other hand, had been
+standing out&mdash;the custom at Beckenham, one that I personally always find
+a great disadvantage. I was easily beaten this year at Wimbledon by Mrs.
+Sterry. Classification for 1901:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Evered</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="100"></a>
+<p>At Wimbledon, in 1902, I had two very strenuous matches, which improved
+my game immensely. The first, against Mrs. Durlacher, I just won. The
+second, against the late Miss Robb, I just lost, after one of the
+closest matches I have ever played. Miss Robb won the championship this
+year. It was a great fight; and though of course it is hard to judge, I
+always feel I played in that game as well as I have ever played. The
+score in Miss Robb's favour was 6/4, 2/5, 9/7. Thus we both won
+seventeen games. This year I paid my first visit to Newcastle, a
+tournament which I always look forward to and enjoy as much as any
+meeting. The management is all one can desire, the people so keen and
+hospitable. I had a good hard fight with Mrs. Sterry, losing 7/5, 7/5,
+and winning with her the Ladies' Doubles cups. At Brighton I was again
+beaten by Mrs. Sterry, although managing this time to get a set. At
+Eastbourne the following week I won my first match against Mrs. Sterry
+in Open Singles, the score being 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. I was simply delighted,
+after so many reverses, to win a match against this player. I had been
+beaten so often by her, and sometimes felt as though I never should be
+rewarded by a victory to my credit. The classification of players for
+1902 was as follows:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss L. Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss H. Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td><th align="left" rowspan="7">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C.M. Wilson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="102"></a><a name="101"></a>
+<p>In 1903 I paid my first visit to the Northern tournament, held at
+Manchester that year. I won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship
+with Mr. F.L. Riseley, and was beaten in the challenge round of the
+Ladies' Singles by Miss L. Martin after a very hard struggle: 4/6, 7/5,
+6/4. It seemed a great pity that Miss Martin was not able to play at
+Wimbledon that year. It was a lean year, and for me a lucky one, for
+with so many of the best players not competing for the championship
+(Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry, Miss Robb, and Miss Martin were all
+absentees) I was given a chance of winning the coveted title. I met Miss
+E.W. Thomson in the final, who had beaten Miss Morton and Miss Wilson in
+the preceding rounds. I had had a good fight against Miss Lowther before
+reaching the final. Although I was expected to beat Miss Thomson, and
+actually did win the match, I scarcely deserved my triumph. Miss Thomson
+played by far the better tennis, and it was really very hard luck on her
+that she did not succeed. At one time she was a set up and four games to
+one, and I was forced to play on the defensive nearly the whole time.
+Miss Thomson played beautifully, placing with great accuracy down the
+lines and across the court. Indeed, her placing was so good that I
+always seemed to be yards away from her return, when I had thought there
+was plenty of time to get to the ball. It has always been a marvel to me
+how I won that match; but I think it was chiefly condition&mdash;Miss Thomson
+was never a very good stayer.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img15"></a><img src="./images/img15.jpg" alt="SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY. <i>In the centre is the All England Championship, won by Mrs. Lambert Chambers in 1903, 1904, 1906</i>" /></center>
+<a name="103"></a>
+<p>By the way, Miss Thomson and I were introduced to each other at the
+Gipsy Tournament&mdash;my first tournament. I had no partner for the Ladies'
+Doubles Handicap, and the secretary put us together on the programme.
+Little did I dream then that we should one day fight out the final of
+the Championship on the centre court at Wimbledon, or as a pair twice
+win the All England Doubles Championship. Classification for 1903:</p>
+<a name="104"></a>
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss L. Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss E.W. Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C M. Wilson</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greene</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss H. Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Kendal</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Houselander</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Stawell-Brown</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>In 1904 I again won the championship, beating Mrs. Sterry in the
+challenge round. This year and 1906 were my most successful years. I was
+fortunate enough in both to go through the season without a reverse in
+open singles. Classification for 1904 was as follows:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C.M. Wilson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss W. Longhurst</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss V. Pinckney</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greene</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Stawell Brown</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Garfit</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Kendal</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D. Boothby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss M. Coles</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A. Ransome</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss E. Longhurst</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Squire</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Eastlake Smith</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Paterson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tootell</td></tr></table>
+<a name="105"></a>
+<p>In 1905 I paid my first visit to the South of France. I was unlucky
+enough to sprain my wrist; but in spite of this mishap, the change of
+conditions, courts, and surroundings were all so novel that I thoroughly
+enjoyed my visit. The courts at the Beau Site, Cannes, are absolutely
+perfect, both as regards surface and background; and when one has got
+used to the different bound of the ball and the rather trying glare of
+the sun, one could not wish for better conditions for good tennis. Many
+a famous match has been fought out on these courts; and situated as they
+are in the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Beau Site, where most of the
+players stay, the environment is ideal. I was only able to play in the
+Monte Carlo tournament, after a few days' practice on the Beau Site
+courts, for it was just at the start of the Nice tournament that the
+accident to my wrist occurred. It was very disappointing to default
+after coming so far to take part in these tournaments. Several months
+elapsed before I could use my wrist again, and I was not able to play in
+any of the tournaments before I defended my title at Wimbledon.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img16"></a><img src="./images/img16.jpg" alt="THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS SUTTON (AMERICA) <i>v</i>. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS" /></center>
+<a name="106"></a>
+<p>This year Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion, paid her first
+visit to England, and carried all before her, winning the championship
+of England and many other events, all without the loss of a single
+set&mdash;truly a wonderful performance. If any one had pluck it was Miss
+Sutton. To come to a strange country, practically friendless (Miss
+Sutton made many friends over here, but she came over alone), and to
+play and defeat one after another of the best players in this country,
+was a feat which filled us all with unbounded admiration.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img17"></a><img src="./images/img17.jpg" alt="MOTOR CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL-ENGLAND GROUND AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906" /></center>
+<a name="107"></a>
+<p>I have played Miss Sutton five times, losing three and winning two of
+the matches. Of the three matches I lost, two were at Wimbledon, in the
+challenge rounds of 1905 and 1907, and the third at Beckenham in the
+challenge round of 1907. My two victories were both gained in 1906, in
+the challenge rounds at Liverpool and Wimbledon. Certainly the most
+exciting match I have ever played, and the one that gave me the most
+pleasure to win, was my match at Wimbledon against Miss Sutton in 1906.
+The match itself was not exactly enjoyable&mdash;the strain was too great; so
+much seemed to depend upon me, both for my own reputation, and that of
+my country. When Mr. Palmer, secretary of the All England Club, escorted
+us into the centre court and left us, with a word of encouragement in my
+ear, I felt helpless and destitute. You cannot realize what it means to
+face four thousand people and know that so much depends on your own
+exertions and coolness. Miss Sutton, I think, must have felt this
+loneliness in a still greater degree, for she was away from her country,
+her own people and friends. I have never had such a craving to speak to
+some one as I had in this match&mdash;just one friendly word to tell me
+whether I was playing the right sort of game or not. I confess my
+feelings were very strung up.</p>
+
+<p>I remember in the second set, when Miss Sutton led at three games to
+love, I said to the umpire as we crossed over, &quot;I wonder, have I gone
+off, or is she playing much better?&quot; But, of course, his face was like a
+mask; he didn't vouchsafe a word. Not that I expected him to speak, but
+I felt I simply must say something to some one. He told me afterwards he
+wanted to say, &quot;I don't know; but stick to it whatever happens!&quot;
+Concentration on the game in this match was terribly difficult, as the
+crowd was so huge and seemed so excited; it was almost impossible to
+forget the people and lose yourself in the game. I can quite well
+remember a dispute going on in the open stand for quite a long time
+during the first set. I think a lady would not put down her sunshade;
+there was quite a commotion about it. And then people near would shout
+advice to me, or scream out, &quot;It's over! Run!&quot; This happened two or
+three times; and although I knew they were trying to help me, which in
+itself was cheering and encouraging, it was very distracting and
+disconcerting. But after some time I lost it all, and became engrossed
+in the game. I think in 1907 Miss Sutton was much steadier and played a
+better all-round game, but I do not think she had quite the same
+terrific fore-hand drive as in the first two years she was over here.
+Her strokes were safer perhaps, but not so formidable and powerful.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img18"></a><img src="./images/img18.jpg" alt="WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (NOW MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER." /></center>
+<a name="109"></a><a name="110"></a>
+<p>One of the great charms of playing in various tournaments is the means
+it affords of visiting all the different towns and countries. It may
+involve considerable travelling and expense, but the touring abroad is
+both an education and a delight. Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Homburg,
+Baden-Baden and Dinard, all bring the pleasantest reminiscences. Many of
+us have travelled about together, which is the jolliest way of doing
+the tournaments. I remember one most enjoyable trip, when Miss Lowther
+motored the Hillyards and myself through Germany&mdash;an ideal way of
+&quot;doing&quot; tournaments! The place at which a meeting is held, its
+surroundings, also the facilities it offers for amusement in the evening
+after your day's tennis is over, add to the enjoyment and make a
+material difference. It will always be one of my chief delights, in
+thinking of my tennis career, to remember the hospitality and many
+courtesies I have everywhere received, and the many friends I have made,
+who I trust will remain friends long after my tennis is a thing of the
+past.</p>
+<a name="111"></a>
+<p>It is extraordinary how na&iuml;ve the general public sometimes are. People
+will watch first-class tennis, sitting for hours together perhaps in
+great discomfort, and yet display a lamentable want of knowledge about
+the game. In fact, to many its object is a mystery! This seems hardly
+possible, but it is quite true. I once overheard a lady who was
+watching a match in the centre court at Wimbledon remark, &quot;There, that's
+the very first time that man has hit the net with the ball, and he has
+had hundreds of tries!&quot; I thought the man mentioned must be playing
+pretty good tennis! One really wonders why these onlookers spend so much
+time round a court, or where the pleasure can come in for them.</p>
+
+<p>At a garden party not so very long ago where tennis was on the
+programme, the visitors, arriving on the court, found one solitary ball,
+tied round with a long piece of string, the other end being attached to
+the net. To a natural inquiry the hostess replied, &quot;Oh, they lost so
+many balls in the shrubbery last year, I really couldn't afford it, and
+thought of this plan. It has been most successful. This ball has lasted
+for ages!&quot; Another lady at Eastbourne, whom I had noticed because she
+never left her seat, bringing her lunch with her so as not to lose a
+moment's play, asked me at the end of the week, while watching a double,
+whether the partners were side by side or opposite, as in bridge!</p>
+<a name="112"></a>
+<p>One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the
+first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me,
+&quot;You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis.&quot;
+&quot;Making?&quot; I say. &quot;Spending, you mean!&quot;&mdash;which always makes them stare in
+amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very
+common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are
+no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's
+Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course,
+cannot compete in open tournaments.</p>
+
+<a name="113"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h2>MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)</h2>
+
+<p><i>The following contributions, in response to a request for some account
+of their most noteworthy encounter on court, have been kindly furnished
+for this volume by leading lady players.</i></p>
+<br>
+
+<p>MRS. G.W. HILLYARD</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900)</p>
+<a name="114"></a>
+<p>One of the most exciting matches I remember was the final for the
+Championship at Wimbledon, played on the centre court on July 6, 1889,
+between Miss Rice and me. I started very nervously, as Miss Rice had
+given me rather a fright in the Irish Championship the month before,
+when she appeared in Dublin as a &quot;dark horse.&quot; On that occasion I had
+only scraped through 7/5, 7/5. I began the match at Wimbledon by
+serving a double fault, and lost several games by doing the same thing
+in the first set. My length was awful, and Miss Rice was playing well
+from the start. She had a very fine fore-hand drive, but, like myself, a
+bad back-hand. She led at 3 games to 1, and took the first set at 6/4.
+In the second set I regained my confidence a little, winning three love
+games out of the first four; but Miss Rice won the next four games in
+succession, the score being called 5/3 and 40/15 against me. At this
+point, in my despair, I said to Mr. Chipp, who was umpiring the match,
+&quot;What <i>can</i> I do?&quot; His grim answer was, &quot;Play better, I should think.&quot; I
+then fully realized that I had not been playing my best game, and that
+to win I must hit harder. This I did, with the result that my length
+improved and I snatched this game from the fire&mdash;although Miss Rice was
+three times within a stroke of the match&mdash;and I eventually won the set
+at 8/6.</p>
+<a name="115p"></a>
+<p>The last set was well fought out, for, although I began well and led at
+3/1, Miss Rice won the next three games in succession and reached 40/30
+in the following game. This was her last effort, as I ran out at 6/4,
+winning the Championship for the second time. I think it was one of the
+closest matches I ever played, and I see by <i>Pastime</i> that I only won 18
+games to her 16, and 110 strokes to her 100, and I felt I was most lucky
+to win at all.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig2"></a><img src="./images/sig2.gif" alt="Blanche Hillyard" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="115"></a>
+<p>MRS. STERRY</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908)</p>
+
+<p>Of course it goes without saying that my most memorable and exciting
+matches will all be those in which I have excelled or been the most
+distinguished person at the immediate moment! Let me just say that I am
+not going to give details of any match, as that is beyond my power and,
+I assume, of little interest to the reader.</p>
+<a name="116"></a>
+<p>Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age
+of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember,
+bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club
+on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of
+nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning&mdash;that was the first
+really important match of my life.</p>
+
+<p>Another great game will always be imprinted on my memory, and that was
+in 1894, the first year that the late Mr. H.S. Mahony and I won the All
+England Mixed Championship. We beat Mrs. Hillyard and Mr. W. Baddeley in
+the final. The excitement of the onlookers was intense, and never shall
+I forget the overpowering sensation I felt as we walked, after our win,
+past the Aigburth Cricket Ground Stand, packed to its limit. How the
+people clapped and cheered us! It was tremendous.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img19"></a><img src="./images/img19.jpg" alt="MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. STERRY, MISS V.M. PINCKNEY, MISS D. BOOTHBY" /></center>
+<a name="117"></a>
+<p>Another memory&mdash;the year 1895. Certainly I must be honest and say it
+wasn't exactly a good championship win, for Miss Dodd, Mrs. Hillyard,
+and Miss Martin were all standing out. Any of these could have beaten
+me. Nevertheless it was a delightful feeling to win the blue ribbon of
+England, especially as my opponent in the final, Miss Jackson, had led
+5-love in both sets! By some good fortune I was able to win seven games
+off the reel in each case.</p>
+
+<p>One more match&mdash;in 1907. I had heard a great deal about Miss May Sutton
+(who made her first appearance in England in 1905) beating everybody
+without the loss of a set. I had also heard she was a giant of strength,
+and that the harder one hit the more she liked it. The first time I met
+her was at Liverpool in 1907&mdash;I did not play the previous season. I was
+determined to introduce unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in
+order to entice her up to the net. The result was that many of her
+terrific drives went out, and I think this was primarily the reason why
+I was the first lady in England to take a set from her. I recollect her
+telling me, after the match was over, that my game was very different to
+any other she had ever played, and that she was not anxious to meet me
+again&mdash;remarks I took as a great compliment.</p>
+
+<p>There are scores of games just the reverse of pleasant which are
+imprinted on my memory, but I am not going to revive them at my own
+expense, hoping they have been forgotten and forgiven to my account, by
+any unfortunate partners I have ever let down.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig3"></a><img src="./images/sig3.gif" alt="Chattie R. Sterry." /></center>
+<a name="119"></a>
+<p>MRS. DURLACHER</p>
+
+<p><i>(Doubles Champion,</i> 1899; <i>Mixed Doubles Champion of Ireland, 1898,
+1901, 1902)</i></p>
+
+<p>A match that remains in my memory perhaps more than any other was the
+final of the Irish Championship Singles at Dublin in 1902, when Miss
+Martin and I met and had a long struggle for supremacy. At one time it
+really seemed as if I must win this match, as I led at 5 games to 1 and
+was within a stroke of the match. But I could not make that one point.
+Once when I had the advantage and only wanted an ace to win the match,
+one of my returns ran along the top of the net, and then, unfortunately
+for me, dropped my side. Miss Martin stuck to her guns persistently and
+eventually pulled the match out of the fire, winning the next six games
+straight off and thus becoming Irish Champion for 1902. It was very
+disappointing to lose after being so near victory. The score in Mis
+Martin's favour was 6/8, 6/4, 7/5.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig4"></a><img src="./images/sig4.gif" alt="Ruth Durlacher" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="120"></a>
+<p>MISS V.M. PINCKNEY</p>
+
+<p><i>(Champion of London, 1907, 1908)</i></p>
+
+<p>In recalling the most remarkable lawn tennis match that I have ever
+played, I do not think I can do better than give the Open Mixed Double
+semi-final that took place on the final day of the Kent Championship
+Meeting at Beckenham on June 1, 1908. Mr. Roper Barrett and I met Mr.
+Prebble and Miss Boothby, and the story of the match is one of startling
+lapses and recoveries. In the first set Mr. Prebble and Miss Boothby
+profited by the combination born of frequent association in Mixed
+Doubles. Miss Boothby was very good from the back of the court and Mr.
+Prebble seemed to make mincemeat of my returns. It was their set by 6/4.
+In the second set Mr. Roper Barrett was quite wonderful, and killed
+every ball that he could possibly reach. The result was that the set was
+easily ours by 6/1. Our opponents, however, had something in reserve,
+and, I playing badly, they ran away to 5/0 in the third set. All seemed
+over. My partner and I made a great effort and got one game, and we
+congratulated ourselves on saving a love set. Then the excitement began,
+and we added game after game to our side. I am sure the crowd beame
+intensely interested, and quite worked themselves up as we drew to 5
+all. Mr. Barrett at this time was simply invincible, and I managed
+somehow to keep the balls out of Mr. Prebble's reach and play everything
+to Miss Boothby, upon whom devolved the responsibility. My partner
+volleyed at all kinds of remarkable angles, and, as <i>The Sportsman</i> in
+describing the match, remarked, &quot;sat on the net and was in complete
+command.&quot; We took seven games consecutively and won the set at 7/5, and
+with it a memorable match.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig5"></a><img src="./images/sig5.gif" alt="Violet M. Pinckney" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="122"></a>
+<p>MISS D. BOOTHBY</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1909)</p>
+
+<p>Without doubt my most exciting match was the final last year at
+Wimbledon. In every player's heart there must be a faint hope that one
+day she may win the All England Championship. At least it has always
+been in mine.</p>
+<a name="123"></a>
+<p>From Christmas and all through the spring my family and friends had
+dinned into my ears that now was my chance, and if I did not win this
+year I never would. Only when I was leading one set up and 2-love in the
+second did all these things flash across my mind. I suddenly got
+nervous. Oh, the misery of it! I served double fault after double fault
+(I learnt afterwards that I gave away sixteen points in this way), and
+my friends told me that it was a relief to them when my service went
+over the net at all, however slowly. My opponent, Miss Morton, caught
+up, won the set 6/4, and led me 4/2 in the final set. All this time I
+had been fighting hard to regain confidence. At last my nerve came
+back&mdash;I was determined to win, and, only after a very great effort, just
+succeeded in capturing the Championship with the narrow margin of 8/6 in
+the final set.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until I had finished and had come off the court that I
+realized how very excited I had been, and how relieved I was when it was
+all over. Only those who have had experience can know how exhausting it
+is to concentrate one's whole thoughts and efforts, without cessation,
+for an hour or more. Fortunately you do not feel the strain until
+afterwards, when it does not matter, and then you can look back with
+very great pleasure and satisfaction on a hard-won fight.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig6"></a><img src="./images/sig6.gif" alt="Dora P. Boothby." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="125"></a><a name="124"></a>
+<p>MRS. LARCOMBE</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Doubles Champion</i>, 1903, 1904; <i>Mixed Doubles Champion</i>, 1904, 1905)</p>
+
+<p>My &quot;most memorable match&quot; was in the All England Mixed Doubles
+Championship at Liverpool in 1904. Mr. S.H. Smith and I were playing
+Miss Wilson and Mr. A.W. Gore, and we had a great struggle for victory.
+I do not remember the exact score, but at one time our opponents were
+within an ace of the match. Miss Wilson served to me in the left
+court&mdash;a good service out on the side line. I played a straight
+back-hand shot down the line, passing Mr. Gore's forehand&mdash;rather a
+desperate stroke, as if it failed to pass him it meant certain death
+from one of his straight-arm volleys. Perhaps he was not guarding his
+line so well as usual, under the impression that I would not have the
+courage to try to pass him at such a critical moment&mdash;anyway, we won the
+point; and eventually the match and the championship, beating the
+holders, Miss D.K. Douglass and Mr. F.L. Riseley, in a most exciting
+match&mdash;almost as &quot;memorable&quot; to me, because I hit Mr. Riseley three
+times with smashes. I remember that side-line stroke and those three
+&quot;hits&quot; with great joy!</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig7"></a><img src="./images/sig7.gif" alt="Ethel W. Larcombe." /></center>
+<a name="126"></a>
+<p>MRS. LAMPLOUGH</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Covered Court Champion</i>, 1907)</p>
+<a name="127"></a>
+<p>I find it a matter of some difficulty to decide which is the most
+memorable of the more important matches in which I have played. Four or
+five as I recall them seem, each in turn, to have left a lasting
+impression on my memory for one reason or another. Yet none of them
+appear more worthy of note than the others. The match which I think I
+shall remember long after many others are forgotten took place last year
+(1909) in the comparatively small and little-known tournament at Romsey.
+For the first time for some years I had missed winter practice on the
+covered courts at Queen's Club and in the South of France, and when I
+started again late in June, on moderate club courts and against none too
+keen opponents, I found myself looking forward with apprehension to my
+first effort in public. In the semi-final of the Ladies' Open Singles
+at Romsey I met Miss Sugden, whose well-merited reputation as a lawn
+tennis player is more or less a local one, chiefly for the reason that
+she has not competed in any of the first-class tournaments. It was a
+close afternoon, and the court being heavy we both felt the heat very
+much as the game progressed. I never really looked like winning the
+first set; my opponent led 4/1, and though I managed to equalize she
+easily ran out at 6/4. It was in the second set that the real struggle
+took place. In spite of all my efforts, Miss Sugden won game after game,
+until the game stood at 5/1 against me and 30 all; but by good luck I
+snatched that game and the two following. At 5/4 and my service we had
+deuce quite ten or twelve times, but in the end I managed to win and
+took the set at 7/5. After that I felt better, and with renewed
+confidence and steadier nerves I won the final set at, I think, 6/3.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing particularly remarkable in the match, but somehow I
+felt that confidence in myself for the future depended in a great
+measure on my success in this event, and, in spite of having a very
+sporting opponent, I never felt more relieved in my life than when the
+last stroke was played.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig8"></a><img src="./images/sig8.gif" alt="Gladys S. Lamplough." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="128"></a>
+<p>MISS A.M. MORTON</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Runner up for the Championship</i>, 1909)</p>
+
+<center><a name="img20"></a><img src="./images/img20.jpg" alt="Mrs. Larcombe, Mrs. Lamplough, Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene" /></center>
+<a name="129"></a>
+<p>I feel I owe an apology to Mrs. Luard for writing about a match in which
+I happened to beat her, as she is, and was then, a player altogether a
+class above me. No doubt it became &quot;memorable,&quot; as I certainly never
+expected to win at the outset, and still less so when I was undergoing
+one of those ghastly &quot;creep-ups&quot; in the final set. It happened in 1904
+at Wimbledon, on the centre court, in the semi-final of the
+Championship. Miss Wilson (as she then was) started well and won the
+first set 6/3, the second went to me at 6/4, and the third set seemed as
+if it would go to either of us in turn. Everything went well for me till
+I actually got to 5/1 and it was 15/40 on her service; then I lost two
+points quite easily&mdash;those winning shots are so hard to make! And at
+deuce we had a tremendous rally, which ended in a good side-line shot by
+my opponent that I couldn't get to and didn't even try. The linesman
+called &quot;out,&quot; which I contradicted, and general confusion took place,
+the spectators joining in the fray&mdash;and it all arose through the ball
+being given &quot;out&quot; in the middle of the long rally when a train was
+passing, and we neither of us heard it. I never knew the explanation
+till after the match and was quite convinced I had &quot;sneaked&quot; the point,
+and somehow I went all to pieces, and everything went as badly as it
+had gone well before, till Miss Wilson crept up to 6/5. Then I made an
+expiring effort just in time. I dare say she was tired, for I won that
+game fairly easily. We had a great fight for the thirteenth, which I
+fortunately won, and finished the match with a love game. And no one was
+more surprised than I.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig9"></a><img src="./images/sig9.gif" alt="A.M. Morton." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="130"></a>
+<p>MISS A.N.G. GREENE</p>
+
+<p><i>(East of England Champion</i>, 1903, 1905)</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to decide on the most memorable match one has ever
+played. Each in turn seems at the time to be the most important. One
+which I found very exciting at the time was against Mrs. Luard in the
+final for the Cup at Felixstowe. I won the first set 6/3, and led 5/1
+and 40/30 in the next, when Mrs. Luard sent me a short easy ball&mdash;a
+certain &quot;kill&quot; at any other time. I sent it out. Four times after that I
+was within a point of the match, but could not quite pull it off, and
+Mrs. Luard, playing up brilliantly, not only won that set, but led 5/2
+in the third. Then I made a final effort, and though it was always
+touch-and-go I managed to make it 6/5. In the next game Mrs. Luard was
+40-love, but after a great struggle I got it, and so won the match,
+though it was anybody's game to the end.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig10"></a><img src="./images/sig10.gif" alt="A.N.G. Greene." /></center>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="INDEX"></a>
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>A</H3>
+<br>
+All England Club - <a href="#107">1</a><br>
+Athletics for girls - <a href="#1">1</a><br>
+Austin, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>B</H3>
+<br>
+Back-hand drive - <a href="#15">1</a>, <a href="#24">2</a><br>
+Baddeley, Mr. W. - <a href="#116">1</a><br>
+Baden-Baden - <a href="#109">1</a><br>
+Barrett, Mr. Roper - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+Beau Site, Hotel - <a href="#105">1</a><br>
+Beckenham - <a href="#51">1</a>, <a href="#99">2</a>, <a href="#107">3</a>, <a href="#120">4</a><br>
+Boothby - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#97">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a>, <a href="#122">4</a><br>
+Brighton - <a href="#100">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>C</H3>
+<br>
+Cannes - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#105">2</a>, <a href="#109">3</a><br>
+Championship, the - <a href="#102">1</a> <a href="#104">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a>, <a href="#122">4</a>, <a href="#129">5</a><br>
+Chipp, Mr. H. - <a href="#114">1</a><br>
+Chiswick Park - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+Clubs - <a href="#85">1</a><br>
+&quot;Complete Lawn Tennis Player, The&quot; - <a href="#21">1</a><br>
+Cooper, Miss C. (see also <a href="#SterryIndex">Sterry, Mrs.</a>) - <a href="#92">1</a>, <a href="#97">2</a><br>
+Courts - <a href="#72">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>D</H3>
+<br>
+Diet - <a href="#72d">1</a><br>
+Dinard - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+Dod, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#117">2</a><br>
+Doherty, Mr. R.F. - <a href="#9">1</a><br>
+Doubles - <a href="#49">1</a><br>
+Douglass, Miss D.K. - <a href="#95">1</a>, <a href="#125">2</a><br>
+Dress - <a href="#64">1</a><br>
+Dressing-rooms - <a href="#81">1</a><br>
+Driving - <a href="#22">1</a><br>
+Drop-shots - <a href="#27">1</a><br>
+Dublin - <a href="#113">1</a>, <a href="#119">2</a><br>
+Durlacher, Mrs. - <a href="#100">1</a>, <a href="#119">2</a><br>
+Dyas, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>E</H3>
+<br>
+Ealing L.T.C. - <a href="#91">1</a>, <a href="#116">2</a><br>
+Ealing Common L.T.C. - <a href="#89">1</a><br>
+Eastbourne - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#97">3</a>, <a href="#100">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>F</H3>
+<br>
+Felixstowe - <a href="#130">1</a><br>
+Fore-hand drive - <a href="#22">1</a><br>
+France, South of - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#126">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>G</H3>
+<br>
+Garfit, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+Gipsy Tournament - <a href="#88">1</a>, <a href="#103">2</a><br>
+Gore, Mr. A.W. - <a href="#64">1</a>, <a href="#124">2</a><br>
+Greene, Miss A.N.G. - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#130">3</a><br>
+Greville, Mrs. - <a href="#98">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>H</H3>
+<br>
+Half-volley - <a href="#27h">1</a><br>
+Head-work - <a href="#19">1</a><br>
+Health, effect on - <a href="#5">1</a>, <a href="#81">2</a><br>
+Hillyard, Mr. G. W. - <a href="#74">1</a>, <a href="#91">2</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mrs. - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#113">3</a>, <a href="#116">4</a></span><br>
+Homburg - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>J</H3>
+<br>
+Jackson, Miss - <a href="#117">1</a><br>
+Jones, Miss M. - <a href="#94">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>L</H3>
+<br>
+Lamplough, Mrs. - <a href="#126">1</a><br>
+Larcombe, Mrs.<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">See <a href="#ThomsonIndex">Thomson, Miss</a></span><br>
+<i>Lawn Tennis</i> - <a href="#95">1</a><br>
+Lawn tennis and golf - <a href="#17">1</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">cost of - <a href="#10">1</a></span><br>
+Liverpool - <a href="#107">1</a>, <a href="#117">2</a>, <a href="#124">3</a><br>
+Lobbing - <a href="#25">1</a>, <a href="#53">2</a><br>
+Lob-volley - <a href="#26">1</a><br>
+Low volleys - <a href="#34">1</a><br>
+Lowther, Miss - <a href="#102">1</a>, <a href="#110">2</a><br>
+Luard, Mrs.<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2 em;">(see also <a href="#WilsonIndex">Wilson, Miss C.M.</a>) - <a href="#128">1</a>, <a href="#130">2</a></span><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>M</H3>
+<br>
+Mahony, Mr. H.S. - <a href="#34">1</a>, <a href="#76">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a><br>
+Manchester - <a href="#101">1</a><br>
+Martin, Miss L. - <a href="#97">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#117">3</a>, <a href="#119">4</a><br>
+Match play - <a href="#36">1</a>, <a href="#69">2</a><br>
+Mixed doubles - <a href="#11">1</a>, <a href="#52">2</a><br>
+Monte Carlo - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+Morgan, Miss E.R. - <a href="#94m">1</a><br>
+Morton, Miss - <a href="#99">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#123">3</a>, <a href="#128">4</a><br>
+Myers, A. Wallis - <a href="#21">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>N</H3>
+<br>
+Newcastle - <a href="#42">1</a><br>
+Nice - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>P</H3>
+<br>
+Palmer, Mr. - <a href="#107">1</a><br>
+<i>Pastime</i> - <a href="#115p">1</a><br>
+Pinckney, Miss V. - <a href="#51">1</a>, <a href="#120">2</a><br>
+Practice, how to - <a href="#14">1</a><br>
+Prebble, Mr. A.D. - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>Q</H3>
+<br>
+Queen's Club - <a href="#76q">1</a>, <a href="#81">2</a>, <a href="#112">3</a>, <a href="#126">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>R</H3>
+<br>
+Rackets - <a href="#60">1</a><br>
+Reading - <a href="#51">1</a><br>
+Rice, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#113">2</a><br>
+Riseley, Mr. F.L. - <a href="#101">1</a>, <a href="#125">2</a><br>
+Robb, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#52">2</a>, <a href="#93">3</a>, <a href="#97">4</a>, <a href="#100">5</a><br>
+Romsey - <a href="#126">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>S</H3>
+<br>
+Schulenberg, Countess - <a href="#99">1</a><br>
+Service - <a href="#30">1</a>, <a href="#45">2</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">American - <a href="#47">1</a></span><br>
+Shoes - <a href="#67">1</a><br>
+&quot;Slazenger&quot; - <a href="#60">1</a><br>
+Smash - <a href="#34">1</a><br>
+Smith, Mr. S.H. - <a href="#124">1</a><br>
+<i>Sportsman, The</i> - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+Staleness - <a href="#37">1</a><br>
+<a name="SterryIndex"></a>Sterry, Mrs. - <a href="#44">1</a>, <a href="#49">2</a>, <a href="#91">3</a>, <a href="#97">4</a>, <a href="#100">5</a>, <a href="#115">6</a><br>
+Sugden, Miss - <a href="#127">1</a><br>
+Sutton, Miss - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#45">2</a>, <a href="#48">3</a>, <a href="#49">4</a>, <a href="#91">5</a>, <a href="#106">6</a>, <a href="#117">7</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>T</H3>
+<br>
+Tactics - <a href="#1">1</a><br>
+<a name="ThomsonIndex"></a>Thomson, Miss E.W. - <a href="#48">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#124">3</a><br>
+Thorpe Satchville - <a href="#76">1</a><br>
+Tournaments, abuse of - <a href="#37">2</a><br>
+Tournaments, management of - <a href="#78">1</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">value of - <a href="#19t">1</a>, <a href="#37">2</a></span><br>
+Training - <a href="#69">1</a><br>
+Tulloch, Miss B. - <a href="#94m">1</a>, <a href="#99">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>U</H3>
+<br>
+Umpires - <a href="#84">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>V</H3>
+<br>
+Volleying - <a href="#26">1</a>, <a href="#34">2</a>, <a href="#47">3</a>, <a href="#50">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>W</H3>
+<br>
+Watson, Miss M. - <a href="#49">1</a><br>
+<a name="WilsonIndex"></a>Wilson, Miss C.M. - <a href="#42">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#102">3</a>, <a href="#124">4</a><br>
+Wimbledon - <a href="#44">1</a>, <a href="#74">2</a>, <a href="#81">3</a>, <a href="#87">4</a>, <a href="#99">5</a>, <a href="#103">6</a>, <a href="#107">7</a>, <a href="#111">8</a>, <a href="#122">9</a>, <a href="#129">10</a><br>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10961 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #10961 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10961)
diff --git a/old/10961-8.txt b/old/10961-8.txt
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+Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lawn Tennis for Ladies
+
+Author: Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2004 [EBook #10961]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sjaani, Michael Ciesielski, Garrett Alley and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lambert Chambers]
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+BY
+
+MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+First published in 1910, London
+
+TO MY FATHER WHOSE KEENNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUCH A
+GREAT HELP TO ME DURING MY LAWN TENNIS CAREER
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a
+book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and
+clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my
+favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its
+literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am
+still too much affected by the "brilliant and feverish glow" of
+enthusiasm to dream of offering one.
+
+Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic
+pride, but only with a passionate fondness for what I consider a great
+sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly,
+I should like to thank all those who have assisted me with suggestions
+and the loan of photographs, especially my "arena colleagues" who have
+rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.
+
+DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  I.   ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+  II.  PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+  III. MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+  IV.  RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+  V.   TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+  VI.  SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+  VII. MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE
+    LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  THE FORE-HAND DRIVE
+
+  THE BACK-HAND DRIVE
+
+  SERVICE
+      From photographs by Dexter.
+
+  MRS. G.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES
+  MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+  MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING
+  MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOHERTY
+
+  MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP
+    AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY,
+    AND MISS E.W. THOMSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)
+
+  GROUP PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902
+
+  AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE
+
+  "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF"
+    A picture-postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert Chambers by Miss May Sutton
+      from her home in California.
+
+  AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM
+  SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY
+
+  THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS
+    SUTTON (AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  MOTOR-CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL ENGLAND GROUND
+    AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES' CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (now MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS)
+    WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER
+
+  MRS. HILLYARD
+  MRS. STERRY
+  MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+  MISS D. BOOTHBY
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+  MRS. LARCOMBE
+  MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+  MISS A.M. MORTON
+  MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+
+
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+
+I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
+athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
+Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
+ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
+tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
+enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
+brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
+than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
+for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
+they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
+woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
+said for these contentions, but to my mind the _pros_ materially
+outweigh the _cons_.
+
+As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
+evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
+more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
+A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth
+the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in
+an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the anticipation of a
+scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.
+Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm,
+collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that
+invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second
+objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on
+what is meant by the essential feature of "womanliness." I am afraid
+most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, "Frailty, thy name is
+woman." Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps
+call it "delicacy," and refer to the "weaker sex," but they mean that
+just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her
+weakness. They argue that you must impair this "weakness" by strenuous
+games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness,
+just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely
+physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a
+second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second
+editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, "Nature
+meant to make woman its masterpiece." I well remember reading in a
+stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men
+and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while
+the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing
+ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their
+war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked
+themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind,
+was a picture of true "womanliness." Inferior in neither moral strength
+nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement,
+giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he
+needs for the special experience.
+
+If this, then, be "womanliness," can athletic games injure it? Do they
+spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific
+excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at
+critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is
+undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame,
+more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested
+match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.
+These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the
+qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their
+sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and
+sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You
+are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do
+these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a
+thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and
+stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and
+absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.
+
+The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle
+prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.
+The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits,
+and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that
+it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He
+therefore said to him, "Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with
+certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle
+of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take
+this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You
+must do this every day." His highness acquiesced, and in a short time
+the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved
+his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis
+ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour
+and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle
+that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude
+of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before
+me the subject is put tersely thus: "Health and strength depend on rapid
+disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion."
+Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid
+exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind
+alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no
+doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion
+demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to
+say, "During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air." This
+oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage
+to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the
+wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us
+with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active
+exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis
+player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily
+overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of
+oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of
+vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.
+
+Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are
+many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone
+it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends
+naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged,
+from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the
+knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from
+it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the
+game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not
+physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific
+application--finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women
+are just as capable of exercising as men.
+
+I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with
+any first-class man of the same year you will find a great disparity
+between their actual play. That is to say, the first-class man would be
+able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a
+close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous
+odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner
+at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this pronounced discrepancy.
+Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it
+all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater
+activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own
+game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with
+less accuracy and power.
+
+Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive
+game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can
+be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all
+over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time
+required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets,
+balls, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The
+club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the
+game are small as compared with golf.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES'
+CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE
+ROUND.]
+
+Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course
+by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well--far from it.
+But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of
+healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes
+to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is
+no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which
+women can combine with and compete against men without in any way
+spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the
+most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not
+wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which
+this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of
+the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf
+is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite
+first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an
+abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a
+mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is
+it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the
+combination of both sexes.
+
+Then it is asserted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.
+This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some
+little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and
+promptly answered by a spirited article with illustrations of some
+well-known lady hockey players--proof positive of the fallacy that
+hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions
+are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that
+instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never
+seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a
+fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see,
+although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more,
+registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and
+look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it
+is hardly possible or natural to be "just so" every second of a long
+struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not
+absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of
+excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This
+has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.
+Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial
+muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural
+appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman
+should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why,
+then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much,
+and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two
+perhaps, their appearance is distorted?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+
+Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. "I
+have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better
+game?" That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are
+very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the
+great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match
+must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all
+know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them
+out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided
+in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up
+game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of
+playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak
+strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely
+the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do
+this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even
+given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed
+continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did
+this. The characteristic answer came back: "I cannot take a back hand. I
+should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball." But what
+does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you
+are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve;
+she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.
+In fact, it was very little of a _practice_ game to her. How can your
+game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what
+is feeble?
+
+Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind
+who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master
+it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all
+your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your
+game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded
+becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that
+you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing
+the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a
+sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and
+all the patience which must be exercised.
+
+Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak
+strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But
+after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise,
+that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your
+game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily
+disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth
+playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you
+must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet
+disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit,
+or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if
+you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players
+never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many
+of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will
+certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent
+desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A
+struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his
+pastime--often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so
+obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so
+thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find
+him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He
+may play in a few competitions, but his time is more seriously occupied
+with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous
+strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the
+game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before
+he pits his skill against others.
+
+I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there
+is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the
+competitors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the
+same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never
+advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to
+another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. Assisted by a generous
+handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let
+me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes
+correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open
+competitions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are
+to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially
+by young players who have not completed what I may call
+stroke-education.
+
+When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as
+strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an
+experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are
+anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more
+enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to
+advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not
+hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your
+friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books
+that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often
+noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open
+events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a
+miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players
+grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The
+book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one
+solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference
+in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball
+at all.
+
+A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own
+case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the
+ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of
+practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw
+the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an
+hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke
+you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one
+champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke
+that had to be mastered was passed through the mill and assiduously
+exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the
+purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in
+the given direction.
+
+To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these
+elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal
+exhaustively with this subject, such as "The Complete Lawn-Tennis
+Player," by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old
+ground.
+
+The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is _The Fore-hand Drive_. A
+good fore-hand is one of the chief assets of the game; a good length
+must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as
+near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe
+shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very
+accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come
+afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.
+Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in
+front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I
+mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away
+from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about
+the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and
+simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.
+This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can
+only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or
+too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.
+
+[Illustration: THE FORE-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.
+Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along--your movement must be
+so perfectly timed--to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to
+follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight
+of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. _Timing
+your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following
+well through at the finish_--these are the chief secrets of good and
+powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep
+your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right
+on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot
+realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke;
+and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the
+chief attributes of success.
+
+_The Back-hand Drive_ is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only
+with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but
+stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The
+position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is
+where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your
+right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of
+the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back,
+with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the
+centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from
+your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction
+of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court,
+from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through
+be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face
+the net.
+
+[Illustration: THE BACK-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+_The lob_ is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly
+practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and
+accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent
+move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking,
+of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you
+breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to
+get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly
+always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of
+players are weaker there.
+
+There are three kinds of lobs: (1) _The high lob_, sent well out of
+reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking
+some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out
+of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to
+run back and return it. (2) _The low lob_, which only just passes over
+your opponent's racket--a much more risky shot than the high lob, but
+with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting
+the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot,
+because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very
+fast-dropping ball. (3) _The lob-volley_ is one of the prettiest strokes
+and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with
+success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your
+opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played
+with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the
+ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a
+high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal
+for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath
+the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the
+racket.
+
+_The Half Volley_.--This stroke has great possibilities, and is
+efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for
+defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact,
+within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it
+can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained,
+as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it
+wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of
+players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another
+reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.
+
+_A short drop shot_ from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any
+position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back
+of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is
+difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient
+practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be
+expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.
+
+I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.
+Owing to its success--my opponent never even attempted to reach it--I
+won ace after ace. At the end of the match my opponent indignantly
+upbraided me. "I cannot admire your length," she protested. Neither did
+she think it was "fair to play sneaks," adding, "Anybody could win if
+they cared to play like that." In her opinion it wasn't tennis! I'm
+afraid I did not take this censure very seriously. As the object of the
+game is to put the ball as far out of reach of your opponent as
+possible, I could not see what difference there was between making her
+run from side to side of the base-line or to the net and back again.
+Both methods as regards placing are just as good tennis, and should be
+used judiciously in turn. But this sort of argument did not appeal to my
+opponent; she still thought any one could win who cared to play that
+"unsporting game." Perhaps the incident caused her to think a little,
+and it may be she tried the stroke in her next match. If so, I am quite
+sure she did not find it so easy to play accurately as she had imagined.
+
+The danger of this stroke is that unless it is just in the right spot,
+instead of giving you an advantage it will be a very easy ball for your
+opponent to score off. If it is short, it will find the net; if hit too
+far, it becomes a bad-length ball and will get the punishment it
+deserves. It is difficult to explain how this stroke should be played. I
+think it is best to stand very close to the ball and get rather in front
+of it, drawing the racket across it from right to left--stroking the
+ball, as it were, rather than hitting it. It requires a delicate touch,
+and can be very deceptively played. Your opponent is kept in the dark
+until the last moment, when the ace has probably been won.
+
+_The Service_.--I should, as a rule, advise an overhead service. At the
+same time, an underhand cut service is very useful as a change. Variety
+of stroke and tactics should always be encouraged.
+
+For an _overhead service_ stand sideways to the net, with your left foot
+just behind the base-line, the left shoulder facing the net, and the
+right foot a little to the right of and behind the left. Throw the ball
+high up over your right ear, bend your body well back and your right
+shoulder down. Raise the racket at the same time as you throw up the
+ball, hit it with the centre of your racket, bringing your body forward
+with all its weight on to the ball, and transferring your weight from
+the right foot to the left at the moment of impact. Bring your racket
+right through, and finish a little to the left of your left knee. At
+the time you throw the ball into the air the left shoulder must be
+facing the net, and as your racket hits the ball and follows through to
+your left knee your body should be brought round to face the net.
+
+[Illustration: BEGINNING OF SERVICE MIDDLE OF SERVICE]
+
+Do not at first attempt a fast service; keep your ardour down until you
+have gained a mastery of the ball and can vary its direction. Place is
+always better than pace; this applies, generally speaking, to other
+strokes besides the service. Try to cultivate a second service which
+bears a likeness to the first. That is to say, if you have served a
+fault (and the best players in the world cannot be absolutely sure that
+their first delivery will not pitch just over the side-line or
+service-line or hit the top of the net), do not be contented with a soft
+and guileless second which has no length and which gives your opponent
+an excellent chance of making a winning drive. Most players are weaker
+on their backhand. Remember that fact and place your ball accordingly.
+It is a good plan, when serving from the right-hand court, to aim for
+the spot where the centre line bisects the service-line. Length and
+direction will both be good, and in nine cases out of ten your opponent
+will be required to move to make the return--always a point in your
+favour.
+
+Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is
+essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are
+stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary
+knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable
+for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they
+have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular
+merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the
+racket the more liable is it to go astray. Another reason why you should
+temper zeal with discretion is that a vigorous service will tire you out
+like nothing else, and in a long match stamina should be judiciously
+preserved. You never know when an extra spurt may not be required to
+turn the scale in your favour. I have often noticed the difference in
+length and sting between the service of some players at the beginning of
+the match and in the third set, and I am sure that one of the reasons
+why so many matches are ultimately lost after a promising start is the
+decline in the service, in its sustained vigour and in its length.
+
+By the way, why do many lady players, even those who compete at open
+tournaments, stand several feet behind the base-line when serving? Are
+they aware that the length of their service is probably just so many
+feet short of what it ought to be and that they voluntarily give
+themselves an extra journey to recover short returns, even if they reach
+them at all? You will never find expert players, who appreciate what I
+may call the geometry of the court, penalise themselves in this manner.
+Yet the habit, for some reason or other, would appear to be on the
+increase.
+
+_Low Volleys_.--For these strokes the head of your racket should be
+above your wrist, your elbow low down, and your knees slightly bent. You
+should, in fact, stoop so that your eye is level with the flight of the
+ball. The late Mr. H.S. Mahony used to say that if girls would only bend
+down more to the ball they would be able to volley much better. You
+should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor
+relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the
+place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to
+remember the oft-repeated maxim: "Keep your eye on the ball." Watch it
+up to the moment of striking. Do not always "smash" every overhead ball
+when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste
+of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a
+mistake. For a _smash_ the right shoulder should be down and well under
+the ball, the head and weight well back, the weight transferred at the
+moment of striking from the right to the left leg, the body balanced
+with extended left arm, and the body-weight brought right on to the ball
+as it is hit. Finish to the left of your left knee as in the service.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+
+When you have acquired a certain knowledge of the game and can play the
+various strokes in the correct way, then, as I have said, tournament and
+match play is the very best method of improvement. I would emphasize the
+need for a certain standard of efficiency, because I am convinced that
+at the present time there are too many weak players competing at open
+meetings. The style of these players has only to be watched to be
+condemned, and their knowledge of the game is hopelessly limited.
+Invariably making strokes in a wrong way, tournament play only serves to
+consolidate weaknesses and check advance.
+
+But assuming you have practised on sound lines and are fit to take part
+in what, after all, should be a test of trained skill, tournaments will
+then be a great help to you. You will more often than not play against
+better players than yourself--an advantage denied you in practice--and
+against all varieties of attack and defence. You have the chance of
+watching first-class matches and learning at first hand how the
+different strokes should be played. You should be careful, however, to
+limit the number of your tournaments, especially when the excitement and
+strain are new to you; otherwise you will do much more harm than good. I
+am convinced that, generally speaking, players attend too many meetings.
+Instead of their play improving, it may deteriorate. They run the
+fearful risk of staleness--one of the greatest dangers to a lawn tennis
+player--and they become physically worn out. As soon as you find you are
+losing interest in the game, when it becomes an effort to go into court,
+give the game a rest. It is clear you have overdone it and need a
+period of recuperation. One or two tournaments at a time, and then a
+rest to practise the new strokes and tactical moves you have learnt and
+seen, would, I feel sure, be much more helpful to your game than
+tournament touring, week-in and week-out.
+
+Some people advise you to dismiss the coming match entirely from your
+mind before going into court. Personally I find this physically
+impossible, and I do not commend the suggestion. I think it is much
+better to study your opponent's game before pitting your own against it.
+Many matches may be lost while you are finding out the right line of
+attack. Therefore I advise you to think about the match you are going to
+play. Mentally rehearse your mode of campaign. But do not worry over the
+possible result. At all costs it must not be allowed to disturb your
+sleep the night before--there is nothing puts me off my game so much as
+a sleepless night.
+
+As soon as you know who your opponent is, seize every opportunity to
+watch her play, get to know her strong and her weak points, and map out
+your plan of campaign. Then come the first preliminaries, the toss for
+choice of sides or service. In choosing your side you must take into
+consideration the position of the sun, the wind, the slope of the court
+(if any), and the background. If you have won the toss and do not mind
+on which side you start playing, and also have a good service, elect to
+begin the service. If you have won the toss and for some good reason do
+not wish to serve first, you can make your opponent serve; but remember
+that you also give her choice of courts.
+
+One of the great things to remember in match play is this--do not strive
+to win outright with every stroke. Especially does this maxim apply to
+the return of the service. So many players are inaccurate with this
+important stroke simply because their sole ambition is to make it end
+the rest. Much better to work for your opening. Try to imagine where
+your opponent will be after taking a certain stroke, and then according
+to this position determine which is the best stroke to play next. It is
+similar to playing chess. You should think a move or sometimes two moves
+in advance. Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief
+factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to
+send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious
+to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before
+you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not
+where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back
+to the original place--that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly
+leaving. She will most probably be beaten by this simple device. Trite
+though the hint may appear, always try to send the ball where it will
+be least expected.
+
+[Illustration: TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED
+DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE SATCHVILLE MRS. C.W. HILLYARD AND MR.
+NORMAN BROOKES MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W.HILLYARD]
+
+Again I would urge the importance of keeping your whole attention
+absorbed on the game. Complete concentration is absolutely essential.
+You _must_ lose yourself in the game--eye, mind, and hand all working
+together. If you find that events transpiring outside the court are
+attracting your attention, you cannot be watching the ball. Many
+players, even when concentrating, take their eye off the ball too soon,
+with the result that it is not properly timed and not hit cleanly in the
+centre of the racket.
+
+In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never
+give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the
+experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player
+has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore,
+unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of
+the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win
+the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING MISS EASTLAKE
+SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOUGHERTY TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A
+PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE'S SATCHVILLE]
+
+The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time;
+never for one moment slack off. For if you do it is very hard to get
+going again, and you may find yourself caught up and passed at the post
+before you have a chance of getting back into your stride. I well
+remember being a set up and five games to one against Miss C.M. Wilson
+(now Mrs. Luard) one year at Newcastle, when victory for me meant
+permanent possession of the challenge cup. This cup was very valuable,
+for it had a splendid list of names inscribed upon it; it had been going
+for very many years. Miss Wilson seemed so off her game, and I was
+winning so comfortably, that I could almost see that cup on my
+sideboard! But it was not to be. (At any rate not that year. I was lucky
+enough to win the Cup outright in 1908, when it was even more
+valuable, as Miss Sutton's name had been added.) Whether I
+unconsciously slacked off, thinking the match was mine (which is a fatal
+thing to do at any time), or whether Miss Wilson suddenly found her
+game, is impossible for me to say, but she eventually won that match and
+the cup and championship for the year. She never gave in, but played
+most pluckily right up to the end. I remember another match where the
+result hung in the balance for some time. I was playing Miss A.N.G.
+Greene at Eastbourne in 1907; again the Cup would be my own property if
+I won it. I met Miss Greene in the second round. She won the first set,
+and was five games to four in the second set, and seven times she only
+wanted one point to win that match. I was able to make it five games
+all. It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after
+having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it
+completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite
+easily.
+
+Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching
+up your opponent, that when you do draw level _you do not relax your
+efforts_. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The
+strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when
+you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. A
+rest is taken, often involuntarily. It is fatal, because before you
+realize it and can get going again your opponent has run out a winner.
+This happened to me at Wimbledon in 1908 against Mrs. Sterry. I was
+behind the whole time, and it was a great relief in the second set to
+hear the score at last called five games all. But I had hardly taken a
+breather when Mrs. Sterry secured the set by seven games to five. The
+eleventh game I played almost unconsciously, so relieved was I at
+getting on even terms, when I ought to have spared no effort to win
+that critical game, even if I had failed. These three matches--and I
+could mention many others--show how important it is to play hard right
+up to the last stroke of the match, letting nothing put you off, never
+losing your temper, taking umpire's bad decisions and all the little
+annoyances that may disturb you in a sportsmanlike manner--keeping your
+whole attention, in fact, absolutely concentrated on the game.
+
+[Illustration: MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT
+WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907]
+
+In a single it is best when serving to stand as near the centre of the
+base-line as possible. In this position you have greater command of your
+court, and there is not so much scope for your opponent to put the ball
+out of your reach. Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion and
+ex-champion of England, in her desire to stand as near the centre of the
+court as she possibly can, gets so close that umpires find it very
+difficult to tell whether she is serving from the right court or the
+wrong. In fact, I think I am right in saying she has actually been
+pulled up for stepping over the centre line of the base-line. If you
+stand as close as she does you are liable to step over the line
+unconsciously. Stand as near the centre line as possible, but without
+any risk of stepping over it. On the other hand, there are players who
+prefer to serve from the other extreme end. Mr. A.W. Gore, the present
+champion of England, is one of these, but personally I cannot see any
+advantage in this position. It seems to leave so much open court, of
+which your adversary will not be slow to make use.
+
+Use the overhead service for choice, but have an underhand service ready
+at your command--it may come in very useful for a change. Remember that
+a good-length, well-placed service is better than a very fast one, and
+much less tiring in a long match. Keep your opponent wondering where the
+service will come next; vary it as much as you possibly can, both as to
+pace and direction. Be sure to make your opponent move to take it.
+
+I have tried the American service, but I think the strain is too severe
+for the average girl, and the advantage gained would be very slight, for
+the rest of your game would deteriorate, owing to fatigue. It places so
+much tension on all the muscles of the body, and I do not think it would
+do a girl's health any good to cultivate it. Of course if she were
+abnormally strong and did not feel the effects of the physical effort,
+she would be a tower of strength in the land, and her service would be
+an invaluable one.
+
+I am not an advocate of persistent volleying in a lady's single. I think
+it is too great a tax on the physique. Nor do I think it pays in the
+long-run. A volleyer, to my mind, is much easier to play against than a
+base-liner, and most of the first-class base-line players agree with me.
+The great physical exertion entailed in running continually to the net
+will after a time make the ground strokes weaker and weaker; and you
+_must_ have good length to be able to come up and volley with any
+success. Miss E.W. Thomson (now Mrs. Larcombe), one of our best lady
+volleyers, put up a magnificent game in the first set against Miss
+Sutton at Wimbledon in the championship singles of 1905. She had
+carefully watched Miss Sutton's game and thought out the best way to
+play her. Volleying most judiciously, she would force Miss Sutton up to
+the net with a short drop stroke, and then, lobbing over her head nearly
+on to the base-line, take up a position at the net, winning the ace with
+a neat cross volley. These tactics she repeated again and again, and
+actually led by five games to two. If she could have lasted she must
+have won that match. But she could not keep it up. She became obviously
+exhausted, did not get up to the net quickly enough, and her length got
+shorter and shorter. Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next
+easily. I do not know what would have happened if Miss Thomson, when
+she found she was tiring, had stayed back for a little while and then
+resumed her tactics at the net. Perhaps she would have come much nearer
+to victory.
+
+A very large majority of non-volleyers in singles have won the ladies'
+championship, and I think that fact helps to prove my argument. Miss
+Maud Watson, Miss Rice, Mrs. Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton,
+Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are
+the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley.
+You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play
+and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length
+ball.
+
+In _Doubles_ of course it is different. I think then a girl should
+volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make
+the game so much more attractive. I think it would be an excellent plan
+if ladies' doubles were always played like men's doubles, both players
+moving together and keeping parallel with one another, going up to the
+net together and retiring to the back of the court together. Competitors
+would improve their volleying, and the double, instead of being the
+dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
+would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
+change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
+would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
+formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
+Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
+tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
+the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
+improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.
+
+Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
+volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
+event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
+experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
+played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
+base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
+event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
+volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
+wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
+Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
+ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
+pities.
+
+In _Mixed Doubles_ a girl has a very important part to play.
+Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
+partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
+double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
+he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
+"plums." She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
+the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
+down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
+moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
+tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
+Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
+way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
+Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
+off, however "jumpy" the opposing man is, or however much he is running
+across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
+is without looking at him.
+
+To play a mixed double you must be able to lob. It is really the most
+necessary stroke to cultivate. A very good return of the opposing lady's
+service, when both men are at the net, is a lob back to the server. It
+is much safer than lobbing over the man's head--if at all short your
+ball will be instantly killed--and it also gives your partner at the net
+plenty of time to anticipate any kind of return. It will be difficult
+for the server to return a good-length lob out of your partner's reach.
+The opposing man at the net will not be able to do anything with this
+lob--it is quite out of his reach--and it would be useless for him to
+run across as he might do for a cross drive. It is usually best, I
+think, for a lady to serve down the centre of the court in a mixed
+double. It shuts up the angles of the court more, and there is less risk
+of her partner being passed down his side line.
+
+Do not enter for too many events in a tournament. You may get thoroughly
+worn out and not able to do yourself justice in any, and you would
+probably have to play when you were very tired--bad for your game, and
+worse still for your partner's chance in a double. Remember that before
+playing an important match it is very injudicious to watch another game.
+It is likely to put your eye out. If possible, do not travel by train
+just before playing, or carry anything heavy, such as your tennis bag,
+for this will make your hand shaky and unsteady.
+
+To sum up, there are five golden rules which I have found very helpful
+to me when playing an important match. I give them to you in the hope
+that they may prove equally valuable. Always remember that constant
+practice of these rules will make their pursuit natural in a match.
+
+I. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL
+
+You have so often been told this, I know, and perhaps the familiar ring
+about the advice may evoke contempt. Yet unless this rule is implicitly
+obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye
+off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You
+must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on
+to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court
+and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same
+time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting
+his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! Always be on your
+guard against this inclination. It is at first done almost
+unconsciously, but it soon becomes a habit.
+
+
+II. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GAME
+
+This is a most important rule. As I have remarked before, complete
+concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried
+about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your
+game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment
+playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well
+demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain.
+The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more
+or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the
+whole time.
+
+
+III. KEEP PERFECT CONTROL OF THE TEMPER
+
+This rule some players will find much more difficult than others. You
+hear of a person having the right temperament for games, of being
+naturally imperturbable. It is a priceless quality, for to my mind it is
+half the battle if nothing can disturb your equanimity. To be calm and
+placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any
+way put out, whatever little worries may turn up--and sometimes these
+worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit--that is one of
+the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not
+natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. But it requires
+much practice and an abundance of will-power and self-control. It is a
+very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be
+upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your
+opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up
+harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at
+something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have
+a much better chance of winning the match.
+
+
+IV. KEEP YOUR HEART IN THE GAME
+
+By this I mean do not get easily downhearted and discouraged. Fight
+pluckily to the end, however things are going against you. Courage and
+pluck are wanted above all things to carry you successfully through your
+matches. Never say die, however hopeless the score may sound against
+you. If you are very done up, try not to make it too obvious. Your
+opponent may be just as played out as you are. Seeing your signals of
+distress, she will buoy herself up and continue the struggle with
+renewed hope and vigour.
+
+
+V. KEEP YOUR METHOD ON THE MOVE
+
+This maxim is rather difficult to explain. What I mean is, you should
+vary your manner of play and re-adapt it in order to counteract your
+opponent. Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great
+mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving
+unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on
+the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in
+the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do
+what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her
+plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt
+myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. It
+gives her plenty of excellent practice, of course, and when you find she
+is beginning not to mind it so much, give it a rest. When you go back to
+it you will probably find it successful again. Use your brain, and
+always know what you are trying to do. Play with an object of attack and
+defence. Do not merely return the ball aimlessly; let each stroke have
+its little work to do to complete the whole victory. This is difficult,
+I know, but it is so much more fascinating, and is, I am sure, the way
+the game was meant to be played. There is much science that can be
+brought into lawn tennis, always something new to learn. And that is the
+reason why we never tire of playing it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+
+A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
+inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
+particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
+so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
+suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
+first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
+you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
+enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a "Slazenger" racket,
+preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
+manufacturers.
+
+The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
+wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
+back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
+part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
+with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
+If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
+been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung--the frame
+would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
+than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
+and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
+of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
+the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
+my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
+prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.
+
+The handle should be about five inches in circumference--at least, that
+is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
+circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
+hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
+the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
+tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
+requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
+handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
+when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
+and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
+experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?
+
+You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
+tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
+in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
+necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
+sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
+usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
+rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
+will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.
+
+Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
+to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
+when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
+bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
+plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
+little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
+stock.
+
+And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
+during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
+tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
+experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
+their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
+"garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse--a most
+unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
+you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
+action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
+which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
+volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
+to the net--all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
+and facility.
+
+[Illustration: ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS
+E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)]
+
+I advise a plain gored skirt--not pleated; I think these most
+unsuitable on court--about four or five inches from the ground. It
+should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
+Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
+untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides--dropping at the
+back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
+the laundry. A plain shirt without "frills or furbelows"--if any
+trimming at all, tucks are the neatest--a collar, tie, and waistband, go
+to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
+desire.
+
+The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
+matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
+flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
+White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
+not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
+material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
+to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
+urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
+brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
+brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
+same colour.
+
+I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
+the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
+it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
+seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
+not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
+the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
+look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
+other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
+is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
+drag about the court.
+
+If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
+called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
+men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
+wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
+movements.
+
+I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
+the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
+tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
+make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the "gym"
+shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
+find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
+shoe--there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
+wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
+pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
+and can always replace them without any great expense.
+
+I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
+not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
+to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
+good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
+article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
+tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
+however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
+contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
+material--blanket is very popular and serviceable--and it should reach
+to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.
+
+I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
+are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
+ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
+match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
+bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
+adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
+her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
+most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
+player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
+firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
+directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
+portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
+naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
+bracelet in court.
+
+_Training for match play_ is rather a difficult subject for me to write
+about, for I have never gone in for proper "training." The great secret
+is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
+strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
+successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
+you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
+important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
+is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
+beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
+your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
+leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
+it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
+for an important match is to be always in "training"; not to have to
+alter your habits before a match is the secret. To change your diet and
+mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
+upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
+course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
+before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
+some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
+the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
+course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
+cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
+change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
+I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
+whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
+exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
+heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
+player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
+the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
+bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
+and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
+necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
+no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
+always "fit," and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
+without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
+sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
+if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
+important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
+necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
+open.
+
+As to _Courts_, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
+as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
+to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
+think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
+is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
+genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a _good_ grass
+court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
+appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
+to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
+weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
+day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
+good grass courts are few and far between.
+
+The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
+such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
+maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
+are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
+courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
+constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
+than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
+pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
+grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, "almost
+as rare a sight as a dead donkey." Happily we get this rare spectacle at
+Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902]
+
+What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
+convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
+more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
+on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
+courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
+good game the very first time he played on a first-class court--I refer
+to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
+the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
+He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
+that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
+and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
+never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
+false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
+thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
+When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
+found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
+and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
+much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
+depressing conditions--you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
+After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
+in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
+play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
+call "cabbage patches"--("Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage," was
+his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
+understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.
+
+A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
+good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
+Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
+three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
+wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
+few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
+On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
+if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
+it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
+game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.
+
+Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
+we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
+same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
+and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
+the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess--we should
+welcome it over here--is that when it rains play is quite out of the
+question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
+often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
+courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
+watering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+
+I wish an "Order of Play" could be used more at English tournaments.
+That is to say, I wish matches could be arranged to take place at a
+certain hour, following the plan adopted at Wimbledon and at all the
+meetings on the Continent. Such an arrangement would greatly add to the
+comfort and enjoyment of competitors, and would, I imagine, be a great
+boon to the referee. Spectators, I know, would welcome it. I think a
+time-table might prove unworkable where handicap events are concerned,
+but in the case of open events I feel sure it could be introduced with
+great advantage to all concerned. I have so often sat hour after hour at
+a London tournament (having only entered for the open events), perhaps
+playing one match, perhaps not playing at all. If I had been told
+overnight that I should not be wanted, or exactly at what hour my match
+would take place, it would have been so much more satisfactory and saved
+so much wasted time. This waiting about takes away half the pleasure of
+playing in London meetings. Even if there are good matches going on you
+do not care to watch them incessantly; there may be a chance of your
+playing off a tie, and it would tend to put your eye out. On one
+occasion, having a long way to go to a tournament in which I was only
+entered for the open mixed doubles, I telephoned to know whether I
+should be wanted or not. "Well," replied the referee, "if I call you and
+you are not on the ground, I shall scratch you. In your own interest you
+had better come over." For my partner's sake, as well as my own, I was
+bound to go. As I expected, I sat the whole afternoon and evening doing
+absolutely nothing. When I begged to be allowed to play, as I had come
+some distance for this one match, the referee examined his programme and
+said, "Oh, it is quite impossible to-day. They have not played the round
+in front of you yet!"
+
+[Illustration: AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS]
+
+This sort of thing implies gross mismanagement, besides resulting in
+unnecessary wear and tear for the competitors. If there was an order of
+play arranged for each day, all the bother would be obviated. I believe
+that business men who cannot get away in the early afternoon have their
+matches timed and arranged for them. Why are not all competitors treated
+alike?
+
+While I am on this subject of "waiting about," let me say that I think
+ladies do not take nearly enough care of themselves after playing. They
+ought to wrap up well if they have not time to change before their next
+match. Men are much more careful. They put on their coats immediately
+they leave the court, and change their clothes as soon as they can. But
+you will see girls chatting after a match, and even having tea, without
+deigning to put on an extra wrap. It is courting disaster. The colds and
+more dangerous ailments that arise from this little want of care
+naturally afford people a line of attack when they object to girls
+engaging in violent exercise.
+
+You cannot be too careful after strenuous play. I am well aware that
+ladies are catered for very badly at most of the tournaments in regard
+to changing-room accommodation. Some places we have had to put up with
+are disgraceful. I think most lady players will agree with me when I say
+that Wimbledon and Queen's Club are about the only two grounds where you
+can change with any degree of comfort. This is not right, and I am sure
+if men had to experience the changing-room accommodation afforded for
+our use there would not be many of them competing at tournaments. I
+think the two clubs I have mentioned are the only two where we even get
+a bathroom! Some tournaments provide a draughty tent for our use.
+Moreover, there is generally only one dressing-room, and feminine
+spectators often crowd round the one looking-glass, staring at the
+players as if they were animals on show! It is sometimes even impossible
+to sit down to rest after a hard and tiring contest.
+
+I appeal to secretaries of tournaments for some reform. A number of lady
+players have asked me to use this opportunity to point out some of our
+most pressing grievances. I hope these remarks, which are none too
+strong, may bear fruit. Visitors who come over from other countries are
+always loud in their complaints, and I am not surprised. I believe the
+Beckenham authorities are doing all they can to impart a little more
+comfort to the ladies' changing and resting-room, and they have greatly
+improved their accommodation. It is time other meetings followed their
+example. At the seaside meetings it does not so much matter. Most of the
+players stay near the ground and can go to their own rooms and be back
+in time to play again, if necessary; but in London tournaments, where
+there is often a long drive or train journey before one reaches home, it
+is most important that there should be a good changing-room.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE _Front row (left to
+right_): THE LATE MISS C. MEYRE, MR. G.W. HILLYARD, MRS. HILLYARD, MRS.
+LAMBERT CHAMBERS, MR. N.E. BROOKES, MR. A.J. ROBERTS]
+
+There is another improvement which I feel sure would be greatly welcomed
+by competitors, and that is a separate tea-tent for their use. Often a
+player has only a few minutes to get her tea, and, with the general
+public engaged in the same amiable pursuit, she is not able to be served
+and has to go away tealess. If there were a competitors' tea-tent, a
+player could obtain her tea in comfort when she wanted it.
+
+Always bear in mind that a referee at a tournament has a most "worrying
+time of it." Players can and should help to make his task lighter.
+There are many ways in which they can assist to make the tournament as
+successful as possible. One is by being punctual and ready dressed to
+play when wanted, and another is by umpiring when they are disengaged
+and have not an important match just coming on. "Taking the chair" may
+help them not to dispute an umpire's decision when they are in court
+themselves. They will realize how difficult umpiring is, and that bad as
+umpires often are they are doing their best. To dispute a decision or to
+argue with the umpire never helps matters; it usually makes him nervous.
+A bad decision must be taken as a fortune of war, and borne in a
+sportsmanlike manner. But you must never allow the crowd to influence
+the umpire. It is a hopeless expedient, for many people who watch
+matches are ignorant of the rules of the game.
+
+Sometimes--I suppose it is Hobson's choice--an umpire is chosen from the
+"gate." If he knows little or nothing of his duties the result is
+disastrous. Should there be difficulty in getting an umpire who knows
+something of his work, I think the match should take care of itself. I
+have experienced umpires who do not even know how to score!
+
+And now a word or two about _Clubs._ It is very difficult to manage a
+lawn tennis club successfully; much tact is required. I think it is
+almost impossible to prevent a club being "cliquey," and I should always
+advise a player who wishes to improve her game to join one which is more
+concerned with its tennis than its social side. Some clubs still use the
+game for a garden-party, where long trailing skirts, sunshades, and
+basket chairs predominate. Perhaps a game or two is played in the cool
+of the evening. That sort of club should be avoided if you are a keen
+and enthusiastic player.
+
+The committee of a club should be a small one, consisting of members
+who are devoted to the best interests of the game. Their aim should be
+to keep in touch with all the latest developments, and above all to keep
+up to date, advancing with the times. A committee sometimes embraces old
+supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They
+have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like
+innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the
+benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good
+match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the
+members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly
+rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and
+combine well together. A committee should do all in its power to improve
+the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having
+well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with
+side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a
+player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters
+for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her
+game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad
+management of a club.
+
+[Illustration: "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF" _A picture postcard sent to Mrs.
+Lambert-Chambers by Miss May Sutton from her home in California_.]
+
+It is an excellent plan for members of the committee to drop in at some
+of the tournaments and see how things are done there. Developments may
+have occurred of which they know nothing, and they could pick up many a
+wrinkle by a tour of inspection. Before one secretary of a fairly large
+tournament went to Wimbledon he had never seen a canvas background.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+
+I have been asked to write what I can remember of my earliest tennis
+days. This is rather difficult, as it is now thirteen years since I
+entered for my first tournament in 1896. It is never easy or pleasant to
+write one's own biography, but I have been assured that readers will be
+interested to hear something of my career in court.
+
+I have said that 1896 was the first year I entered for a tournament,
+which is quite true; but I always reckon that my tournament experience
+did not really start until the year 1898, because in the two previous
+years I only entered for one tournament (The Gipsy), and only in the
+handicap at that, and I came out first round. In 1898 I played in three
+tournaments, and in more events at each one.
+
+My earliest recollections of a racket and tennis ball go back to when I
+was quite small. My greatest amusement was to play up against a brick
+wall, with numerous dolls and animals of all kinds as spectators--really
+as big a gate as we get now at some tournaments! Each toy in turn was
+chosen as my opponent. Needless to say, I always won these matches. My
+adversaries took very little interest in the proceedings. This was some
+years before I even played in a court, and I think it was a very good
+way of starting the game.
+
+I then played in a court we had at home, which was not very good;
+gooseberry bushes prevented our running outside the court at all. I next
+joined a club at Ealing Common, and at the age of eleven won my first
+prize, the Handicap Singles at our club tournament. Of course I was
+receiving enormous points, and I remember to this day how bored the best
+lady players in the club were when they had to play me. My game then,
+from all accounts, involved a sequence of very high lobs. I am now quite
+envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days. I had absolutely no
+pace, but was active and very steady, and desperately serious and keen
+about the game. At this time also I used to play at college, preferring
+tennis to cricket, which was the exception. Cricket was the great game.
+Tennis was pushed into the background, and very little interest was
+taken in it, even when the matches were played to decide the winner of
+the racket presented each year to the best player in the school by some
+kind parent. I won this racket one year, but could never use it, as it
+was heavily weighted with an enormous silver shield on which was a
+lengthy inscription. Of course the balance of the racket was absolutely
+upset.
+
+There was not much chance of improving at school, because nobody took
+the trouble to have the court or net of the right dimensions. The rules
+of the game were not even known. Every ball that touched the line was
+given out. I remember a very heated argument I had with a mistress who
+was umpiring a match for me, the result of which was that I had lines to
+write for impertinence!
+
+In 1899 I joined the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club, and won the singles
+championship cup three years in succession, thus keeping it for my own
+property. At one time Mrs. Hillyard and Mrs. Sterry had both been
+members of this same club. Curiously enough, Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry,
+Miss Sutton, and myself have all lived, at different periods of our
+lives, very close together--Mrs. Hillyard at Greenford, Mrs. Sterry and
+myself at Ealing, and Miss Sutton at Acton. I think about this time I
+very much improved my game by constantly playing singles against the
+best men in the club, and also doubles with three men. This was
+undoubtedly excellent practice for me.
+
+[Illustration: AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM]
+
+In 1898 I won my first prizes in open tournaments, the handicap singles
+at Chiswick Park and Queen's Club. At Chiswick I received 15.4, and met
+Miss C. Cooper in the semi-final. I remember quite well my "stage
+fright" when I went into court against this famous player, even at the
+tremendous odds of owe 15.3 and give 15.4. I lost the first set easily,
+and the game was then postponed until the next day owing to failing
+light. After that first set, a friend said to me, "If you could only
+forget it's Miss Cooper, I am certain you could win." The next day I
+tried to follow out this advice, and eventually won the match with the
+score of 3/6, 6/1, 6/4. At Queen's I met Miss C. Cooper again. She was
+owing 40 and I was receiving 2/6. I again managed to win, this time in
+two sets, 6/2, 6/3. At Eastbourne the same year, my third tournament, I
+was in the second-class handicap owing 15, and survived a few rounds.
+Miss C.M. Wilson was also in the second class at 4/6, but we did not
+meet. Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene, Miss Garfit, Miss Robb, Mrs.
+Hillyard, Miss Dyas, Miss Austin, and Miss C. Cooper were in the first
+class. The classification for that year (1898) was:
+
+  Miss C. Cooper          Scratch
+
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Miss Dyas               1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss Steedman           2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+
+  Miss Garfit             4/6
+  Mrs. Kirby              4/6
+  Miss Legh               4/6
+
+The first player of any repute that I beat in Open Singles was Miss E.R.
+Morgan, whom I defeated in 1899 at Chiswick Park. I was beaten in the
+next round by Miss B. Tulloch after a severe tussle. I again won the
+Handicap Singles at Queen's. I was on the scratch mark, the farthest
+back I had yet been. Miss Austin was back-marker at owe 30.3.
+
+The classification for 1899 was:
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss Martin             Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss M.E. Robb          4/6
+  Miss Steedman           5/6
+
+  Miss Bromfield          15
+  Mrs. Kirby              15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+In 1900 Miss Marion Jones, then American lady champion, came over to
+England. I played one of the most exhausting matches against her that I
+have ever experienced. It was at Queen's Club in the Handicap Singles. I
+was owing 3/6 and Miss Jones receiving 3/6. There was a good deal of
+discussion at the time about this match, and in spite of the tremendous
+heat (we do not get such summers now) we were persuaded to go into
+court. In truth it was a gruelling day. I remember men walked about the
+streets fanning themselves. We played for hours in a blazing sun, and I
+eventually won, the score being 8/10, 6/2, 7/5. After the match Miss
+Jones was taken to the dressing-room in a fainting condition, and when I
+reached home I had an attack of sunstroke, and had my head packed in
+ice. The umpire was also seriously ill for some time. It was only the
+international element in the game and the controversy about the relative
+points that made us fight it out to the bitter end.
+
+We both thoroughly agreed with the notice of this match which appeared
+in _Lawn Tennis_ the following week:
+
+"The ladies had their example of untiring effort and splendid patience
+in the second round of the Handicap Singles, when Miss Marion Jones, the
+American champion (receive 3/6) met Miss D.K. Douglass (owe 3/6). The
+tie was played off under exceptionally trying circumstances. A fiercely
+hot sun was pouring its rays on the court, and there was scarcely a
+breath of air, yet for 2-1/2 hours, without hats, did these ladies
+strive for mastery. The first set fell to Miss Jones after 18 games had
+been played. The second was secured by Miss Douglass with comparative
+ease, neither the odds nor the previous exertions appearing to affect
+her. The third set brought out a remarkable display of patience,
+determination, and cool judgment, for when it stood out at 5 games to 1
+in Miss Jones's favour, Miss Douglass won the next 6 games right off,
+each game being fought out with great resolution. It may be doubted
+whether either for tennis' sake or 'kudos' such a contest under such
+conditions is wise. I was not surprised to hear it mentioned that not
+only had both competitors severely felt the strain, but that even the
+umpire had suffered."
+
+This year (1900) it is interesting to note that the champion of to-day,
+Miss D. Boothby, won the Handicap Singles at Beckenham, receiving 15.4.
+This year, too, saw my first appearance at Wimbledon. I was not in the
+lists very long, meeting Miss L. Martin first round. I do not think the
+game lasted long, and I have only a very faint recollection of it; but
+I remember thinking Miss Martin's strokes were the finest I had ever
+seen. At Eastbourne a couple of months later I was lucky enough to meet
+Miss C. Cooper on a very off day and run her close in the open singles.
+The match caused quite a sensation. We started rather late, in the tea
+interval, and nobody took the least interest in what was considered a
+forgone conclusion. However, when it got abroad that Misss Cooper had
+actually lost the first set, people came hurrying round the court in
+great consternation lest Miss Cooper, whom they all knew so well,
+should go down to a play who was quite unknown; I had been in the second
+class only the year before. Miss Cooper eventually secured the match,
+3/6, 9/7, 9/7. I met Mrs. Sterry on many subsequent occasions before I
+could get anything like so close to her. I really used to get quite
+weary of being beaten by her. When the Handicap Singles came out the day
+after this match I was put to owe 15 in the first class, which pleased
+me immensely. Miss Robb, Mrs. Greville, and Miss C. Cooper were owe 15.3
+and Mrs. Hillyard owe 30. I was in the classification for the first time
+at the end of this year.
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+
+  Miss Martin             2/6
+  Mrs. Greville           2/6
+
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               4/6
+  Miss Bromfield          5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             5/6
+  Miss C. Hill            5/6
+  Miss Longhurst          5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss A.M. Morton        15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      15
+
+In 1901 I won my first Challenge Cup in an open tournament, beating
+Mrs. Greville in the challenge round at Beckenham. Mrs. Greville's
+defeat came as a great surprise to every one. It was her third year for
+the cup, and this may have accounted for her being much below her usual
+form. I had certainly improved a great deal, even in that one week, for
+I had had a hard match every day, meeting Miss Tulloch, Miss Morton, and
+Countess Schulenberg (with whom I had a tremendous three-set match) in
+the preceding rounds. Mrs. Greville, on the other hand, had been
+standing out--the custom at Beckenham, one that I personally always find
+a great disadvantage. I was easily beaten this year at Wimbledon by Mrs.
+Sterry. Classification for 1901:
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      2/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           3/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+  Miss Lowther            4/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        4/6
+  Miss Thomson            5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             15
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss Longhurst          15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+At Wimbledon, in 1902, I had two very strenuous matches, which improved
+my game immensely. The first, against Mrs. Durlacher, I just won. The
+second, against the late Miss Robb, I just lost, after one of the
+closest matches I have ever played. Miss Robb won the championship this
+year. It was a great fight; and though of course it is hard to judge, I
+always feel I played in that game as well as I have ever played. The
+score in Miss Robb's favour was 6/4, 2/5, 9/7. Thus we both won
+seventeen games. This year I paid my first visit to Newcastle, a
+tournament which I always look forward to and enjoy as much as any
+meeting. The management is all one can desire, the people so keen and
+hospitable. I had a good hard fight with Mrs. Sterry, losing 7/5, 7/5,
+and winning with her the Ladies' Doubles cups. At Brighton I was again
+beaten by Mrs. Sterry, although managing this time to get a set. At
+Eastbourne the following week I won my first match against Mrs. Sterry
+in Open Singles, the score being 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. I was simply delighted,
+after so many reverses, to win a match against this player. I had been
+beaten so often by her, and sometimes felt as though I never should be
+rewarded by a victory to my credit. The classification of players for
+1902 was as follows:
+
+  Miss Robb               Scratch
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      1/6
+  Miss L. Martin          1/6
+  Miss Longhurst          1/6
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           2/6
+  Miss H. Lane            2/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        3/6
+  Miss Greville           3/6
+  Miss Steedman           3/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        3/6
+  Miss Lowther            3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          3/6
+  Miss Thomson            4/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          4/6
+
+In 1903 I paid my first visit to the Northern tournament, held at
+Manchester that year. I won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship
+with Mr. F.L. Riseley, and was beaten in the challenge round of the
+Ladies' Singles by Miss L. Martin after a very hard struggle: 4/6, 7/5,
+6/4. It seemed a great pity that Miss Martin was not able to play at
+Wimbledon that year. It was a lean year, and for me a lucky one, for
+with so many of the best players not competing for the championship
+(Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry, Miss Robb, and Miss Martin were all
+absentees) I was given a chance of winning the coveted title. I met Miss
+E.W. Thomson in the final, who had beaten Miss Morton and Miss Wilson in
+the preceding rounds. I had had a good fight against Miss Lowther before
+reaching the final. Although I was expected to beat Miss Thomson, and
+actually did win the match, I scarcely deserved my triumph. Miss Thomson
+played by far the better tennis, and it was really very hard luck on her
+that she did not succeed. At one time she was a set up and four games to
+one, and I was forced to play on the defensive nearly the whole time.
+Miss Thomson played beautifully, placing with great accuracy down the
+lines and across the court. Indeed, her placing was so good that I
+always seemed to be yards away from her return, when I had thought there
+was plenty of time to get to the ball. It has always been a marvel to me
+how I won that match; but I think it was chiefly condition--Miss Thomson
+was never a very good stayer.
+
+[Illustration: SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY. _In the centre is the All
+England Championship, won by Mrs. Lambert Chambers in 1903, 1904, 1906_]
+
+By the way, Miss Thomson and I were introduced to each other at the
+Gipsy Tournament--my first tournament. I had no partner for the Ladies'
+Doubles Handicap, and the secretary put us together on the programme.
+Little did I dream then that we should one day fight out the final of
+the Championship on the centre court at Wimbledon, or as a pair twice
+win the All England Doubles Championship. Classification for 1903:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+  Miss L. Martin          Scratch
+  Miss E.W. Thomson       1/6
+  Miss Lowther            1/6
+  Miss C M. Wilson        2/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Morton             3/6
+  Miss Longhurst          3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          4/6
+  Miss H. Lane            4/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Mrs. Houselander        5/6
+  Miss Stawell-Brown      5/6
+
+In 1904 I again won the championship, beating Mrs. Sterry in the
+challenge round. This year and 1906 were my most successful years. I was
+fortunate enough in both to go through the season without a reverse in
+open singles. Classification for 1904 was as follows:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        1/6
+
+  Miss Thomson            2/6
+  Miss Morton             2/6
+
+  Miss W. Longhurst       3/6
+  Miss V. Pinckney        3/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Lane               3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Stawell Brown      4/6
+  Mrs. Winch              4/6
+  Miss Garfit             5/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Miss D. Boothby         5/6
+  Miss M. Coles           5/6
+  Miss A. Ransome         5/6
+  Miss E. Longhurst       15
+  Miss Squire             15
+  Miss Eastlake Smith     15
+  Miss Paterson           15
+  Miss Tootell            15
+
+In 1905 I paid my first visit to the South of France. I was unlucky
+enough to sprain my wrist; but in spite of this mishap, the change of
+conditions, courts, and surroundings were all so novel that I thoroughly
+enjoyed my visit. The courts at the Beau Site, Cannes, are absolutely
+perfect, both as regards surface and background; and when one has got
+used to the different bound of the ball and the rather trying glare of
+the sun, one could not wish for better conditions for good tennis. Many
+a famous match has been fought out on these courts; and situated as they
+are in the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Beau Site, where most of the
+players stay, the environment is ideal. I was only able to play in the
+Monte Carlo tournament, after a few days' practice on the Beau Site
+courts, for it was just at the start of the Nice tournament that the
+accident to my wrist occurred. It was very disappointing to default
+after coming so far to take part in these tournaments. Several months
+elapsed before I could use my wrist again, and I was not able to play in
+any of the tournaments before I defended my title at Wimbledon.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS SUTTON
+(AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS]
+
+This year Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion, paid her first
+visit to England, and carried all before her, winning the championship
+of England and many other events, all without the loss of a single
+set--truly a wonderful performance. If any one had pluck it was Miss
+Sutton. To come to a strange country, practically friendless (Miss
+Sutton made many friends over here, but she came over alone), and to
+play and defeat one after another of the best players in this country,
+was a feat which filled us all with unbounded admiration.
+
+[Illustration: MOTOR CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL-ENGLAND GROUND AT
+WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906]
+
+I have played Miss Sutton five times, losing three and winning two of
+the matches. Of the three matches I lost, two were at Wimbledon, in the
+challenge rounds of 1905 and 1907, and the third at Beckenham in the
+challenge round of 1907. My two victories were both gained in 1906, in
+the challenge rounds at Liverpool and Wimbledon. Certainly the most
+exciting match I have ever played, and the one that gave me the most
+pleasure to win, was my match at Wimbledon against Miss Sutton in 1906.
+The match itself was not exactly enjoyable--the strain was too great; so
+much seemed to depend upon me, both for my own reputation, and that of
+my country. When Mr. Palmer, secretary of the All England Club, escorted
+us into the centre court and left us, with a word of encouragement in my
+ear, I felt helpless and destitute. You cannot realize what it means to
+face four thousand people and know that so much depends on your own
+exertions and coolness. Miss Sutton, I think, must have felt this
+loneliness in a still greater degree, for she was away from her country,
+her own people and friends. I have never had such a craving to speak to
+some one as I had in this match--just one friendly word to tell me
+whether I was playing the right sort of game or not. I confess my
+feelings were very strung up.
+
+I remember in the second set, when Miss Sutton led at three games to
+love, I said to the umpire as we crossed over, "I wonder, have I gone
+off, or is she playing much better?" But, of course, his face was like a
+mask; he didn't vouchsafe a word. Not that I expected him to speak, but
+I felt I simply must say something to some one. He told me afterwards he
+wanted to say, "I don't know; but stick to it whatever happens!"
+Concentration on the game in this match was terribly difficult, as the
+crowd was so huge and seemed so excited; it was almost impossible to
+forget the people and lose yourself in the game. I can quite well
+remember a dispute going on in the open stand for quite a long time
+during the first set. I think a lady would not put down her sunshade;
+there was quite a commotion about it. And then people near would shout
+advice to me, or scream out, "It's over! Run!" This happened two or
+three times; and although I knew they were trying to help me, which in
+itself was cheering and encouraging, it was very distracting and
+disconcerting. But after some time I lost it all, and became engrossed
+in the game. I think in 1907 Miss Sutton was much steadier and played a
+better all-round game, but I do not think she had quite the same
+terrific fore-hand drive as in the first two years she was over here.
+Her strokes were safer perhaps, but not so formidable and powerful.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (NOW MRS. LAMBERT
+CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER.]
+
+One of the great charms of playing in various tournaments is the means
+it affords of visiting all the different towns and countries. It may
+involve considerable travelling and expense, but the touring abroad is
+both an education and a delight. Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Homburg,
+Baden-Baden and Dinard, all bring the pleasantest reminiscences. Many of
+us have travelled about together, which is the jolliest way of doing
+the tournaments. I remember one most enjoyable trip, when Miss Lowther
+motored the Hillyards and myself through Germany--an ideal way of
+"doing" tournaments! The place at which a meeting is held, its
+surroundings, also the facilities it offers for amusement in the evening
+after your day's tennis is over, add to the enjoyment and make a
+material difference. It will always be one of my chief delights, in
+thinking of my tennis career, to remember the hospitality and many
+courtesies I have everywhere received, and the many friends I have made,
+who I trust will remain friends long after my tennis is a thing of the
+past.
+
+It is extraordinary how naïve the general public sometimes are. People
+will watch first-class tennis, sitting for hours together perhaps in
+great discomfort, and yet display a lamentable want of knowledge about
+the game. In fact, to many its object is a mystery! This seems hardly
+possible, but it is quite true. I once overheard a lady who was
+watching a match in the centre court at Wimbledon remark, "There, that's
+the very first time that man has hit the net with the ball, and he has
+had hundreds of tries!" I thought the man mentioned must be playing
+pretty good tennis! One really wonders why these onlookers spend so much
+time round a court, or where the pleasure can come in for them.
+
+At a garden party not so very long ago where tennis was on the
+programme, the visitors, arriving on the court, found one solitary ball,
+tied round with a long piece of string, the other end being attached to
+the net. To a natural inquiry the hostess replied, "Oh, they lost so
+many balls in the shrubbery last year, I really couldn't afford it, and
+thought of this plan. It has been most successful. This ball has lasted
+for ages!" Another lady at Eastbourne, whom I had noticed because she
+never left her seat, bringing her lunch with her so as not to lose a
+moment's play, asked me at the end of the week, while watching a double,
+whether the partners were side by side or opposite, as in bridge!
+
+One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the
+first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me,
+"You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis."
+"Making?" I say. "Spending, you mean!"--which always makes them stare in
+amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very
+common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are
+no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's
+Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course,
+cannot compete in open tournaments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+_The following contributions, in response to a request for some account
+of their most noteworthy encounter on court, have been kindly furnished
+for this volume by leading lady players._
+
+
+MRS. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+(_Champion_, 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900)
+
+One of the most exciting matches I remember was the final for the
+Championship at Wimbledon, played on the centre court on July 6, 1889,
+between Miss Rice and me. I started very nervously, as Miss Rice had
+given me rather a fright in the Irish Championship the month before,
+when she appeared in Dublin as a "dark horse." On that occasion I had
+only scraped through 7/5, 7/5. I began the match at Wimbledon by
+serving a double fault, and lost several games by doing the same thing
+in the first set. My length was awful, and Miss Rice was playing well
+from the start. She had a very fine fore-hand drive, but, like myself, a
+bad back-hand. She led at 3 games to 1, and took the first set at 6/4.
+In the second set I regained my confidence a little, winning three love
+games out of the first four; but Miss Rice won the next four games in
+succession, the score being called 5/3 and 40/15 against me. At this
+point, in my despair, I said to Mr. Chipp, who was umpiring the match,
+"What _can_ I do?" His grim answer was, "Play better, I should think." I
+then fully realized that I had not been playing my best game, and that
+to win I must hit harder. This I did, with the result that my length
+improved and I snatched this game from the fire--although Miss Rice was
+three times within a stroke of the match--and I eventually won the set
+at 8/6.
+
+The last set was well fought out, for, although I began well and led at
+3/1, Miss Rice won the next three games in succession and reached 40/30
+in the following game. This was her last effort, as I ran out at 6/4,
+winning the Championship for the second time. I think it was one of the
+closest matches I ever played, and I see by _Pastime_ that I only won 18
+games to her 16, and 110 strokes to her 100, and I felt I was most lucky
+to win at all.
+
+[Signature: Blanche Hillyard]
+
+
+MRS. STERRY
+
+(_Champion_, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908)
+
+Of course it goes without saying that my most memorable and exciting
+matches will all be those in which I have excelled or been the most
+distinguished person at the immediate moment! Let me just say that I am
+not going to give details of any match, as that is beyond my power and,
+I assume, of little interest to the reader.
+
+Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age
+of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember,
+bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club
+on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of
+nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning--that was the first
+really important match of my life.
+
+Another great game will always be imprinted on my memory, and that was
+in 1894, the first year that the late Mr. H.S. Mahony and I won the All
+England Mixed Championship. We beat Mrs. Hillyard and Mr. W. Baddeley in
+the final. The excitement of the onlookers was intense, and never shall
+I forget the overpowering sensation I felt as we walked, after our win,
+past the Aigburth Cricket Ground Stand, packed to its limit. How the
+people clapped and cheered us! It was tremendous.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. HILLYARD]
+
+[Illustration: MRS. STERRY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS V.M. PINCKNEY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS D. BOOTHBY]
+
+Another memory--the year 1895. Certainly I must be honest and say it
+wasn't exactly a good championship win, for Miss Dodd, Mrs. Hillyard,
+and Miss Martin were all standing out. Any of these could have beaten
+me. Nevertheless it was a delightful feeling to win the blue ribbon of
+England, especially as my opponent in the final, Miss Jackson, had led
+5-love in both sets! By some good fortune I was able to win seven games
+off the reel in each case.
+
+One more match--in 1907. I had heard a great deal about Miss May Sutton
+(who made her first appearance in England in 1905) beating everybody
+without the loss of a set. I had also heard she was a giant of strength,
+and that the harder one hit the more she liked it. The first time I met
+her was at Liverpool in 1907--I did not play the previous season. I was
+determined to introduce unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in
+order to entice her up to the net. The result was that many of her
+terrific drives went out, and I think this was primarily the reason why
+I was the first lady in England to take a set from her. I recollect her
+telling me, after the match was over, that my game was very different to
+any other she had ever played, and that she was not anxious to meet me
+again--remarks I took as a great compliment.
+
+There are scores of games just the reverse of pleasant which are
+imprinted on my memory, but I am not going to revive them at my own
+expense, hoping they have been forgotten and forgiven to my account, by
+any unfortunate partners I have ever let down.
+
+[Signature: Chattie R. Sterry.]
+
+MRS. DURLACHER
+
+_(Doubles Champion,_ 1899; _Mixed Doubles Champion of Ireland, 1898,
+1901, 1902)_
+
+
+A match that remains in my memory perhaps more than any other was the
+final of the Irish Championship Singles at Dublin in 1902, when Miss
+Martin and I met and had a long struggle for supremacy. At one time it
+really seemed as if I must win this match, as I led at 5 games to 1 and
+was within a stroke of the match. But I could not make that one point.
+Once when I had the advantage and only wanted an ace to win the match,
+one of my returns ran along the top of the net, and then, unfortunately
+for me, dropped my side. Miss Martin stuck to her guns persistently and
+eventually pulled the match out of the fire, winning the next six games
+straight off and thus becoming Irish Champion for 1902. It was very
+disappointing to lose after being so near victory. The score in Mis
+Martin's favour was 6/8, 6/4, 7/5.
+
+[Signature: Ruth Durlacher]
+
+
+MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+
+_(Champion of London, 1907, 1908)_
+
+In recalling the most remarkable lawn tennis match that I have ever
+played, I do not think I can do better than give the Open Mixed Double
+semi-final that took place on the final day of the Kent Championship
+Meeting at Beckenham on June 1, 1908. Mr. Roper Barrett and I met Mr.
+Prebble and Miss Boothby, and the story of the match is one of startling
+lapses and recoveries. In the first set Mr. Prebble and Miss Boothby
+profited by the combination born of frequent association in Mixed
+Doubles. Miss Boothby was very good from the back of the court and Mr.
+Prebble seemed to make mincemeat of my returns. It was their set by 6/4.
+In the second set Mr. Roper Barrett was quite wonderful, and killed
+every ball that he could possibly reach. The result was that the set was
+easily ours by 6/1. Our opponents, however, had something in reserve,
+and, I playing badly, they ran away to 5/0 in the third set. All seemed
+over. My partner and I made a great effort and got one game, and we
+congratulated ourselves on saving a love set. Then the excitement began,
+and we added game after game to our side. I am sure the crowd beame
+intensely interested, and quite worked themselves up as we drew to 5
+all. Mr. Barrett at this time was simply invincible, and I managed
+somehow to keep the balls out of Mr. Prebble's reach and play everything
+to Miss Boothby, upon whom devolved the responsibility. My partner
+volleyed at all kinds of remarkable angles, and, as _The Sportsman_ in
+describing the match, remarked, "sat on the net and was in complete
+command." We took seven games consecutively and won the set at 7/5, and
+with it a memorable match.
+
+[Signature: Violet M. Pinckney]
+
+
+MISS D. BOOTHBY
+
+(_Champion_, 1909)
+
+Without doubt my most exciting match was the final last year at
+Wimbledon. In every player's heart there must be a faint hope that one
+day she may win the All England Championship. At least it has always
+been in mine.
+
+From Christmas and all through the spring my family and friends had
+dinned into my ears that now was my chance, and if I did not win this
+year I never would. Only when I was leading one set up and 2-love in the
+second did all these things flash across my mind. I suddenly got
+nervous. Oh, the misery of it! I served double fault after double fault
+(I learnt afterwards that I gave away sixteen points in this way), and
+my friends told me that it was a relief to them when my service went
+over the net at all, however slowly. My opponent, Miss Morton, caught
+up, won the set 6/4, and led me 4/2 in the final set. All this time I
+had been fighting hard to regain confidence. At last my nerve came
+back--I was determined to win, and, only after a very great effort, just
+succeeded in capturing the Championship with the narrow margin of 8/6 in
+the final set.
+
+It was not until I had finished and had come off the court that I
+realized how very excited I had been, and how relieved I was when it was
+all over. Only those who have had experience can know how exhausting it
+is to concentrate one's whole thoughts and efforts, without cessation,
+for an hour or more. Fortunately you do not feel the strain until
+afterwards, when it does not matter, and then you can look back with
+very great pleasure and satisfaction on a hard-won fight.
+
+[Signature: Dora P. Boothby.]
+
+
+MRS. LARCOMBE
+
+(_Doubles Champion_, 1903, 1904; _Mixed Doubles Champion_, 1904, 1905)
+
+
+My "most memorable match" was in the All England Mixed Doubles
+Championship at Liverpool in 1904. Mr. S.H. Smith and I were playing
+Miss Wilson and Mr. A.W. Gore, and we had a great struggle for victory.
+I do not remember the exact score, but at one time our opponents were
+within an ace of the match. Miss Wilson served to me in the left
+court--a good service out on the side line. I played a straight
+back-hand shot down the line, passing Mr. Gore's forehand--rather a
+desperate stroke, as if it failed to pass him it meant certain death
+from one of his straight-arm volleys. Perhaps he was not guarding his
+line so well as usual, under the impression that I would not have the
+courage to try to pass him at such a critical moment--anyway, we won the
+point; and eventually the match and the championship, beating the
+holders, Miss D.K. Douglass and Mr. F.L. Riseley, in a most exciting
+match--almost as "memorable" to me, because I hit Mr. Riseley three
+times with smashes. I remember that side-line stroke and those three
+"hits" with great joy!
+
+[Signature: Ethel W. Larcombe.]
+
+MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+
+(_Covered Court Champion_, 1907)
+
+I find it a matter of some difficulty to decide which is the most
+memorable of the more important matches in which I have played. Four or
+five as I recall them seem, each in turn, to have left a lasting
+impression on my memory for one reason or another. Yet none of them
+appear more worthy of note than the others. The match which I think I
+shall remember long after many others are forgotten took place last year
+(1909) in the comparatively small and little-known tournament at Romsey.
+For the first time for some years I had missed winter practice on the
+covered courts at Queen's Club and in the South of France, and when I
+started again late in June, on moderate club courts and against none too
+keen opponents, I found myself looking forward with apprehension to my
+first effort in public. In the semi-final of the Ladies' Open Singles
+at Romsey I met Miss Sugden, whose well-merited reputation as a lawn
+tennis player is more or less a local one, chiefly for the reason that
+she has not competed in any of the first-class tournaments. It was a
+close afternoon, and the court being heavy we both felt the heat very
+much as the game progressed. I never really looked like winning the
+first set; my opponent led 4/1, and though I managed to equalize she
+easily ran out at 6/4. It was in the second set that the real struggle
+took place. In spite of all my efforts, Miss Sugden won game after game,
+until the game stood at 5/1 against me and 30 all; but by good luck I
+snatched that game and the two following. At 5/4 and my service we had
+deuce quite ten or twelve times, but in the end I managed to win and
+took the set at 7/5. After that I felt better, and with renewed
+confidence and steadier nerves I won the final set at, I think, 6/3.
+
+There was nothing particularly remarkable in the match, but somehow I
+felt that confidence in myself for the future depended in a great
+measure on my success in this event, and, in spite of having a very
+sporting opponent, I never felt more relieved in my life than when the
+last stroke was played.
+
+[Signature: Gladys S. Lamplough.]
+
+
+MISS A.M. MORTON
+
+(_Runner up for the Championship_, 1909)
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Larcombe]
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lamplough]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.M. Morton]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.N.G. Greene]
+
+I feel I owe an apology to Mrs. Luard for writing about a match in which
+I happened to beat her, as she is, and was then, a player altogether a
+class above me. No doubt it became "memorable," as I certainly never
+expected to win at the outset, and still less so when I was undergoing
+one of those ghastly "creep-ups" in the final set. It happened in 1904
+at Wimbledon, on the centre court, in the semi-final of the
+Championship. Miss Wilson (as she then was) started well and won the
+first set 6/3, the second went to me at 6/4, and the third set seemed as
+if it would go to either of us in turn. Everything went well for me till
+I actually got to 5/1 and it was 15/40 on her service; then I lost two
+points quite easily--those winning shots are so hard to make! And at
+deuce we had a tremendous rally, which ended in a good side-line shot by
+my opponent that I couldn't get to and didn't even try. The linesman
+called "out," which I contradicted, and general confusion took place,
+the spectators joining in the fray--and it all arose through the ball
+being given "out" in the middle of the long rally when a train was
+passing, and we neither of us heard it. I never knew the explanation
+till after the match and was quite convinced I had "sneaked" the point,
+and somehow I went all to pieces, and everything went as badly as it
+had gone well before, till Miss Wilson crept up to 6/5. Then I made an
+expiring effort just in time. I dare say she was tired, for I won that
+game fairly easily. We had a great fight for the thirteenth, which I
+fortunately won, and finished the match with a love game. And no one was
+more surprised than I.
+
+[Signature: A.M. Morton.]
+
+
+MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+
+_(East of England Champion_, 1903, 1905)
+
+It is difficult to decide on the most memorable match one has ever
+played. Each in turn seems at the time to be the most important. One
+which I found very exciting at the time was against Mrs. Luard in the
+final for the Cup at Felixstowe. I won the first set 6/3, and led 5/1
+and 40/30 in the next, when Mrs. Luard sent me a short easy ball--a
+certain "kill" at any other time. I sent it out. Four times after that I
+was within a point of the match, but could not quite pull it off, and
+Mrs. Luard, playing up brilliantly, not only won that set, but led 5/2
+in the third. Then I made a final effort, and though it was always
+touch-and-go I managed to make it 6/5. In the next game Mrs. Luard was
+40-love, but after a great struggle I got it, and so won the match,
+though it was anybody's game to the end.
+
+[Signature: A.N.G. Greene.]
+
+
+
+
+  INDEX
+
+
+  A
+
+  All England Club
+  Athletics for girls
+  Austin, Miss
+
+
+  B
+
+  Back-hand drive
+  Baddeley, Mr. W.
+  Baden-Baden
+  Barrett, Mr. Roper
+  Beau Site, Hotel
+  Beckenham
+  Boothby
+  Brighton
+
+
+  C
+
+  Cannes
+  Championship, the
+  Chipp, Mr. H.
+  Chiswick Park
+  Clubs
+  "Complete Lawn Tennis Player, The"
+  Cooper, Miss C. (see also Sterry, Mrs.)
+  Courts
+
+
+  D
+
+  Diet
+  Dinard
+  Dod, Miss
+  Doherty, Mr. R.F.
+  Doubles
+  Douglass, Miss D.K.
+  Dress
+  Dressing-rooms
+  Driving
+  Drop-shots
+  Dublin
+  Durlacher, Mrs.
+  Dyas, Miss
+
+
+  E
+
+  Ealing L.T.C.
+  Ealing Common L.T.C.
+  Eastbourne
+
+
+  F
+
+  Felixstowe
+  Fore-hand drive
+  France, South of
+
+
+  G
+
+  Garfit, Miss
+  Gipsy Tournament
+  Gore, Mr. A.W.
+  Greene, Miss A.N.G.
+  Greville, Mrs.
+
+
+  H
+
+  Half-volley
+  Head-work
+  Health, effect on
+  Hillyard
+    Mr. G.W.
+    Mrs.
+  Homburg
+
+
+  J
+
+  Jackson, Miss
+  Jones, Miss M.
+
+
+  L
+
+  Lamplough, Mrs.
+  Larcombe, Mrs.
+    See Thomson, Miss
+  _Lawn Tennis_
+  Lawn tennis and golf
+    cost of
+  Liverpool
+  Lobbing
+  Lob-volley
+  Low volleys
+  Lowther, Miss
+  Luard, Mrs.
+    (see also Wilson, Miss C.M.)
+
+
+  M
+
+  Mahony, Mr. H.S.
+  Manchester
+  Martin, Miss L.
+  Match play
+  Mixed doubles
+  Monte Carlo
+  Morgan, Miss E.R.
+  Morton, Miss
+  Myers, A. Wallis
+
+
+  N
+
+  Newcastle
+  Nice
+
+
+  P
+
+  Palmer, Mr.
+  _Pastime_
+  Pinckney, Miss V.
+  Practice, how to
+  Prebble, Mr. A.D.
+
+
+  Q
+
+  Queen's Club
+
+
+  R
+
+  Rackets
+  Reading
+  Rice, Miss
+  Riseley, Mr. F.L.
+  Robb, Miss
+  Romsey
+
+
+  S
+
+  Schulenberg, Countess
+  Service
+    American
+  Shoes
+  "Slazenger"
+  Smash
+  Smith, Mr. S.H.
+  _Sportsman, The_
+  Staleness
+  Sterry, Mrs.
+  Sugden, Miss
+  Sutton, Miss
+
+
+  T
+
+  Tactics
+  Thomson, Miss E.W.
+  Thorpe Satchville
+  Tournaments, abuse of
+  Tournaments, management of
+    value of
+  Training
+  Tulloch, Miss B.
+
+
+  U
+
+  Umpires
+
+
+  V
+
+  Volleying
+
+
+  W
+
+  Watson, Miss M.
+  Wilson, Miss C.M.
+  Wimbledon
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+    "text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lawn Tennis For Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lawn Tennis for Ladies
+
+Author: Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2004 [EBook #10961]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sjaani, Michael Ciesielski, Garrett Alley and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<br>
+
+<center><a name="img1"></a><img src="./images/img01.jpg" alt="Mrs. Lambert Chambers" /><br>
+<img src="./images/sig1.gif" alt="D.K. Lambert Chambers" /></center>
+<center>Mrs. Lambert Chambers</center>
+
+<h1>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</h1>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS</h2>
+<br />
+<br />
+<center>WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS</center>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center">First published in 1910, London</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center">
+TO<br>
+MY FATHER <br>
+WHOSE KEENNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT <br>
+HAVE ALWAYS BEEN <br>
+SUCH A GREAT HELP TO ME <br>
+DURING MY LAWN TENNIS CAREER</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="PREFACE"></a><h2>PREFACE</h2>
+<br>
+
+<p>As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a
+book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and
+clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my
+favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its
+literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am
+still too much affected by the &quot;brilliant and feverish glow&quot; of
+enthusiasm to dream of offering one.</p>
+
+<p>Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic
+pride, but only with a passionate fondness for what I consider a great
+sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly,
+I should like to thank all those who have assisted me with suggestions
+and the loan of photographs, especially my &quot;arena colleagues&quot; who have
+rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.</p>
+
+<p>DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CONTENTS"></a><h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+ <a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CONTENTS"><b>CONTENTS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"><b>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#LAWN_TENNIS_FOR_LADIES"><b>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I - ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II - PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III - MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV - RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V - TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI - SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII - MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)</b></a><br>
+ <a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a><br>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<a href="#img1">MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img2">WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img3a">THE FORE-HAND DRIVE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img4a">THE BACK-HAND DRIVE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img5a">SERVICE</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From photographs by Dexter.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img6">MRS. G.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES, MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W. HILLYARD</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img7">MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING, MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOHERTY</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img8">MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img9">ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY, AND MISS E.W. THOMSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img10">GROUP PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img11">AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img12">A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img13">&quot;MY SISTERS AND MYSELF&quot;</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A picture-postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert Chambers by Miss May Sutton</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">from her home in California.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img14">AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img15">SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img16">THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">SUTTON (AMERICA) <i>v</i>. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img17">MOTOR-CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL ENGLAND GROUND AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES' CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img18">WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (now MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img19">MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. STERRY, MISS V.M. PINCKNEY, MISS D. BOOTHBY</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From a photograph by G. &amp; R. Lavis, Eastbourne.</span><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#img20">MRS. LARCOMBE, MRS. LAMPLOUGH, MISS A.M. MORTON, MISS A.N.G. GREENE</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From a photograph by G. &amp; R. Lavis, Eastbourne.</span><br>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="LAWN_TENNIS_FOR_LADIES"></a>
+<h2>LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h2>ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS</h2>
+<a name="1"></a>
+<p>I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
+athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
+Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
+ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
+tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
+enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
+brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
+than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
+for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
+they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
+woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
+said for these contentions, but to my mind the <i>pros</i> materially
+outweigh the <i>cons</i>.</p>
+
+<p>As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
+evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
+more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
+A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth
+the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in
+an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the anticipation of a
+scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.
+Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm,
+collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that
+invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second
+objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on
+what is meant by the essential feature of &quot;womanliness.&quot; I am afraid
+most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, &quot;Frailty, thy name is
+woman.&quot; Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps
+call it &quot;delicacy,&quot; and refer to the &quot;weaker sex,&quot; but they mean that
+just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her
+weakness. They argue that you must impair this &quot;weakness&quot; by strenuous
+games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness,
+just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely
+physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a
+second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second
+editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, &quot;Nature
+meant to make woman its masterpiece.&quot; I well remember reading in a
+stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men
+and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while
+the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing
+ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their
+war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked
+themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind,
+was a picture of true &quot;womanliness.&quot; Inferior in neither moral strength
+nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement,
+giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he
+needs for the special experience.</p>
+<a name="5"></a>
+<p>If this, then, be &quot;womanliness,&quot; can athletic games injure it? Do they
+spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific
+excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at
+critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is
+undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame,
+more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested
+match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.
+These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the
+qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their
+sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and
+sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You
+are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do
+these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a
+thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and
+stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and
+absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.</p>
+
+<p>The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle
+prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.
+The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits,
+and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that
+it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He
+therefore said to him, &quot;Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with
+certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle
+of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take
+this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You
+must do this every day.&quot; His highness acquiesced, and in a short time
+the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved
+his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis
+ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour
+and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle
+that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude
+of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before
+me the subject is put tersely thus: &quot;Health and strength depend on rapid
+disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion.&quot;
+Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid
+exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind
+alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no
+doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion
+demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to
+say, &quot;During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air.&quot; This
+oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage
+to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the
+wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us
+with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active
+exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis
+player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily
+overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of
+oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of
+vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.</p>
+
+<p>Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are
+many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone
+it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends
+naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged,
+from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the
+knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from
+it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the
+game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not
+physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific
+application&mdash;finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women
+are just as capable of exercising as men.</p>
+<a name="9"></a>
+<p>I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with
+any first-class man of the same year you will find a great disparity
+between their actual play. That is to say, the first-class man would be
+able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a
+close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous
+odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner
+at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this pronounced discrepancy.
+Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it
+all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater
+activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own
+game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with
+less accuracy and power.</p>
+<a name="10"></a>
+<p>Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive
+game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can
+be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all
+over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time
+required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets,
+balls, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The
+club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the
+game are small as compared with golf.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img2"></a><img src="./images/img02.jpg" alt="WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE ROUND." /></center><center>WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE ROUND.</center>
+<a name="11"></a>
+<p>Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course
+by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well&mdash;far from it.
+But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of
+healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes
+to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is
+no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which
+women can combine with and compete against men without in any way
+spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the
+most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not
+wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which
+this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of
+the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf
+is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite
+first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an
+abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a
+mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is
+it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the
+combination of both sexes.</p>
+
+<p>Then it is asserted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.
+This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some
+little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and
+promptly answered by a spirited article with illustrations of some
+well-known lady hockey players&mdash;proof positive of the fallacy that
+hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions
+are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that
+instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never
+seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a
+fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see,
+although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more,
+registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and
+look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it
+is hardly possible or natural to be &quot;just so&quot; every second of a long
+struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not
+absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of
+excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This
+has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.
+Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial
+muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural
+appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman
+should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why,
+then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much,
+and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two
+perhaps, their appearance is distorted?</p>
+
+
+<a name="14"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h2>PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE</h2>
+
+<p>Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. &quot;I
+have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better
+game?&quot; That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are
+very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the
+great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match
+must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all
+know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them
+out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided
+in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up
+game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of
+playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak
+strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely
+the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do
+this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even
+given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed
+continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did
+this. The characteristic answer came back: &quot;I cannot take a back hand. I
+should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball.&quot; But what
+does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you
+are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve;
+she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.
+In fact, it was very little of a <i>practice</i> game to her. How can your
+game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what
+is feeble?</p>
+
+<p>Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind
+who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master
+it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all
+your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your
+game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded
+becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that
+you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing
+the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a
+sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and
+all the patience which must be exercised.</p>
+<a name="17"></a>
+<p>Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak
+strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But
+after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise,
+that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your
+game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily
+disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth
+playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you
+must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet
+disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit,
+or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if
+you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players
+never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many
+of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will
+certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent
+desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A
+struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his
+pastime&mdash;often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so
+obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so
+thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find
+him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He
+may play in a few competitions, but his time is more seriously occupied
+with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous
+strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the
+game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before
+he pits his skill against others.</p>
+<a name="19t"></a>
+<p>I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there
+is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the
+competitors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the
+same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never
+advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to
+another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. Assisted by a generous
+handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let
+me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes
+correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open
+competitions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are
+to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially
+by young players who have not completed what I may call
+stroke-education.</p>
+<a name="19"></a>
+<p>When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as
+strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an
+experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are
+anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more
+enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to
+advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not
+hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your
+friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books
+that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often
+noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open
+events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a
+miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players
+grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The
+book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one
+solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference
+in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own
+case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the
+ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of
+practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw
+the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an
+hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke
+you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one
+champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke
+that had to be mastered was passed through the mill and assiduously
+exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the
+purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in
+the given direction.</p>
+<a name="21"></a>
+<p>To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these
+elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal
+exhaustively with this subject, such as &quot;The Complete Lawn-Tennis
+Player,&quot; by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old
+ground.</p>
+<a name="22"></a>
+<p>The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is <i>The Fore-hand Drive</i>. A
+good fore-hand is one of the chief assets of the game; a good length
+must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as
+near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe
+shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very
+accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come
+afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.
+Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in
+front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I
+mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away
+from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about
+the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and
+simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.
+This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can
+only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or
+too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.</p>
+
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img3a"></a><img src="./images/img03a.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: BEGINNING" /><br>
+The Fore-hand drive: Beginning</td>
+    <td><center><a name="img3b"></a><img src="./images/img03b.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: MIDDLE" /></center>
+<center>The Fore-hand drive: Middle</center></td>
+    <td><a name="img3c"></a><img src="./images/img03c.jpg" alt="THE FORE-HAND DRIVE: FINISH" /><br>
+The Fore-hand drive: Finish</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<p>The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.
+Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along&mdash;your movement must be
+so perfectly timed&mdash;to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to
+follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight
+of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. <i>Timing
+your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following
+well through at the finish</i>&mdash;these are the chief secrets of good and
+powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep
+your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right
+on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot
+realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke;
+and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the
+chief attributes of success.</p>
+<a name="15"></a>
+<p><i>The Back-hand Drive</i> is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only
+with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but
+stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The
+position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is
+where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your
+right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of
+the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back,
+with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the
+centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from
+your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction
+of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court,
+from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through
+be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face
+the net.</p>
+<a name="24"></a>
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img4a"></a><img src="./images/img04a.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: BEGINNING" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Beginning</td>
+    <td><a name="img4b"></a><img src="./images/img04b.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: MIDDLE" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Middle</td>
+    <td><a name="img4c"></a><img src="./images/img04c.jpg" alt="THE BACK-HAND DRIVE: FINISH" /><br>
+The Back-hand drive: Finish&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<a name="25"></a>
+<p><i>The lob</i> is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly
+practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and
+accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent
+move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking,
+of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you
+breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to
+get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly
+always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of
+players are weaker there.</p>
+<a name="26"></a>
+<p>There are three kinds of lobs: (1) <i>The high lob</i>, sent well out of
+reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking
+some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out
+of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to
+run back and return it. (2) <i>The low lob</i>, which only just passes over
+your opponent's racket&mdash;a much more risky shot than the high lob, but
+with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting
+the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot,
+because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very
+fast-dropping ball. (3) <i>The lob-volley</i> is one of the prettiest strokes
+and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with
+success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your
+opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played
+with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the
+ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a
+high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal
+for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath
+the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the
+racket.</p>
+<a name="27h"></a>
+<p><i>The Half Volley</i>.&mdash;This stroke has great possibilities, and is
+efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for
+defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact,
+within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it
+can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained,
+as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it
+wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of
+players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another
+reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.</p>
+<a name="27"></a>
+<p><i>A short drop shot</i> from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any
+position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back
+of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is
+difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient
+practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be
+expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.</p>
+
+<p>I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.
+Owing to its success&mdash;my opponent never even attempted to reach it&mdash;I
+won ace after ace. At the end of the match my opponent indignantly
+upbraided me. &quot;I cannot admire your length,&quot; she protested. Neither did
+she think it was &quot;fair to play sneaks,&quot; adding, &quot;Anybody could win if
+they cared to play like that.&quot; In her opinion it wasn't tennis! I'm
+afraid I did not take this censure very seriously. As the object of the
+game is to put the ball as far out of reach of your opponent as
+possible, I could not see what difference there was between making her
+run from side to side of the base-line or to the net and back again.
+Both methods as regards placing are just as good tennis, and should be
+used judiciously in turn. But this sort of argument did not appeal to my
+opponent; she still thought any one could win who cared to play that
+&quot;unsporting game.&quot; Perhaps the incident caused her to think a little,
+and it may be she tried the stroke in her next match. If so, I am quite
+sure she did not find it so easy to play accurately as she had imagined.</p>
+
+<p>The danger of this stroke is that unless it is just in the right spot,
+instead of giving you an advantage it will be a very easy ball for your
+opponent to score off. If it is short, it will find the net; if hit too
+far, it becomes a bad-length ball and will get the punishment it
+deserves. It is difficult to explain how this stroke should be played. I
+think it is best to stand very close to the ball and get rather in front
+of it, drawing the racket across it from right to left&mdash;stroking the
+ball, as it were, rather than hitting it. It requires a delicate touch,
+and can be very deceptively played. Your opponent is kept in the dark
+until the last moment, when the ace has probably been won.</p>
+<a name="30"></a>
+<p><i>The Service</i>.&mdash;I should, as a rule, advise an overhead service. At the
+same time, an underhand cut service is very useful as a change. Variety
+of stroke and tactics should always be encouraged.</p>
+
+<p>For an <i>overhead service</i> stand sideways to the net, with your left foot
+just behind the base-line, the left shoulder facing the net, and the
+right foot a little to the right of and behind the left. Throw the ball
+high up over your right ear, bend your body well back and your right
+shoulder down. Raise the racket at the same time as you throw up the
+ball, hit it with the centre of your racket, bringing your body forward
+with all its weight on to the ball, and transferring your weight from
+the right foot to the left at the moment of impact. Bring your racket
+right through, and finish a little to the left of your left knee. At
+the time you throw the ball into the air the left shoulder must be
+facing the net, and as your racket hits the ball and follows through to
+your left knee your body should be brought round to face the net.</p>
+<table width="80%" border="0" align="center">
+  <tr>
+    <td><a name="img5a"></a><img src="./images/img05a.jpg" alt="BEGINNING OF SERVICE" /><br>
+BEGINNING OF SERVICE</td>
+    <td><a name="img5b"></a><img src="./images/img05b.jpg" alt="MIDDLE OF SERVICE" /><br>
+MIDDLE OF SERVICE</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Do not at first attempt a fast service; keep your ardour down until you
+have gained a mastery of the ball and can vary its direction. Place is
+always better than pace; this applies, generally speaking, to other
+strokes besides the service. Try to cultivate a second service which
+bears a likeness to the first. That is to say, if you have served a
+fault (and the best players in the world cannot be absolutely sure that
+their first delivery will not pitch just over the side-line or
+service-line or hit the top of the net), do not be contented with a soft
+and guileless second which has no length and which gives your opponent
+an excellent chance of making a winning drive. Most players are weaker
+on their backhand. Remember that fact and place your ball accordingly.
+It is a good plan, when serving from the right-hand court, to aim for
+the spot where the centre line bisects the service-line. Length and
+direction will both be good, and in nine cases out of ten your opponent
+will be required to move to make the return&mdash;always a point in your
+favour.</p>
+
+<p>Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is
+essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are
+stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary
+knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable
+for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they
+have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular
+merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the
+racket the more liable is it to go astray. Another reason why you should
+temper zeal with discretion is that a vigorous service will tire you out
+like nothing else, and in a long match stamina should be judiciously
+preserved. You never know when an extra spurt may not be required to
+turn the scale in your favour. I have often noticed the difference in
+length and sting between the service of some players at the beginning of
+the match and in the third set, and I am sure that one of the reasons
+why so many matches are ultimately lost after a promising start is the
+decline in the service, in its sustained vigour and in its length.</p>
+
+<p>By the way, why do many lady players, even those who compete at open
+tournaments, stand several feet behind the base-line when serving? Are
+they aware that the length of their service is probably just so many
+feet short of what it ought to be and that they voluntarily give
+themselves an extra journey to recover short returns, even if they reach
+them at all? You will never find expert players, who appreciate what I
+may call the geometry of the court, penalise themselves in this manner.
+Yet the habit, for some reason or other, would appear to be on the
+increase.</p>
+<a name="34"></a>
+<p><i>Low Volleys</i>.&mdash;For these strokes the head of your racket should be
+above your wrist, your elbow low down, and your knees slightly bent. You
+should, in fact, stoop so that your eye is level with the flight of the
+ball. The late Mr. H.S. Mahony used to say that if girls would only bend
+down more to the ball they would be able to volley much better. You
+should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor
+relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the
+place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to
+remember the oft-repeated maxim: &quot;Keep your eye on the ball.&quot; Watch it
+up to the moment of striking. Do not always &quot;smash&quot; every overhead ball
+when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste
+of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a
+mistake. For a <i>smash</i> the right shoulder should be down and well under
+the ball, the head and weight well back, the weight transferred at the
+moment of striking from the right to the left leg, the body balanced
+with extended left arm, and the body-weight brought right on to the ball
+as it is hit. Finish to the left of your left knee as in the service.</p>
+
+
+<a name="36"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h2>MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY</h2>
+
+<p>When you have acquired a certain knowledge of the game and can play the
+various strokes in the correct way, then, as I have said, tournament and
+match play is the very best method of improvement. I would emphasize the
+need for a certain standard of efficiency, because I am convinced that
+at the present time there are too many weak players competing at open
+meetings. The style of these players has only to be watched to be
+condemned, and their knowledge of the game is hopelessly limited.
+Invariably making strokes in a wrong way, tournament play only serves to
+consolidate weaknesses and check advance.</p>
+<a name="37"></a>
+<p>But assuming you have practised on sound lines and are fit to take part
+in what, after all, should be a test of trained skill, tournaments will
+then be a great help to you. You will more often than not play against
+better players than yourself&mdash;an advantage denied you in practice&mdash;and
+against all varieties of attack and defence. You have the chance of
+watching first-class matches and learning at first hand how the
+different strokes should be played. You should be careful, however, to
+limit the number of your tournaments, especially when the excitement and
+strain are new to you; otherwise you will do much more harm than good. I
+am convinced that, generally speaking, players attend too many meetings.
+Instead of their play improving, it may deteriorate. They run the
+fearful risk of staleness&mdash;one of the greatest dangers to a lawn tennis
+player&mdash;and they become physically worn out. As soon as you find you are
+losing interest in the game, when it becomes an effort to go into court,
+give the game a rest. It is clear you have overdone it and need a
+period of recuperation. One or two tournaments at a time, and then a
+rest to practise the new strokes and tactical moves you have learnt and
+seen, would, I feel sure, be much more helpful to your game than
+tournament touring, week-in and week-out.</p>
+
+<p>Some people advise you to dismiss the coming match entirely from your
+mind before going into court. Personally I find this physically
+impossible, and I do not commend the suggestion. I think it is much
+better to study your opponent's game before pitting your own against it.
+Many matches may be lost while you are finding out the right line of
+attack. Therefore I advise you to think about the match you are going to
+play. Mentally rehearse your mode of campaign. But do not worry over the
+possible result. At all costs it must not be allowed to disturb your
+sleep the night before&mdash;there is nothing puts me off my game so much as
+a sleepless night.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as you know who your opponent is, seize every opportunity to
+watch her play, get to know her strong and her weak points, and map out
+your plan of campaign. Then come the first preliminaries, the toss for
+choice of sides or service. In choosing your side you must take into
+consideration the position of the sun, the wind, the slope of the court
+(if any), and the background. If you have won the toss and do not mind
+on which side you start playing, and also have a good service, elect to
+begin the service. If you have won the toss and for some good reason do
+not wish to serve first, you can make your opponent serve; but remember
+that you also give her choice of courts.</p>
+<a name="40"></a>
+<p>One of the great things to remember in match play is this&mdash;do not strive
+to win outright with every stroke. Especially does this maxim apply to
+the return of the service. So many players are inaccurate with this
+important stroke simply because their sole ambition is to make it end
+the rest. Much better to work for your opening. Try to imagine where
+your opponent will be after taking a certain stroke, and then according
+to this position determine which is the best stroke to play next. It is
+similar to playing chess. You should think a move or sometimes two moves
+in advance. Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief
+factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to
+send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious
+to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before
+you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not
+where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back
+to the original place&mdash;that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly
+leaving. She will most probably be beaten by this simple device. Trite
+though the hint may appear, always try to send the ball where it will
+be least expected.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img6"></a><img src="./images/img06.jpg" alt="TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE SATCHVILLE MRS. C.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W.HILLYARD" /></center>
+
+<p>Again I would urge the importance of keeping your whole attention
+absorbed on the game. Complete concentration is absolutely essential.
+You <i>must</i> lose yourself in the game&mdash;eye, mind, and hand all working
+together. If you find that events transpiring outside the court are
+attracting your attention, you cannot be watching the ball. Many
+players, even when concentrating, take their eye off the ball too soon,
+with the result that it is not properly timed and not hit cleanly in the
+centre of the racket.</p>
+
+<p>In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never
+give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the
+experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player
+has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore,
+unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of
+the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win
+the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img7"></a><img src="./images/img07.jpg" alt="MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOUGHERTY TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE'S SATCHVILLE" /></center>
+<a name="43"></a><a name="42"></a>
+<p>The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time;
+never for one moment slack off. For if you do it is very hard to get
+going again, and you may find yourself caught up and passed at the post
+before you have a chance of getting back into your stride. I well
+remember being a set up and five games to one against Miss C.M. Wilson
+(now Mrs. Luard) one year at Newcastle, when victory for me meant
+permanent possession of the challenge cup. This cup was very valuable,
+for it had a splendid list of names inscribed upon it; it had been going
+for very many years. Miss Wilson seemed so off her game, and I was
+winning so comfortably, that I could almost see that cup on my
+sideboard! But it was not to be. (At any rate not that year. I was lucky
+enough to win the Cup outright in 1908, when it was even more
+valuable, as Miss Sutton's name had been added.) Whether I
+unconsciously slacked off, thinking the match was mine (which is a fatal
+thing to do at any time), or whether Miss Wilson suddenly found her
+game, is impossible for me to say, but she eventually won that match and
+the cup and championship for the year. She never gave in, but played
+most pluckily right up to the end. I remember another match where the
+result hung in the balance for some time. I was playing Miss A.N.G.
+Greene at Eastbourne in 1907; again the Cup would be my own property if
+I won it. I met Miss Greene in the second round. She won the first set,
+and was five games to four in the second set, and seven times she only
+wanted one point to win that match. I was able to make it five games
+all. It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after
+having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it
+completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite
+easily.</p>
+<a name="44"></a>
+<p>Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching
+up your opponent, that when you do draw level <i>you do not relax your
+efforts</i>. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The
+strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when
+you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. A
+rest is taken, often involuntarily. It is fatal, because before you
+realize it and can get going again your opponent has run out a winner.
+This happened to me at Wimbledon in 1908 against Mrs. Sterry. I was
+behind the whole time, and it was a great relief in the second set to
+hear the score at last called five games all. But I had hardly taken a
+breather when Mrs. Sterry secured the set by seven games to five. The
+eleventh game I played almost unconsciously, so relieved was I at
+getting on even terms, when I ought to have spared no effort to win
+that critical game, even if I had failed. These three matches&mdash;and I
+could mention many others&mdash;show how important it is to play hard right
+up to the last stroke of the match, letting nothing put you off, never
+losing your temper, taking umpire's bad decisions and all the little
+annoyances that may disturb you in a sportsmanlike manner&mdash;keeping your
+whole attention, in fact, absolutely concentrated on the game.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img8"></a><img src="./images/img08.jpg" alt="MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907" /></center>
+<a name="45"></a>
+<p>In a single it is best when serving to stand as near the centre of the
+base-line as possible. In this position you have greater command of your
+court, and there is not so much scope for your opponent to put the ball
+out of your reach. Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion and
+ex-champion of England, in her desire to stand as near the centre of the
+court as she possibly can, gets so close that umpires find it very
+difficult to tell whether she is serving from the right court or the
+wrong. In fact, I think I am right in saying she has actually been
+pulled up for stepping over the centre line of the base-line. If you
+stand as close as she does you are liable to step over the line
+unconsciously. Stand as near the centre line as possible, but without
+any risk of stepping over it. On the other hand, there are players who
+prefer to serve from the other extreme end. Mr. A.W. Gore, the present
+champion of England, is one of these, but personally I cannot see any
+advantage in this position. It seems to leave so much open court, of
+which your adversary will not be slow to make use.</p>
+
+<p>Use the overhead service for choice, but have an underhand service ready
+at your command&mdash;it may come in very useful for a change. Remember that
+a good-length, well-placed service is better than a very fast one, and
+much less tiring in a long match. Keep your opponent wondering where the
+service will come next; vary it as much as you possibly can, both as to
+pace and direction. Be sure to make your opponent move to take it.</p>
+<a name="47"></a>
+<p>I have tried the American service, but I think the strain is too severe
+for the average girl, and the advantage gained would be very slight, for
+the rest of your game would deteriorate, owing to fatigue. It places so
+much tension on all the muscles of the body, and I do not think it would
+do a girl's health any good to cultivate it. Of course if she were
+abnormally strong and did not feel the effects of the physical effort,
+she would be a tower of strength in the land, and her service would be
+an invaluable one.</p>
+<a name="48"></a>
+<p>I am not an advocate of persistent volleying in a lady's single. I think
+it is too great a tax on the physique. Nor do I think it pays in the
+long-run. A volleyer, to my mind, is much easier to play against than a
+base-liner, and most of the first-class base-line players agree with me.
+The great physical exertion entailed in running continually to the net
+will after a time make the ground strokes weaker and weaker; and you
+<i>must</i> have good length to be able to come up and volley with any
+success. Miss E.W. Thomson (now Mrs. Larcombe), one of our best lady
+volleyers, put up a magnificent game in the first set against Miss
+Sutton at Wimbledon in the championship singles of 1905. She had
+carefully watched Miss Sutton's game and thought out the best way to
+play her. Volleying most judiciously, she would force Miss Sutton up to
+the net with a short drop stroke, and then, lobbing over her head nearly
+on to the base-line, take up a position at the net, winning the ace with
+a neat cross volley. These tactics she repeated again and again, and
+actually led by five games to two. If she could have lasted she must
+have won that match. But she could not keep it up. She became obviously
+exhausted, did not get up to the net quickly enough, and her length got
+shorter and shorter. Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next
+easily.  Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next easily. I do
+not know what would have happened if Miss Thomson, when she found she
+was tiring, had stayed back for a little while and then resumed her
+tactics at the net. Perhaps she would have come much nearer to victory.</p>
+<a name="49"></a>
+<p>A very large majority of non-volleyers in singles have won the ladies'
+championship, and I think that fact helps to prove my argument. Miss
+Maud Watson, Miss Rice, Mrs. Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton,
+Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are
+the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley.
+You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play
+and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length
+ball.</p>
+<a name="50"></a>
+<p>In <i>Doubles</i> of course it is different. I think then a girl should
+volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make
+the game so much more attractive. I think it would be an excellent plan
+if ladies' doubles were always played like men's doubles, both players
+moving together and keeping parallel with one another, going up to the
+net together and retiring to the back of the court together. Competitors
+would improve their volleying, and the double, instead of being the
+dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
+would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
+change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
+would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
+formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
+Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
+tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
+the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
+improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.</p>
+<a name="51"></a>
+<p>Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
+volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
+event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
+experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
+played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
+base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
+event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
+volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
+wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
+Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
+ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
+pities.</p>
+<a name="52"></a>
+<p>In <i>Mixed Doubles</i> a girl has a very important part to play.
+Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
+partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
+double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
+he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
+&quot;plums.&quot; She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
+the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
+down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
+moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
+tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
+Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
+way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
+Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
+off, however &quot;jumpy&quot; the opposing man is, or however much he is running
+across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
+is without looking at him.</p>
+<a name="53"></a>
+<p>To play a mixed double you must be able to lob. It is really the most
+necessary stroke to cultivate. A very good return of the opposing lady's
+service, when both men are at the net, is a lob back to the server. It
+is much safer than lobbing over the man's head&mdash;if at all short your
+ball will be instantly killed&mdash;and it also gives your partner at the net
+plenty of time to anticipate any kind of return. It will be difficult
+for the server to return a good-length lob out of your partner's reach.
+The opposing man at the net will not be able to do anything with this
+lob&mdash;it is quite out of his reach&mdash;and it would be useless for him to
+run across as he might do for a cross drive. It is usually best, I
+think, for a lady to serve down the centre of the court in a mixed
+double. It shuts up the angles of the court more, and there is less risk
+of her partner being passed down his side line.</p>
+<a name="54"></a>
+<p>Do not enter for too many events in a tournament. You may get thoroughly
+worn out and not able to do yourself justice in any, and you would
+probably have to play when you were very tired&mdash;bad for your game, and
+worse still for your partner's chance in a double. Remember that before
+playing an important match it is very injudicious to watch another game.
+It is likely to put your eye out. If possible, do not travel by train
+just before playing, or carry anything heavy, such as your tennis bag,
+for this will make your hand shaky and unsteady.</p>
+
+<p>To sum up, there are five golden rules which I have found very helpful
+to me when playing an important match. I give them to you in the hope
+that they may prove equally valuable. Always remember that constant
+practice of these rules will make their pursuit natural in a match.</p>
+
+<p>I. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL</p>
+
+<p>You have so often been told this, I know, and perhaps the familiar ring
+about the advice may evoke contempt. Yet unless this rule is implicitly
+obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye
+off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You
+must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on
+to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court
+and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same
+time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting
+his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! Always be on your
+guard against this inclination. It is at first done almost
+unconsciously, but it soon becomes a habit.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GAME</p>
+
+<p>This is a most important rule. As I have remarked before, complete
+concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried
+about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your
+game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment
+playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well
+demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain.
+The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more
+or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the
+whole time.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. KEEP PERFECT CONTROL OF THE TEMPER</p>
+
+<p>This rule some players will find much more difficult than others. You
+hear of a person having the right temperament for games, of being
+naturally imperturbable. It is a priceless quality, for to my mind it is
+half the battle if nothing can disturb your equanimity. To be calm and
+placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any
+way put out, whatever little worries may turn up&mdash;and sometimes these
+worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit&mdash;that is one of
+the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not
+natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. But it requires
+much practice and an abundance of will-power and self-control. It is a
+very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be
+upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your
+opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up
+harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at
+something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have
+a much better chance of winning the match.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. KEEP YOUR HEART IN THE GAME</p>
+
+<p>By this I mean do not get easily downhearted and discouraged. Fight
+pluckily to the end, however things are going against you. Courage and
+pluck are wanted above all things to carry you successfully through your
+matches. Never say die, however hopeless the score may sound against
+you. If you are very done up, try not to make it too obvious. Your
+opponent may be just as played out as you are. Seeing your signals of
+distress, she will buoy herself up and continue the struggle with
+renewed hope and vigour.</p>
+<br>
+<a name="58"></a>
+<p>V. KEEP YOUR METHOD ON THE MOVE</p>
+
+<p>This maxim is rather difficult to explain. What I mean is, you should
+vary your manner of play and re-adapt it in order to counteract your
+opponent. Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great
+mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving
+unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on
+the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in
+the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do
+what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her
+plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt
+myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. It
+gives her plenty of excellent practice, of course, and when you find she
+is beginning not to mind it so much, give it a rest. When you go back to
+it you will probably find it successful again. Use your brain, and
+always know what you are trying to do. Play with an object of attack and
+defence. Do not merely return the ball aimlessly; let each stroke have
+its little work to do to complete the whole victory. This is difficult,
+I know, but it is so much more fascinating, and is, I am sure, the way
+the game was meant to be played. There is much science that can be
+brought into lawn tennis, always something new to learn. And that is the
+reason why we never tire of playing it.</p>
+
+
+<a name="60"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h2>RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING</h2>
+
+<p>A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
+inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
+particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
+so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
+suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
+first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
+you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
+enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a &quot;Slazenger&quot; racket,
+preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
+manufacturers.</p>
+
+<p>The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
+wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
+back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
+part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
+with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
+If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
+been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung&mdash;the frame
+would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
+than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
+and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
+of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
+the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
+my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
+prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.</p>
+
+<p>The handle should be about five inches in circumference&mdash;at least, that
+is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
+circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
+hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
+the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
+tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
+requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
+handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
+when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
+and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
+experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?</p>
+
+<p>You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
+tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
+in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
+necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
+sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
+usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
+rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
+will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.</p>
+
+<p>Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
+to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
+when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
+bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
+plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
+little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
+stock.</p>
+<a name="64"></a>
+<p>And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
+during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
+tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
+experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
+their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
+&quot;garden-party&quot; trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse&mdash;a most
+unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
+you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
+action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
+which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
+volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
+to the net&mdash;all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
+and facility.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img9"></a><img src="./images/img09.jpg" alt="ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)" /></center>
+
+<p>I advise a plain gored skirt&mdash;not pleated; I think these most
+unsuitable on court&mdash;about four or five inches from the ground. It
+should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
+Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
+untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides&mdash;dropping at the
+back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
+the laundry. A plain shirt without &quot;frills or furbelows&quot;&mdash;if any
+trimming at all, tucks are the neatest&mdash;a collar, tie, and waistband, go
+to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
+desire.</p>
+<a name="67"></a>
+<p>The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
+matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
+flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
+White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
+not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
+material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
+to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
+urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
+brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
+brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
+same colour.</p>
+
+<p>I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
+the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
+it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
+seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
+not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
+the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
+look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
+other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
+is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
+drag about the court.</p>
+
+<p>If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
+called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
+men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
+wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
+movements.</p>
+
+<p>I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
+the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
+tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
+make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the &quot;gym&quot;
+shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
+find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
+shoe&mdash;there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
+wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
+pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
+and can always replace them without any great expense.</p>
+
+<p>I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
+not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
+to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
+good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
+article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
+tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
+however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
+contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
+material&mdash;blanket is very popular and serviceable&mdash;and it should reach
+to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.</p>
+
+<p>I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
+are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
+ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
+match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
+bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
+adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
+her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
+most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
+player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
+firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
+directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
+portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
+naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
+bracelet in court.</p>
+<a name="69"></a>
+<p><i>Training for match play</i> is rather a difficult subject for me to write
+about, for I have never gone in for proper &quot;training.&quot; The great secret
+is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
+strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
+successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
+you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
+important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
+is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
+beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
+your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
+leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
+it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
+for an important match is to be always in &quot;training&quot;; not to have to
+alter your habits before a match is the secret. <a name="72d"></a>To change your diet and
+mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
+upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
+course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
+before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
+some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
+the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
+course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
+cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
+change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
+I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
+whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
+exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
+heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
+player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
+the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
+bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
+and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
+necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
+no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
+always &quot;fit,&quot; and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
+without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
+sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
+if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
+important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
+necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
+open.</p>
+<a name="72"></a>
+<p>As to <i>Courts</i>, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
+as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
+to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
+think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
+is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
+genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a <i>good</i> grass
+court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
+appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
+to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
+weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
+day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
+good grass courts are few and far between.</p>
+<a name="74"></a>
+<p>The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
+such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
+maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
+are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
+courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
+constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
+than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
+pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
+grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, &quot;almost
+as rare a sight as a dead donkey.&quot; Happily we get this rare spectacle at
+Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img10"></a><img src="./images/img10.jpg" alt="GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902" /></center>
+<a name="76"></a>
+<p>What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
+convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
+more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
+on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
+courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
+good game the very first time he played on a first-class court&mdash;I refer
+to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
+the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
+He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
+that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
+and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
+never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
+false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
+thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
+When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
+found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
+and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
+much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
+depressing conditions&mdash;you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
+After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
+in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
+play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
+call &quot;cabbage patches&quot;&mdash;(&quot;Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage,&quot; was
+his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
+understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.</p>
+<a name="76q"></a>
+<p>A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
+good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
+Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
+three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
+wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
+few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
+On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
+if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
+it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
+game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.</p>
+<a name="77"></a>
+<p>Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
+we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
+same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
+and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
+the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess&mdash;we should
+welcome it over here&mdash;is that when it rains play is quite out of the
+question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
+often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
+courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
+watering.</p>
+
+
+<a name="78"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h2>TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT</h2>
+
+<p>I wish an &quot;Order of Play&quot; could be used more at English tournaments.
+That is to say, I wish matches could be arranged to take place at a
+certain hour, following the plan adopted at Wimbledon and at all the
+meetings on the Continent. Such an arrangement would greatly add to the
+comfort and enjoyment of competitors, and would, I imagine, be a great
+boon to the referee. Spectators, I know, would welcome it. I think a
+time-table might prove unworkable where handicap events are concerned,
+but in the case of open events I feel sure it could be introduced with
+great advantage to all concerned. I have so often sat hour after hour at
+a London tournament (having only entered for the open events), perhaps
+playing one match, perhaps not playing at all. If I had been told
+overnight that I should not be wanted, or exactly at what hour my match
+would take place, it would have been so much more satisfactory and saved
+so much wasted time. This waiting about takes away half the pleasure of
+playing in London meetings. Even if there are good matches going on you
+do not care to watch them incessantly; there may be a chance of your
+playing off a tie, and it would tend to put your eye out. On one
+occasion, having a long way to go to a tournament in which I was only
+entered for the open mixed doubles, I telephoned to know whether I
+should be wanted or not. &quot;Well,&quot; replied the referee, &quot;if I call you and
+you are not on the ground, I shall scratch you. In your own interest you
+had better come over.&quot; For my partner's sake, as well as my own, I was
+bound to go. As I expected, I sat the whole afternoon and evening doing
+absolutely nothing. When I begged to be allowed to play, as I had come
+some distance for this one match, the referee examined his programme and
+said, &quot;Oh, it is quite impossible to-day. They have not played the round
+in front of you yet!&quot;</p>
+
+<center><a name="img11"></a><img src="./images/img11.jpg" alt="AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS" /></center>
+
+<p>This sort of thing implies gross mismanagement, besides resulting in
+unnecessary wear and tear for the competitors. If there was an order of
+play arranged for each day, all the bother would be obviated. I believe
+that business men who cannot get away in the early afternoon have their
+matches timed and arranged for them. Why are not all competitors treated
+alike?</p>
+
+<p>While I am on this subject of &quot;waiting about,&quot; let me say that I think
+ladies do not take nearly enough care of themselves after playing. They
+ought to wrap up well if they have not time to change before their next
+match. Men are much more careful. They put on their coats immediately
+they leave the court, and change their clothes as soon as they can. But
+you will see girls chatting after a match, and even having tea, without
+deigning to put on an extra wrap. It is courting disaster. The colds and
+more dangerous ailments that arise from this little want of care
+naturally afford people a line of attack when they object to girls
+engaging in violent exercise.</p>
+<a name="81"></a>
+<p>You cannot be too careful after strenuous play. I am well aware that
+ladies are catered for very badly at most of the tournaments in regard
+to changing-room accommodation. Some places we have had to put up with
+are disgraceful. I think most lady players will agree with me when I say
+that Wimbledon and Queen's Club are about the only two grounds where you
+can change with any degree of comfort. This is not right, and I am sure
+if men had to experience the changing-room accommodation afforded for
+our use there would not be many of them competing at tournaments. I
+think the two clubs I have mentioned are the only two where we even get
+a bathroom! Some tournaments provide a draughty tent for our use.
+Moreover, there is generally only one dressing-room, and feminine
+spectators often crowd round the one looking-glass, staring at the
+players as if they were animals on show! It is sometimes even impossible
+to sit down to rest after a hard and tiring contest.</p>
+
+<p>I appeal to secretaries of tournaments for some reform. A number of lady
+players have asked me to use this opportunity to point out some of our
+most pressing grievances. I hope these remarks, which are none too
+strong, may bear fruit. Visitors who come over from other countries are
+always loud in their complaints, and I am not surprised. I believe the
+Beckenham authorities are doing all they can to impart a little more
+comfort to the ladies' changing and resting-room, and they have greatly
+improved their accommodation. It is time other meetings followed their
+example. At the seaside meetings it does not so much matter. Most of the
+players stay near the ground and can go to their own rooms and be back
+in time to play again, if necessary; but in London tournaments, where
+there is often a long drive or train journey before one reaches home, it
+is most important that there should be a good changing-room.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img12"></a><img src="./images/img12.jpg" alt="A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE <i>Front row (left to right</i>): THE LATE MISS C. MEYRE, MR. G.W. HILLYARD, MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS, MR. N.E. BROOKES, MR. A.J. ROBERTS" /></center>
+
+<p>There is another improvement which I feel sure would be greatly welcomed
+by competitors, and that is a separate tea-tent for their use. Often a
+player has only a few minutes to get her tea, and, with the general
+public engaged in the same amiable pursuit, she is not able to be served
+and has to go away tealess. If there were a competitors' tea-tent, a
+player could obtain her tea in comfort when she wanted it.</p>
+<a name="84"></a>
+<p>Always bear in mind that a referee at a tournament has a most &quot;worrying
+time of it.&quot; Players can and should help to make his task lighter.
+There are many ways in which they can assist to make the tournament as
+successful as possible. One is by being punctual and ready dressed to
+play when wanted, and another is by umpiring when they are disengaged
+and have not an important match just coming on. &quot;Taking the chair&quot; may
+help them not to dispute an umpire's decision when they are in court
+themselves. They will realize how difficult umpiring is, and that bad as
+umpires often are they are doing their best. To dispute a decision or to
+argue with the umpire never helps matters; it usually makes him nervous.
+A bad decision must be taken as a fortune of war, and borne in a
+sportsmanlike manner. But you must never allow the crowd to influence
+the umpire. It is a hopeless expedient, for many people who watch
+matches are ignorant of the rules of the game.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes&mdash;I suppose it is Hobson's choice&mdash;an umpire is chosen from the
+&quot;gate.&quot; If he knows little or nothing of his duties the result is
+disastrous. Should there be difficulty in getting an umpire who knows
+something of his work, I think the match should take care of itself. I
+have experienced umpires who do not even know how to score!</p>
+<a name="85"></a>
+<p>And now a word or two about <i>Clubs.</i> It is very difficult to manage a
+lawn tennis club successfully; much tact is required. I think it is
+almost impossible to prevent a club being &quot;cliquey,&quot; and I should always
+advise a player who wishes to improve her game to join one which is more
+concerned with its tennis than its social side. Some clubs still use the
+game for a garden-party, where long trailing skirts, sunshades, and
+basket chairs predominate. Perhaps a game or two is played in the cool
+of the evening. That sort of club should be avoided if you are a keen
+and enthusiastic player.</p>
+
+<p>The committee of a club should be a small one, consisting of members
+who are devoted to the best interests of the game. Their aim should be
+to keep in touch with all the latest developments, and above all to keep
+up to date, advancing with the times. A committee sometimes embraces old
+supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They
+have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like
+innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the
+benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good
+match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the
+members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly
+rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and
+combine well together. A committee should do all in its power to improve
+the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having
+well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with
+side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a
+player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters
+for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her
+game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad
+management of a club.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img13"></a><img src="./images/img13.jpg" alt="&quot;MY SISTERS AND MYSELF&quot; <i>A picture postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert-Chambers by Miss May Sutton from her home in California</i>." /></center>
+<a name="87"></a>
+<p>It is an excellent plan for members of the committee to drop in at some
+of the tournaments and see how things are done there. Developments may
+have occurred of which they know nothing, and they could pick up many a
+wrinkle by a tour of inspection. Before one secretary of a fairly large
+tournament went to Wimbledon he had never seen a canvas background.</p>
+
+
+<a name="88"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h2>SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<p>I have been asked to write what I can remember of my earliest tennis
+days. This is rather difficult, as it is now thirteen years since I
+entered for my first tournament in 1896. It is never easy or pleasant to
+write one's own biography, but I have been assured that readers will be
+interested to hear something of my career in court.</p>
+
+<p>I have said that 1896 was the first year I entered for a tournament,
+which is quite true; but I always reckon that my tournament experience
+did not really start until the year 1898, because in the two previous
+years I only entered for one tournament (The Gipsy), and only in the
+handicap at that, and I came out first round. In 1898 I played in three
+tournaments, and in more events at each one.</p>
+
+<p>My earliest recollections of a racket and tennis ball go back to when I
+was quite small. My greatest amusement was to play up against a brick
+wall, with numerous dolls and animals of all kinds as spectators&mdash;really
+as big a gate as we get now at some tournaments! Each toy in turn was
+chosen as my opponent. Needless to say, I always won these matches. My
+adversaries took very little interest in the proceedings. This was some
+years before I even played in a court, and I think it was a very good
+way of starting the game.</p>
+<a name="89"></a>
+<p>I then played in a court we had at home, which was not very good;
+gooseberry bushes prevented our running outside the court at all. I next
+joined a club at Ealing Common, and at the age of eleven won my first
+prize, the Handicap Singles at our club tournament. Of course I was
+receiving enormous points, and I remember to this day how bored the best
+lady players in the club were when they had to play me. My game then,
+from all accounts, involved a sequence of very high lobs. I am now quite
+envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days. I had absolutely no
+pace, but was active and very steady, and desperately serious and keen
+about the game. At this time also I used to play at college, preferring
+tennis to cricket, which was the exception. Cricket was the great game.
+Tennis was pushed into the background, and very little interest was
+taken in it, even when the matches were played to decide the winner of
+the racket presented each year to the best player in the school by some
+kind parent. I won this racket one year, but could never use it, as it
+was heavily weighted with an enormous silver shield on which was a
+lengthy inscription. Of course the balance of the racket was absolutely
+upset.</p>
+
+<p>There was not much chance of improving at school, because nobody took
+the trouble to have the court or net of the right dimensions. The rules
+of the game were not even known. Every ball that touched the line was
+given out. I remember a very heated argument I had with a mistress who
+was umpiring a match for me, the result of which was that I had lines to
+write for impertinence!</p>
+<a name="91"></a>
+<p>In 1899 I joined the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club, and won the singles
+championship cup three years in succession, thus keeping it for my own
+property. At one time Mrs. Hillyard and Mrs. Sterry had both been
+members of this same club. Curiously enough, Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry,
+Miss Sutton, and myself have all lived, at different periods of our
+lives, very close together&mdash;Mrs. Hillyard at Greenford, Mrs. Sterry and
+myself at Ealing, and Miss Sutton at Acton. I think about this time I
+very much improved my game by constantly playing singles against the
+best men in the club, and also doubles with three men. This was
+undoubtedly excellent practice for me.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img14"></a><img src="./images/img14.jpg" alt="AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM" /></center>
+<a name="93"></a><a name="92"></a>
+<p>In 1898 I won my first prizes in open tournaments, the handicap singles
+at Chiswick Park and Queen's Club. At Chiswick I received 15.4, and met
+Miss C. Cooper in the semi-final. I remember quite well my &quot;stage
+fright&quot; when I went into court against this famous player, even at the
+tremendous odds of owe 15.3 and give 15.4. I lost the first set easily,
+and the game was then postponed until the next day owing to failing
+light. After that first set, a friend said to me, &quot;If you could only
+forget it's Miss Cooper, I am certain you could win.&quot; The next day I
+tried to follow out this advice, and eventually won the match with the
+score of 3/6, 6/1, 6/4. At Queen's I met Miss C. Cooper again. She was
+owing 40 and I was receiving 2/6. I again managed to win, this time in
+two sets, 6/2, 6/3. At Eastbourne the same year, my third tournament, I
+was in the second-class handicap owing 15, and survived a few rounds.
+Miss C.M. Wilson was also in the second class at 4/6, but we did not
+meet. Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene, Miss Garfit, Miss Robb, Mrs.
+Hillyard, Miss Dyas, Miss Austin, and Miss C. Cooper were in the first
+class. The classification for that year (1898) was:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Austin</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Dyas</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Garfit</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Kirby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Legh</td></tr></table>
+<a name="94m"></a>
+<p>The first player of any repute that I beat in Open Singles was Miss E.R.
+Morgan, whom I defeated in 1899 at Chiswick Park. I was beaten in the
+next round by Miss B. Tulloch after a severe tussle. I again won the
+Handicap Singles at Queen's. I was on the scratch mark, the farthest
+back I had yet been. Miss Austin was back-marker at owe 30.3.</p>
+
+<p>The classification for 1899 was:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Austin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss M.E. Robb</td><th align="left">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td><th align="left">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Kirby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="94"></a>
+<p>In 1900 Miss Marion Jones, then American lady champion, came over to
+England. I played one of the most exhausting matches against her that I
+have ever experienced. It was at Queen's Club in the Handicap Singles. I
+was owing 3/6 and Miss Jones receiving 3/6. There was a good deal of
+discussion at the time about this match, and in spite of the tremendous
+heat (we do not get such summers now) we were persuaded to go into
+court. In truth it was a gruelling day. I remember men walked about the
+streets fanning themselves. We played for hours in a blazing sun, and I
+eventually won, the score being 8/10, 6/2, 7/5. After the match Miss
+Jones was taken to the dressing-room in a fainting condition, and when I
+reached home I had an attack of sunstroke, and had my head packed in
+ice. The umpire was also seriously ill for some time. It was only the
+international element in the game and the controversy about the relative
+points that made us fight it out to the bitter end.</p>
+<a name="95"></a>
+<p>We both thoroughly agreed with the notice of this match which appeared
+in <i>Lawn Tennis</i> the following week:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The ladies had their example of untiring effort and splendid patience
+in the second round of the Handicap Singles, when Miss Marion Jones, the
+American champion (receive 3/6) met Miss D.K. Douglass (owe 3/6). The
+tie was played off under exceptionally trying circumstances. A fiercely
+hot sun was pouring its rays on the court, and there was scarcely a
+breath of air, yet for 2-1/2 hours, without hats, did these ladies
+strive for mastery. The first set fell to Miss Jones after 18 games had
+been played. The second was secured by Miss Douglass with comparative
+ease, neither the odds nor the previous exertions appearing to affect
+her. The third set brought out a remarkable display of patience,
+determination, and cool judgment, for when it stood out at 5 games to 1
+in Miss Jones's favour, Miss Douglass won the next 6 games right off,
+each game being fought out with great resolution. It may be doubted
+whether either for tennis' sake or 'kudos' such a contest under such
+conditions is wise. I was not surprised to hear it mentioned that not
+only had both competitors severely felt the strain, but that even the
+umpire had suffered.&quot;</p>
+<a name="97"></a><a name="98"></a>
+<p>This year (1900) it is interesting to note that the champion of to-day,
+Miss  D. Boothby, won the Handicap Singles at  Beckenham, receiving 15.4.
+This year, too,  saw my first appearance at Wimbledon. I  was not in the
+lists very long, meeting Miss  L. Martin first round. I do not think the
+game lasted long, and I have only a very  faint recollection of it; but I
+remember  thinking Miss Martin's strokes were the  finest I had ever seen.
+At Eastbourne a  couple of months later I was lucky enough  to meet Miss
+C. Cooper on a very off day  and run her close in the open singles.  The
+match caused quite a sensation. We  started rather late, in the tea
+interval, and  nobody took the least interest in what was  considered a
+forgone conclusion. However,  when it got abroad that Misss Cooper  had
+actually lost the first set, people came  hurrying round the court in
+great consternation  lest Miss Cooper, whom they all knew  so well,
+should go down to a play who was quite unknown; I had been in the second
+class only the year before. Miss Cooper eventually secured the match,
+3/6, 9/7, 9/7. I met Mrs. Sterry on many subsequent occasions before I
+could get anything like so close to her. I really used to get quite
+weary of being beaten by her. When the Handicap Singles came out the day
+after this match I was put to owe 15 in the first class, which pleased
+me immensely. Miss Robb, Mrs. Greville, and Miss C. Cooper were owe 15.3
+and Mrs. Hillyard owe 30. I was in the classification for the first time
+at the end of this year.</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Cooper</td><th align="left">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td><th align="left">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td><th align="left">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Evered</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C. Hill</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="99"></a>
+<p>In 1901 I won my first Challenge Cup in an open tournament, beating
+Mrs. Greville in the challenge round at Beckenham. Mrs. Greville's
+defeat came as a great surprise to every one. It was her third year for
+the cup, and this may have accounted for her being much below her usual
+form. I had certainly improved a great deal, even in that one week, for
+I had had a hard match every day, meeting Miss Tulloch, Miss Morton, and
+Countess Schulenberg (with whom I had a tremendous three-set match) in
+the preceding rounds. Mrs. Greville, on the other hand, had been
+standing out&mdash;the custom at Beckenham, one that I personally always find
+a great disadvantage. I was easily beaten this year at Wimbledon by Mrs.
+Sterry. Classification for 1901:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Evered</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tulloch</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="100"></a>
+<p>At Wimbledon, in 1902, I had two very strenuous matches, which improved
+my game immensely. The first, against Mrs. Durlacher, I just won. The
+second, against the late Miss Robb, I just lost, after one of the
+closest matches I have ever played. Miss Robb won the championship this
+year. It was a great fight; and though of course it is hard to judge, I
+always feel I played in that game as well as I have ever played. The
+score in Miss Robb's favour was 6/4, 2/5, 9/7. Thus we both won
+seventeen games. This year I paid my first visit to Newcastle, a
+tournament which I always look forward to and enjoy as much as any
+meeting. The management is all one can desire, the people so keen and
+hospitable. I had a good hard fight with Mrs. Sterry, losing 7/5, 7/5,
+and winning with her the Ladies' Doubles cups. At Brighton I was again
+beaten by Mrs. Sterry, although managing this time to get a set. At
+Eastbourne the following week I won my first match against Mrs. Sterry
+in Open Singles, the score being 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. I was simply delighted,
+after so many reverses, to win a match against this player. I had been
+beaten so often by her, and sometimes felt as though I never should be
+rewarded by a victory to my credit. The classification of players for
+1902 was as follows:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Robb</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss L. Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss H. Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A.M. Morton</td><th align="left" rowspan="7">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Steedman</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Durlacher</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C.M. Wilson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Pickering</td></tr></table>
+<br>
+<a name="102"></a><a name="101"></a>
+<p>In 1903 I paid my first visit to the Northern tournament, held at
+Manchester that year. I won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship
+with Mr. F.L. Riseley, and was beaten in the challenge round of the
+Ladies' Singles by Miss L. Martin after a very hard struggle: 4/6, 7/5,
+6/4. It seemed a great pity that Miss Martin was not able to play at
+Wimbledon that year. It was a lean year, and for me a lucky one, for
+with so many of the best players not competing for the championship
+(Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry, Miss Robb, and Miss Martin were all
+absentees) I was given a chance of winning the coveted title. I met Miss
+E.W. Thomson in the final, who had beaten Miss Morton and Miss Wilson in
+the preceding rounds. I had had a good fight against Miss Lowther before
+reaching the final. Although I was expected to beat Miss Thomson, and
+actually did win the match, I scarcely deserved my triumph. Miss Thomson
+played by far the better tennis, and it was really very hard luck on her
+that she did not succeed. At one time she was a set up and four games to
+one, and I was forced to play on the defensive nearly the whole time.
+Miss Thomson played beautifully, placing with great accuracy down the
+lines and across the court. Indeed, her placing was so good that I
+always seemed to be yards away from her return, when I had thought there
+was plenty of time to get to the ball. It has always been a marvel to me
+how I won that match; but I think it was chiefly condition&mdash;Miss Thomson
+was never a very good stayer.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img15"></a><img src="./images/img15.jpg" alt="SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY. <i>In the centre is the All England Championship, won by Mrs. Lambert Chambers in 1903, 1904, 1906</i>" /></center>
+<a name="103"></a>
+<p>By the way, Miss Thomson and I were introduced to each other at the
+Gipsy Tournament&mdash;my first tournament. I had no partner for the Ladies'
+Doubles Handicap, and the secretary put us together on the programme.
+Little did I dream then that we should one day fight out the final of
+the Championship on the centre court at Wimbledon, or as a pair twice
+win the All England Doubles Championship. Classification for 1903:</p>
+<a name="104"></a>
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss L. Martin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss E.W. Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lowther</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C M. Wilson</td><th align="left">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greene</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Longhurst</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Bromfield</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss H. Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Kendal</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Houselander</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Stawell-Brown</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>In 1904 I again won the championship, beating Mrs. Sterry in the
+challenge round. This year and 1906 were my most successful years. I was
+fortunate enough in both to go through the season without a reverse in
+open singles. Classification for 1904 was as follows:</p>
+
+<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D.K. Douglass</td><th align="left">Scratch</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Sterry</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">1/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Hillyard</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss C.M. Wilson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Thomson</td><th align="left" rowspan="2">2/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Morton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss W. Longhurst</td><th align="left" rowspan="4">3/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss V. Pinckney</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Greene</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Lane</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Greville</td><th align="left" rowspan="3">4/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Stawell Brown</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mrs. Winch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Garfit</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">5/6</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Kendal</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss D. Boothby</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss M. Coles</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss A. Ransome</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss E. Longhurst</td><th align="left" rowspan="5">15</th></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Squire</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Eastlake Smith</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Paterson</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Miss Tootell</td></tr></table>
+<a name="105"></a>
+<p>In 1905 I paid my first visit to the South of France. I was unlucky
+enough to sprain my wrist; but in spite of this mishap, the change of
+conditions, courts, and surroundings were all so novel that I thoroughly
+enjoyed my visit. The courts at the Beau Site, Cannes, are absolutely
+perfect, both as regards surface and background; and when one has got
+used to the different bound of the ball and the rather trying glare of
+the sun, one could not wish for better conditions for good tennis. Many
+a famous match has been fought out on these courts; and situated as they
+are in the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Beau Site, where most of the
+players stay, the environment is ideal. I was only able to play in the
+Monte Carlo tournament, after a few days' practice on the Beau Site
+courts, for it was just at the start of the Nice tournament that the
+accident to my wrist occurred. It was very disappointing to default
+after coming so far to take part in these tournaments. Several months
+elapsed before I could use my wrist again, and I was not able to play in
+any of the tournaments before I defended my title at Wimbledon.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img16"></a><img src="./images/img16.jpg" alt="THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS SUTTON (AMERICA) <i>v</i>. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS" /></center>
+<a name="106"></a>
+<p>This year Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion, paid her first
+visit to England, and carried all before her, winning the championship
+of England and many other events, all without the loss of a single
+set&mdash;truly a wonderful performance. If any one had pluck it was Miss
+Sutton. To come to a strange country, practically friendless (Miss
+Sutton made many friends over here, but she came over alone), and to
+play and defeat one after another of the best players in this country,
+was a feat which filled us all with unbounded admiration.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img17"></a><img src="./images/img17.jpg" alt="MOTOR CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL-ENGLAND GROUND AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906" /></center>
+<a name="107"></a>
+<p>I have played Miss Sutton five times, losing three and winning two of
+the matches. Of the three matches I lost, two were at Wimbledon, in the
+challenge rounds of 1905 and 1907, and the third at Beckenham in the
+challenge round of 1907. My two victories were both gained in 1906, in
+the challenge rounds at Liverpool and Wimbledon. Certainly the most
+exciting match I have ever played, and the one that gave me the most
+pleasure to win, was my match at Wimbledon against Miss Sutton in 1906.
+The match itself was not exactly enjoyable&mdash;the strain was too great; so
+much seemed to depend upon me, both for my own reputation, and that of
+my country. When Mr. Palmer, secretary of the All England Club, escorted
+us into the centre court and left us, with a word of encouragement in my
+ear, I felt helpless and destitute. You cannot realize what it means to
+face four thousand people and know that so much depends on your own
+exertions and coolness. Miss Sutton, I think, must have felt this
+loneliness in a still greater degree, for she was away from her country,
+her own people and friends. I have never had such a craving to speak to
+some one as I had in this match&mdash;just one friendly word to tell me
+whether I was playing the right sort of game or not. I confess my
+feelings were very strung up.</p>
+
+<p>I remember in the second set, when Miss Sutton led at three games to
+love, I said to the umpire as we crossed over, &quot;I wonder, have I gone
+off, or is she playing much better?&quot; But, of course, his face was like a
+mask; he didn't vouchsafe a word. Not that I expected him to speak, but
+I felt I simply must say something to some one. He told me afterwards he
+wanted to say, &quot;I don't know; but stick to it whatever happens!&quot;
+Concentration on the game in this match was terribly difficult, as the
+crowd was so huge and seemed so excited; it was almost impossible to
+forget the people and lose yourself in the game. I can quite well
+remember a dispute going on in the open stand for quite a long time
+during the first set. I think a lady would not put down her sunshade;
+there was quite a commotion about it. And then people near would shout
+advice to me, or scream out, &quot;It's over! Run!&quot; This happened two or
+three times; and although I knew they were trying to help me, which in
+itself was cheering and encouraging, it was very distracting and
+disconcerting. But after some time I lost it all, and became engrossed
+in the game. I think in 1907 Miss Sutton was much steadier and played a
+better all-round game, but I do not think she had quite the same
+terrific fore-hand drive as in the first two years she was over here.
+Her strokes were safer perhaps, but not so formidable and powerful.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img18"></a><img src="./images/img18.jpg" alt="WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (NOW MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER." /></center>
+<a name="109"></a><a name="110"></a>
+<p>One of the great charms of playing in various tournaments is the means
+it affords of visiting all the different towns and countries. It may
+involve considerable travelling and expense, but the touring abroad is
+both an education and a delight. Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Homburg,
+Baden-Baden and Dinard, all bring the pleasantest reminiscences. Many of
+us have travelled about together, which is the jolliest way of doing
+the tournaments. I remember one most enjoyable trip, when Miss Lowther
+motored the Hillyards and myself through Germany&mdash;an ideal way of
+&quot;doing&quot; tournaments! The place at which a meeting is held, its
+surroundings, also the facilities it offers for amusement in the evening
+after your day's tennis is over, add to the enjoyment and make a
+material difference. It will always be one of my chief delights, in
+thinking of my tennis career, to remember the hospitality and many
+courtesies I have everywhere received, and the many friends I have made,
+who I trust will remain friends long after my tennis is a thing of the
+past.</p>
+<a name="111"></a>
+<p>It is extraordinary how na&iuml;ve the general public sometimes are. People
+will watch first-class tennis, sitting for hours together perhaps in
+great discomfort, and yet display a lamentable want of knowledge about
+the game. In fact, to many its object is a mystery! This seems hardly
+possible, but it is quite true. I once overheard a lady who was
+watching a match in the centre court at Wimbledon remark, &quot;There, that's
+the very first time that man has hit the net with the ball, and he has
+had hundreds of tries!&quot; I thought the man mentioned must be playing
+pretty good tennis! One really wonders why these onlookers spend so much
+time round a court, or where the pleasure can come in for them.</p>
+
+<p>At a garden party not so very long ago where tennis was on the
+programme, the visitors, arriving on the court, found one solitary ball,
+tied round with a long piece of string, the other end being attached to
+the net. To a natural inquiry the hostess replied, &quot;Oh, they lost so
+many balls in the shrubbery last year, I really couldn't afford it, and
+thought of this plan. It has been most successful. This ball has lasted
+for ages!&quot; Another lady at Eastbourne, whom I had noticed because she
+never left her seat, bringing her lunch with her so as not to lose a
+moment's play, asked me at the end of the week, while watching a double,
+whether the partners were side by side or opposite, as in bridge!</p>
+<a name="112"></a>
+<p>One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the
+first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me,
+&quot;You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis.&quot;
+&quot;Making?&quot; I say. &quot;Spending, you mean!&quot;&mdash;which always makes them stare in
+amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very
+common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are
+no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's
+Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course,
+cannot compete in open tournaments.</p>
+
+<a name="113"></a>
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h2>MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)</h2>
+
+<p><i>The following contributions, in response to a request for some account
+of their most noteworthy encounter on court, have been kindly furnished
+for this volume by leading lady players.</i></p>
+<br>
+
+<p>MRS. G.W. HILLYARD</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900)</p>
+<a name="114"></a>
+<p>One of the most exciting matches I remember was the final for the
+Championship at Wimbledon, played on the centre court on July 6, 1889,
+between Miss Rice and me. I started very nervously, as Miss Rice had
+given me rather a fright in the Irish Championship the month before,
+when she appeared in Dublin as a &quot;dark horse.&quot; On that occasion I had
+only scraped through 7/5, 7/5. I began the match at Wimbledon by
+serving a double fault, and lost several games by doing the same thing
+in the first set. My length was awful, and Miss Rice was playing well
+from the start. She had a very fine fore-hand drive, but, like myself, a
+bad back-hand. She led at 3 games to 1, and took the first set at 6/4.
+In the second set I regained my confidence a little, winning three love
+games out of the first four; but Miss Rice won the next four games in
+succession, the score being called 5/3 and 40/15 against me. At this
+point, in my despair, I said to Mr. Chipp, who was umpiring the match,
+&quot;What <i>can</i> I do?&quot; His grim answer was, &quot;Play better, I should think.&quot; I
+then fully realized that I had not been playing my best game, and that
+to win I must hit harder. This I did, with the result that my length
+improved and I snatched this game from the fire&mdash;although Miss Rice was
+three times within a stroke of the match&mdash;and I eventually won the set
+at 8/6.</p>
+<a name="115p"></a>
+<p>The last set was well fought out, for, although I began well and led at
+3/1, Miss Rice won the next three games in succession and reached 40/30
+in the following game. This was her last effort, as I ran out at 6/4,
+winning the Championship for the second time. I think it was one of the
+closest matches I ever played, and I see by <i>Pastime</i> that I only won 18
+games to her 16, and 110 strokes to her 100, and I felt I was most lucky
+to win at all.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig2"></a><img src="./images/sig2.gif" alt="Blanche Hillyard" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="115"></a>
+<p>MRS. STERRY</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908)</p>
+
+<p>Of course it goes without saying that my most memorable and exciting
+matches will all be those in which I have excelled or been the most
+distinguished person at the immediate moment! Let me just say that I am
+not going to give details of any match, as that is beyond my power and,
+I assume, of little interest to the reader.</p>
+<a name="116"></a>
+<p>Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age
+of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember,
+bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club
+on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of
+nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning&mdash;that was the first
+really important match of my life.</p>
+
+<p>Another great game will always be imprinted on my memory, and that was
+in 1894, the first year that the late Mr. H.S. Mahony and I won the All
+England Mixed Championship. We beat Mrs. Hillyard and Mr. W. Baddeley in
+the final. The excitement of the onlookers was intense, and never shall
+I forget the overpowering sensation I felt as we walked, after our win,
+past the Aigburth Cricket Ground Stand, packed to its limit. How the
+people clapped and cheered us! It was tremendous.</p>
+
+<center><a name="img19"></a><img src="./images/img19.jpg" alt="MRS. HILLYARD, MRS. STERRY, MISS V.M. PINCKNEY, MISS D. BOOTHBY" /></center>
+<a name="117"></a>
+<p>Another memory&mdash;the year 1895. Certainly I must be honest and say it
+wasn't exactly a good championship win, for Miss Dodd, Mrs. Hillyard,
+and Miss Martin were all standing out. Any of these could have beaten
+me. Nevertheless it was a delightful feeling to win the blue ribbon of
+England, especially as my opponent in the final, Miss Jackson, had led
+5-love in both sets! By some good fortune I was able to win seven games
+off the reel in each case.</p>
+
+<p>One more match&mdash;in 1907. I had heard a great deal about Miss May Sutton
+(who made her first appearance in England in 1905) beating everybody
+without the loss of a set. I had also heard she was a giant of strength,
+and that the harder one hit the more she liked it. The first time I met
+her was at Liverpool in 1907&mdash;I did not play the previous season. I was
+determined to introduce unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in
+order to entice her up to the net. The result was that many of her
+terrific drives went out, and I think this was primarily the reason why
+I was the first lady in England to take a set from her. I recollect her
+telling me, after the match was over, that my game was very different to
+any other she had ever played, and that she was not anxious to meet me
+again&mdash;remarks I took as a great compliment.</p>
+
+<p>There are scores of games just the reverse of pleasant which are
+imprinted on my memory, but I am not going to revive them at my own
+expense, hoping they have been forgotten and forgiven to my account, by
+any unfortunate partners I have ever let down.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig3"></a><img src="./images/sig3.gif" alt="Chattie R. Sterry." /></center>
+<a name="119"></a>
+<p>MRS. DURLACHER</p>
+
+<p><i>(Doubles Champion,</i> 1899; <i>Mixed Doubles Champion of Ireland, 1898,
+1901, 1902)</i></p>
+
+<p>A match that remains in my memory perhaps more than any other was the
+final of the Irish Championship Singles at Dublin in 1902, when Miss
+Martin and I met and had a long struggle for supremacy. At one time it
+really seemed as if I must win this match, as I led at 5 games to 1 and
+was within a stroke of the match. But I could not make that one point.
+Once when I had the advantage and only wanted an ace to win the match,
+one of my returns ran along the top of the net, and then, unfortunately
+for me, dropped my side. Miss Martin stuck to her guns persistently and
+eventually pulled the match out of the fire, winning the next six games
+straight off and thus becoming Irish Champion for 1902. It was very
+disappointing to lose after being so near victory. The score in Mis
+Martin's favour was 6/8, 6/4, 7/5.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig4"></a><img src="./images/sig4.gif" alt="Ruth Durlacher" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="120"></a>
+<p>MISS V.M. PINCKNEY</p>
+
+<p><i>(Champion of London, 1907, 1908)</i></p>
+
+<p>In recalling the most remarkable lawn tennis match that I have ever
+played, I do not think I can do better than give the Open Mixed Double
+semi-final that took place on the final day of the Kent Championship
+Meeting at Beckenham on June 1, 1908. Mr. Roper Barrett and I met Mr.
+Prebble and Miss Boothby, and the story of the match is one of startling
+lapses and recoveries. In the first set Mr. Prebble and Miss Boothby
+profited by the combination born of frequent association in Mixed
+Doubles. Miss Boothby was very good from the back of the court and Mr.
+Prebble seemed to make mincemeat of my returns. It was their set by 6/4.
+In the second set Mr. Roper Barrett was quite wonderful, and killed
+every ball that he could possibly reach. The result was that the set was
+easily ours by 6/1. Our opponents, however, had something in reserve,
+and, I playing badly, they ran away to 5/0 in the third set. All seemed
+over. My partner and I made a great effort and got one game, and we
+congratulated ourselves on saving a love set. Then the excitement began,
+and we added game after game to our side. I am sure the crowd beame
+intensely interested, and quite worked themselves up as we drew to 5
+all. Mr. Barrett at this time was simply invincible, and I managed
+somehow to keep the balls out of Mr. Prebble's reach and play everything
+to Miss Boothby, upon whom devolved the responsibility. My partner
+volleyed at all kinds of remarkable angles, and, as <i>The Sportsman</i> in
+describing the match, remarked, &quot;sat on the net and was in complete
+command.&quot; We took seven games consecutively and won the set at 7/5, and
+with it a memorable match.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig5"></a><img src="./images/sig5.gif" alt="Violet M. Pinckney" /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="122"></a>
+<p>MISS D. BOOTHBY</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Champion</i>, 1909)</p>
+
+<p>Without doubt my most exciting match was the final last year at
+Wimbledon. In every player's heart there must be a faint hope that one
+day she may win the All England Championship. At least it has always
+been in mine.</p>
+<a name="123"></a>
+<p>From Christmas and all through the spring my family and friends had
+dinned into my ears that now was my chance, and if I did not win this
+year I never would. Only when I was leading one set up and 2-love in the
+second did all these things flash across my mind. I suddenly got
+nervous. Oh, the misery of it! I served double fault after double fault
+(I learnt afterwards that I gave away sixteen points in this way), and
+my friends told me that it was a relief to them when my service went
+over the net at all, however slowly. My opponent, Miss Morton, caught
+up, won the set 6/4, and led me 4/2 in the final set. All this time I
+had been fighting hard to regain confidence. At last my nerve came
+back&mdash;I was determined to win, and, only after a very great effort, just
+succeeded in capturing the Championship with the narrow margin of 8/6 in
+the final set.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until I had finished and had come off the court that I
+realized how very excited I had been, and how relieved I was when it was
+all over. Only those who have had experience can know how exhausting it
+is to concentrate one's whole thoughts and efforts, without cessation,
+for an hour or more. Fortunately you do not feel the strain until
+afterwards, when it does not matter, and then you can look back with
+very great pleasure and satisfaction on a hard-won fight.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig6"></a><img src="./images/sig6.gif" alt="Dora P. Boothby." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="125"></a><a name="124"></a>
+<p>MRS. LARCOMBE</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Doubles Champion</i>, 1903, 1904; <i>Mixed Doubles Champion</i>, 1904, 1905)</p>
+
+<p>My &quot;most memorable match&quot; was in the All England Mixed Doubles
+Championship at Liverpool in 1904. Mr. S.H. Smith and I were playing
+Miss Wilson and Mr. A.W. Gore, and we had a great struggle for victory.
+I do not remember the exact score, but at one time our opponents were
+within an ace of the match. Miss Wilson served to me in the left
+court&mdash;a good service out on the side line. I played a straight
+back-hand shot down the line, passing Mr. Gore's forehand&mdash;rather a
+desperate stroke, as if it failed to pass him it meant certain death
+from one of his straight-arm volleys. Perhaps he was not guarding his
+line so well as usual, under the impression that I would not have the
+courage to try to pass him at such a critical moment&mdash;anyway, we won the
+point; and eventually the match and the championship, beating the
+holders, Miss D.K. Douglass and Mr. F.L. Riseley, in a most exciting
+match&mdash;almost as &quot;memorable&quot; to me, because I hit Mr. Riseley three
+times with smashes. I remember that side-line stroke and those three
+&quot;hits&quot; with great joy!</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig7"></a><img src="./images/sig7.gif" alt="Ethel W. Larcombe." /></center>
+<a name="126"></a>
+<p>MRS. LAMPLOUGH</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Covered Court Champion</i>, 1907)</p>
+<a name="127"></a>
+<p>I find it a matter of some difficulty to decide which is the most
+memorable of the more important matches in which I have played. Four or
+five as I recall them seem, each in turn, to have left a lasting
+impression on my memory for one reason or another. Yet none of them
+appear more worthy of note than the others. The match which I think I
+shall remember long after many others are forgotten took place last year
+(1909) in the comparatively small and little-known tournament at Romsey.
+For the first time for some years I had missed winter practice on the
+covered courts at Queen's Club and in the South of France, and when I
+started again late in June, on moderate club courts and against none too
+keen opponents, I found myself looking forward with apprehension to my
+first effort in public. In the semi-final of the Ladies' Open Singles
+at Romsey I met Miss Sugden, whose well-merited reputation as a lawn
+tennis player is more or less a local one, chiefly for the reason that
+she has not competed in any of the first-class tournaments. It was a
+close afternoon, and the court being heavy we both felt the heat very
+much as the game progressed. I never really looked like winning the
+first set; my opponent led 4/1, and though I managed to equalize she
+easily ran out at 6/4. It was in the second set that the real struggle
+took place. In spite of all my efforts, Miss Sugden won game after game,
+until the game stood at 5/1 against me and 30 all; but by good luck I
+snatched that game and the two following. At 5/4 and my service we had
+deuce quite ten or twelve times, but in the end I managed to win and
+took the set at 7/5. After that I felt better, and with renewed
+confidence and steadier nerves I won the final set at, I think, 6/3.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing particularly remarkable in the match, but somehow I
+felt that confidence in myself for the future depended in a great
+measure on my success in this event, and, in spite of having a very
+sporting opponent, I never felt more relieved in my life than when the
+last stroke was played.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig8"></a><img src="./images/sig8.gif" alt="Gladys S. Lamplough." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="128"></a>
+<p>MISS A.M. MORTON</p>
+
+<p>(<i>Runner up for the Championship</i>, 1909)</p>
+
+<center><a name="img20"></a><img src="./images/img20.jpg" alt="Mrs. Larcombe, Mrs. Lamplough, Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene" /></center>
+<a name="129"></a>
+<p>I feel I owe an apology to Mrs. Luard for writing about a match in which
+I happened to beat her, as she is, and was then, a player altogether a
+class above me. No doubt it became &quot;memorable,&quot; as I certainly never
+expected to win at the outset, and still less so when I was undergoing
+one of those ghastly &quot;creep-ups&quot; in the final set. It happened in 1904
+at Wimbledon, on the centre court, in the semi-final of the
+Championship. Miss Wilson (as she then was) started well and won the
+first set 6/3, the second went to me at 6/4, and the third set seemed as
+if it would go to either of us in turn. Everything went well for me till
+I actually got to 5/1 and it was 15/40 on her service; then I lost two
+points quite easily&mdash;those winning shots are so hard to make! And at
+deuce we had a tremendous rally, which ended in a good side-line shot by
+my opponent that I couldn't get to and didn't even try. The linesman
+called &quot;out,&quot; which I contradicted, and general confusion took place,
+the spectators joining in the fray&mdash;and it all arose through the ball
+being given &quot;out&quot; in the middle of the long rally when a train was
+passing, and we neither of us heard it. I never knew the explanation
+till after the match and was quite convinced I had &quot;sneaked&quot; the point,
+and somehow I went all to pieces, and everything went as badly as it
+had gone well before, till Miss Wilson crept up to 6/5. Then I made an
+expiring effort just in time. I dare say she was tired, for I won that
+game fairly easily. We had a great fight for the thirteenth, which I
+fortunately won, and finished the match with a love game. And no one was
+more surprised than I.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig9"></a><img src="./images/sig9.gif" alt="A.M. Morton." /></center>
+<br>
+<a name="130"></a>
+<p>MISS A.N.G. GREENE</p>
+
+<p><i>(East of England Champion</i>, 1903, 1905)</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to decide on the most memorable match one has ever
+played. Each in turn seems at the time to be the most important. One
+which I found very exciting at the time was against Mrs. Luard in the
+final for the Cup at Felixstowe. I won the first set 6/3, and led 5/1
+and 40/30 in the next, when Mrs. Luard sent me a short easy ball&mdash;a
+certain &quot;kill&quot; at any other time. I sent it out. Four times after that I
+was within a point of the match, but could not quite pull it off, and
+Mrs. Luard, playing up brilliantly, not only won that set, but led 5/2
+in the third. Then I made a final effort, and though it was always
+touch-and-go I managed to make it 6/5. In the next game Mrs. Luard was
+40-love, but after a great struggle I got it, and so won the match,
+though it was anybody's game to the end.</p>
+
+<center><a name="sig10"></a><img src="./images/sig10.gif" alt="A.N.G. Greene." /></center>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<a name="INDEX"></a>
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>A</H3>
+<br>
+All England Club - <a href="#107">1</a><br>
+Athletics for girls - <a href="#1">1</a><br>
+Austin, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>B</H3>
+<br>
+Back-hand drive - <a href="#15">1</a>, <a href="#24">2</a><br>
+Baddeley, Mr. W. - <a href="#116">1</a><br>
+Baden-Baden - <a href="#109">1</a><br>
+Barrett, Mr. Roper - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+Beau Site, Hotel - <a href="#105">1</a><br>
+Beckenham - <a href="#51">1</a>, <a href="#99">2</a>, <a href="#107">3</a>, <a href="#120">4</a><br>
+Boothby - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#97">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a>, <a href="#122">4</a><br>
+Brighton - <a href="#100">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>C</H3>
+<br>
+Cannes - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#105">2</a>, <a href="#109">3</a><br>
+Championship, the - <a href="#102">1</a> <a href="#104">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a>, <a href="#122">4</a>, <a href="#129">5</a><br>
+Chipp, Mr. H. - <a href="#114">1</a><br>
+Chiswick Park - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+Clubs - <a href="#85">1</a><br>
+&quot;Complete Lawn Tennis Player, The&quot; - <a href="#21">1</a><br>
+Cooper, Miss C. (see also <a href="#SterryIndex">Sterry, Mrs.</a>) - <a href="#92">1</a>, <a href="#97">2</a><br>
+Courts - <a href="#72">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>D</H3>
+<br>
+Diet - <a href="#72d">1</a><br>
+Dinard - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+Dod, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#117">2</a><br>
+Doherty, Mr. R.F. - <a href="#9">1</a><br>
+Doubles - <a href="#49">1</a><br>
+Douglass, Miss D.K. - <a href="#95">1</a>, <a href="#125">2</a><br>
+Dress - <a href="#64">1</a><br>
+Dressing-rooms - <a href="#81">1</a><br>
+Driving - <a href="#22">1</a><br>
+Drop-shots - <a href="#27">1</a><br>
+Dublin - <a href="#113">1</a>, <a href="#119">2</a><br>
+Durlacher, Mrs. - <a href="#100">1</a>, <a href="#119">2</a><br>
+Dyas, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>E</H3>
+<br>
+Ealing L.T.C. - <a href="#91">1</a>, <a href="#116">2</a><br>
+Ealing Common L.T.C. - <a href="#89">1</a><br>
+Eastbourne - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#97">3</a>, <a href="#100">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>F</H3>
+<br>
+Felixstowe - <a href="#130">1</a><br>
+Fore-hand drive - <a href="#22">1</a><br>
+France, South of - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#126">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>G</H3>
+<br>
+Garfit, Miss - <a href="#93">1</a><br>
+Gipsy Tournament - <a href="#88">1</a>, <a href="#103">2</a><br>
+Gore, Mr. A.W. - <a href="#64">1</a>, <a href="#124">2</a><br>
+Greene, Miss A.N.G. - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#130">3</a><br>
+Greville, Mrs. - <a href="#98">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>H</H3>
+<br>
+Half-volley - <a href="#27h">1</a><br>
+Head-work - <a href="#19">1</a><br>
+Health, effect on - <a href="#5">1</a>, <a href="#81">2</a><br>
+Hillyard, Mr. G. W. - <a href="#74">1</a>, <a href="#91">2</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mrs. - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#113">3</a>, <a href="#116">4</a></span><br>
+Homburg - <a href="#77">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>J</H3>
+<br>
+Jackson, Miss - <a href="#117">1</a><br>
+Jones, Miss M. - <a href="#94">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>L</H3>
+<br>
+Lamplough, Mrs. - <a href="#126">1</a><br>
+Larcombe, Mrs.<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">See <a href="#ThomsonIndex">Thomson, Miss</a></span><br>
+<i>Lawn Tennis</i> - <a href="#95">1</a><br>
+Lawn tennis and golf - <a href="#17">1</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">cost of - <a href="#10">1</a></span><br>
+Liverpool - <a href="#107">1</a>, <a href="#117">2</a>, <a href="#124">3</a><br>
+Lobbing - <a href="#25">1</a>, <a href="#53">2</a><br>
+Lob-volley - <a href="#26">1</a><br>
+Low volleys - <a href="#34">1</a><br>
+Lowther, Miss - <a href="#102">1</a>, <a href="#110">2</a><br>
+Luard, Mrs.<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2 em;">(see also <a href="#WilsonIndex">Wilson, Miss C.M.</a>) - <a href="#128">1</a>, <a href="#130">2</a></span><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>M</H3>
+<br>
+Mahony, Mr. H.S. - <a href="#34">1</a>, <a href="#76">2</a>, <a href="#116">3</a><br>
+Manchester - <a href="#101">1</a><br>
+Martin, Miss L. - <a href="#97">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#117">3</a>, <a href="#119">4</a><br>
+Match play - <a href="#36">1</a>, <a href="#69">2</a><br>
+Mixed doubles - <a href="#11">1</a>, <a href="#52">2</a><br>
+Monte Carlo - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+Morgan, Miss E.R. - <a href="#94m">1</a><br>
+Morton, Miss - <a href="#99">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#123">3</a>, <a href="#128">4</a><br>
+Myers, A. Wallis - <a href="#21">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>N</H3>
+<br>
+Newcastle - <a href="#42">1</a><br>
+Nice - <a href="#105">1</a>, <a href="#109">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>P</H3>
+<br>
+Palmer, Mr. - <a href="#107">1</a><br>
+<i>Pastime</i> - <a href="#115p">1</a><br>
+Pinckney, Miss V. - <a href="#51">1</a>, <a href="#120">2</a><br>
+Practice, how to - <a href="#14">1</a><br>
+Prebble, Mr. A.D. - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>Q</H3>
+<br>
+Queen's Club - <a href="#76q">1</a>, <a href="#81">2</a>, <a href="#112">3</a>, <a href="#126">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>R</H3>
+<br>
+Rackets - <a href="#60">1</a><br>
+Reading - <a href="#51">1</a><br>
+Rice, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#113">2</a><br>
+Riseley, Mr. F.L. - <a href="#101">1</a>, <a href="#125">2</a><br>
+Robb, Miss - <a href="#49">1</a>, <a href="#52">2</a>, <a href="#93">3</a>, <a href="#97">4</a>, <a href="#100">5</a><br>
+Romsey - <a href="#126">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>S</H3>
+<br>
+Schulenberg, Countess - <a href="#99">1</a><br>
+Service - <a href="#30">1</a>, <a href="#45">2</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">American - <a href="#47">1</a></span><br>
+Shoes - <a href="#67">1</a><br>
+&quot;Slazenger&quot; - <a href="#60">1</a><br>
+Smash - <a href="#34">1</a><br>
+Smith, Mr. S.H. - <a href="#124">1</a><br>
+<i>Sportsman, The</i> - <a href="#120">1</a><br>
+Staleness - <a href="#37">1</a><br>
+<a name="SterryIndex"></a>Sterry, Mrs. - <a href="#44">1</a>, <a href="#49">2</a>, <a href="#91">3</a>, <a href="#97">4</a>, <a href="#100">5</a>, <a href="#115">6</a><br>
+Sugden, Miss - <a href="#127">1</a><br>
+Sutton, Miss - <a href="#43">1</a>, <a href="#45">2</a>, <a href="#48">3</a>, <a href="#49">4</a>, <a href="#91">5</a>, <a href="#106">6</a>, <a href="#117">7</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>T</H3>
+<br>
+Tactics - <a href="#1">1</a><br>
+<a name="ThomsonIndex"></a>Thomson, Miss E.W. - <a href="#48">1</a>, <a href="#102">2</a>, <a href="#124">3</a><br>
+Thorpe Satchville - <a href="#76">1</a><br>
+Tournaments, abuse of - <a href="#37">2</a><br>
+Tournaments, management of - <a href="#78">1</a><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">value of - <a href="#19t">1</a>, <a href="#37">2</a></span><br>
+Training - <a href="#69">1</a><br>
+Tulloch, Miss B. - <a href="#94m">1</a>, <a href="#99">2</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>U</H3>
+<br>
+Umpires - <a href="#84">1</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>V</H3>
+<br>
+Volleying - <a href="#26">1</a>, <a href="#34">2</a>, <a href="#47">3</a>, <a href="#50">4</a><br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<H3>W</H3>
+<br>
+Watson, Miss M. - <a href="#49">1</a><br>
+<a name="WilsonIndex"></a>Wilson, Miss C.M. - <a href="#42">1</a>, <a href="#93">2</a>, <a href="#102">3</a>, <a href="#124">4</a><br>
+Wimbledon - <a href="#44">1</a>, <a href="#74">2</a>, <a href="#81">3</a>, <a href="#87">4</a>, <a href="#99">5</a>, <a href="#103">6</a>, <a href="#107">7</a>, <a href="#111">8</a>, <a href="#122">9</a>, <a href="#129">10</a><br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
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+Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Lawn Tennis for Ladies
+
+Author: Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2004 [EBook #10961]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sjaani, Michael Ciesielski, Garrett Alley and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lambert Chambers]
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+BY
+
+MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+First published in 1910, London
+
+TO MY FATHER WHOSE KEENNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SUCH A
+GREAT HELP TO ME DURING MY LAWN TENNIS CAREER
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a
+book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and
+clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my
+favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its
+literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am
+still too much affected by the "brilliant and feverish glow" of
+enthusiasm to dream of offering one.
+
+Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic
+pride, but only with a passionate fondness for what I consider a great
+sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly,
+I should like to thank all those who have assisted me with suggestions
+and the loan of photographs, especially my "arena colleagues" who have
+rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.
+
+DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  I.   ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+  II.  PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+  III. MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+  IV.  RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+  V.   TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+  VI.  SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+  VII. MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE
+    LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  THE FORE-HAND DRIVE
+
+  THE BACK-HAND DRIVE
+
+  SERVICE
+      From photographs by Dexter.
+
+  MRS. G.W. HILLYARD AND MR. NORMAN BROOKES
+  MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+  MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING
+  MISS EASTLAKE SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOHERTY
+
+  MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP
+    AT WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY,
+    AND MISS E.W. THOMSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)
+
+  GROUP PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902
+
+  AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE
+
+  "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF"
+    A picture-postcard sent to Mrs. Lambert Chambers by Miss May Sutton
+      from her home in California.
+
+  AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM
+  SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY
+
+  THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS
+    SUTTON (AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS
+      From a photograph by Bowden Brothers.
+
+  MOTOR-CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL ENGLAND GROUND
+    AT WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES' CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906
+
+  WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (now MRS. LAMBERT CHAMBERS)
+    WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER
+
+  MRS. HILLYARD
+  MRS. STERRY
+  MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+  MISS D. BOOTHBY
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+  MRS. LARCOMBE
+  MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+  MISS A.M. MORTON
+  MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+    From a photograph by G. & R. Lavis, Eastbourne.
+
+
+
+
+LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS
+
+I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
+athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
+Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
+ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
+tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
+enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
+brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
+than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
+for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
+they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
+woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
+said for these contentions, but to my mind the _pros_ materially
+outweigh the _cons_.
+
+As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
+evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
+more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
+A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth
+the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in
+an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the anticipation of a
+scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.
+Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm,
+collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that
+invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second
+objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on
+what is meant by the essential feature of "womanliness." I am afraid
+most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, "Frailty, thy name is
+woman." Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps
+call it "delicacy," and refer to the "weaker sex," but they mean that
+just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her
+weakness. They argue that you must impair this "weakness" by strenuous
+games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness,
+just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely
+physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a
+second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second
+editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, "Nature
+meant to make woman its masterpiece." I well remember reading in a
+stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men
+and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while
+the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing
+ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their
+war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked
+themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind,
+was a picture of true "womanliness." Inferior in neither moral strength
+nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement,
+giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he
+needs for the special experience.
+
+If this, then, be "womanliness," can athletic games injure it? Do they
+spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific
+excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at
+critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is
+undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame,
+more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested
+match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.
+These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the
+qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their
+sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and
+sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You
+are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do
+these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a
+thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and
+stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and
+absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.
+
+The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle
+prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.
+The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits,
+and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that
+it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He
+therefore said to him, "Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with
+certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle
+of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take
+this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You
+must do this every day." His highness acquiesced, and in a short time
+the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved
+his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis
+ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour
+and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle
+that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude
+of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before
+me the subject is put tersely thus: "Health and strength depend on rapid
+disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion."
+Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid
+exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind
+alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no
+doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion
+demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to
+say, "During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air." This
+oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage
+to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the
+wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us
+with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active
+exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis
+player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily
+overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of
+oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of
+vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.
+
+Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are
+many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone
+it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends
+naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged,
+from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the
+knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from
+it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the
+game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not
+physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific
+application--finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women
+are just as capable of exercising as men.
+
+I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with
+any first-class man of the same year you will find a great disparity
+between their actual play. That is to say, the first-class man would be
+able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a
+close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous
+odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner
+at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this pronounced discrepancy.
+Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it
+all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater
+activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own
+game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with
+less accuracy and power.
+
+Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive
+game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can
+be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all
+over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time
+required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets,
+balls, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The
+club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the
+game are small as compared with golf.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES'
+CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLASS IN THE CHALLENGE
+ROUND.]
+
+Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course
+by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well--far from it.
+But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of
+healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes
+to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is
+no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which
+women can combine with and compete against men without in any way
+spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the
+most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not
+wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which
+this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of
+the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf
+is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite
+first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an
+abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a
+mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is
+it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the
+combination of both sexes.
+
+Then it is asserted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.
+This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some
+little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and
+promptly answered by a spirited article with illustrations of some
+well-known lady hockey players--proof positive of the fallacy that
+hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions
+are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that
+instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never
+seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a
+fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see,
+although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more,
+registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and
+look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it
+is hardly possible or natural to be "just so" every second of a long
+struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not
+absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of
+excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This
+has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.
+Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial
+muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural
+appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman
+should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why,
+then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much,
+and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two
+perhaps, their appearance is distorted?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE
+
+Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. "I
+have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better
+game?" That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are
+very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the
+great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match
+must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all
+know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them
+out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided
+in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up
+game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of
+playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak
+strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely
+the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do
+this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even
+given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed
+continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did
+this. The characteristic answer came back: "I cannot take a back hand. I
+should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball." But what
+does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you
+are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve;
+she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.
+In fact, it was very little of a _practice_ game to her. How can your
+game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what
+is feeble?
+
+Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind
+who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master
+it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all
+your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your
+game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded
+becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that
+you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing
+the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a
+sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and
+all the patience which must be exercised.
+
+Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak
+strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But
+after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise,
+that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your
+game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily
+disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth
+playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you
+must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet
+disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit,
+or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if
+you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players
+never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many
+of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will
+certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent
+desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A
+struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his
+pastime--often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so
+obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so
+thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find
+him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He
+may play in a few competitions, but his time is more seriously occupied
+with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous
+strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the
+game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before
+he pits his skill against others.
+
+I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there
+is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the
+competitors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the
+same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never
+advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to
+another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. Assisted by a generous
+handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let
+me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes
+correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open
+competitions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are
+to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially
+by young players who have not completed what I may call
+stroke-education.
+
+When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as
+strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an
+experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are
+anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more
+enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to
+advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not
+hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your
+friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books
+that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often
+noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open
+events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a
+miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players
+grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The
+book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one
+solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference
+in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball
+at all.
+
+A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own
+case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the
+ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of
+practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw
+the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an
+hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke
+you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one
+champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke
+that had to be mastered was passed through the mill and assiduously
+exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the
+purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in
+the given direction.
+
+To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these
+elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal
+exhaustively with this subject, such as "The Complete Lawn-Tennis
+Player," by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old
+ground.
+
+The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is _The Fore-hand Drive_. A
+good fore-hand is one of the chief assets of the game; a good length
+must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as
+near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe
+shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very
+accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come
+afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.
+Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in
+front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I
+mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away
+from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about
+the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and
+simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.
+This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can
+only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or
+too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.
+
+[Illustration: THE FORE-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.
+Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along--your movement must be
+so perfectly timed--to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to
+follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight
+of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. _Timing
+your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following
+well through at the finish_--these are the chief secrets of good and
+powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep
+your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right
+on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot
+realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke;
+and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the
+chief attributes of success.
+
+_The Back-hand Drive_ is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only
+with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but
+stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The
+position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is
+where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your
+right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of
+the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back,
+with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the
+centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from
+your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction
+of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court,
+from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through
+be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face
+the net.
+
+[Illustration: THE BACK-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]
+
+_The lob_ is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly
+practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and
+accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent
+move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking,
+of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you
+breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to
+get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly
+always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of
+players are weaker there.
+
+There are three kinds of lobs: (1) _The high lob_, sent well out of
+reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking
+some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out
+of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to
+run back and return it. (2) _The low lob_, which only just passes over
+your opponent's racket--a much more risky shot than the high lob, but
+with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting
+the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot,
+because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very
+fast-dropping ball. (3) _The lob-volley_ is one of the prettiest strokes
+and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with
+success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your
+opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played
+with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the
+ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a
+high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal
+for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath
+the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the
+racket.
+
+_The Half Volley_.--This stroke has great possibilities, and is
+efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for
+defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact,
+within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it
+can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained,
+as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it
+wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of
+players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another
+reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.
+
+_A short drop shot_ from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any
+position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back
+of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is
+difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient
+practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be
+expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.
+
+I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.
+Owing to its success--my opponent never even attempted to reach it--I
+won ace after ace. At the end of the match my opponent indignantly
+upbraided me. "I cannot admire your length," she protested. Neither did
+she think it was "fair to play sneaks," adding, "Anybody could win if
+they cared to play like that." In her opinion it wasn't tennis! I'm
+afraid I did not take this censure very seriously. As the object of the
+game is to put the ball as far out of reach of your opponent as
+possible, I could not see what difference there was between making her
+run from side to side of the base-line or to the net and back again.
+Both methods as regards placing are just as good tennis, and should be
+used judiciously in turn. But this sort of argument did not appeal to my
+opponent; she still thought any one could win who cared to play that
+"unsporting game." Perhaps the incident caused her to think a little,
+and it may be she tried the stroke in her next match. If so, I am quite
+sure she did not find it so easy to play accurately as she had imagined.
+
+The danger of this stroke is that unless it is just in the right spot,
+instead of giving you an advantage it will be a very easy ball for your
+opponent to score off. If it is short, it will find the net; if hit too
+far, it becomes a bad-length ball and will get the punishment it
+deserves. It is difficult to explain how this stroke should be played. I
+think it is best to stand very close to the ball and get rather in front
+of it, drawing the racket across it from right to left--stroking the
+ball, as it were, rather than hitting it. It requires a delicate touch,
+and can be very deceptively played. Your opponent is kept in the dark
+until the last moment, when the ace has probably been won.
+
+_The Service_.--I should, as a rule, advise an overhead service. At the
+same time, an underhand cut service is very useful as a change. Variety
+of stroke and tactics should always be encouraged.
+
+For an _overhead service_ stand sideways to the net, with your left foot
+just behind the base-line, the left shoulder facing the net, and the
+right foot a little to the right of and behind the left. Throw the ball
+high up over your right ear, bend your body well back and your right
+shoulder down. Raise the racket at the same time as you throw up the
+ball, hit it with the centre of your racket, bringing your body forward
+with all its weight on to the ball, and transferring your weight from
+the right foot to the left at the moment of impact. Bring your racket
+right through, and finish a little to the left of your left knee. At
+the time you throw the ball into the air the left shoulder must be
+facing the net, and as your racket hits the ball and follows through to
+your left knee your body should be brought round to face the net.
+
+[Illustration: BEGINNING OF SERVICE MIDDLE OF SERVICE]
+
+Do not at first attempt a fast service; keep your ardour down until you
+have gained a mastery of the ball and can vary its direction. Place is
+always better than pace; this applies, generally speaking, to other
+strokes besides the service. Try to cultivate a second service which
+bears a likeness to the first. That is to say, if you have served a
+fault (and the best players in the world cannot be absolutely sure that
+their first delivery will not pitch just over the side-line or
+service-line or hit the top of the net), do not be contented with a soft
+and guileless second which has no length and which gives your opponent
+an excellent chance of making a winning drive. Most players are weaker
+on their backhand. Remember that fact and place your ball accordingly.
+It is a good plan, when serving from the right-hand court, to aim for
+the spot where the centre line bisects the service-line. Length and
+direction will both be good, and in nine cases out of ten your opponent
+will be required to move to make the return--always a point in your
+favour.
+
+Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is
+essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are
+stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary
+knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable
+for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they
+have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular
+merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the
+racket the more liable is it to go astray. Another reason why you should
+temper zeal with discretion is that a vigorous service will tire you out
+like nothing else, and in a long match stamina should be judiciously
+preserved. You never know when an extra spurt may not be required to
+turn the scale in your favour. I have often noticed the difference in
+length and sting between the service of some players at the beginning of
+the match and in the third set, and I am sure that one of the reasons
+why so many matches are ultimately lost after a promising start is the
+decline in the service, in its sustained vigour and in its length.
+
+By the way, why do many lady players, even those who compete at open
+tournaments, stand several feet behind the base-line when serving? Are
+they aware that the length of their service is probably just so many
+feet short of what it ought to be and that they voluntarily give
+themselves an extra journey to recover short returns, even if they reach
+them at all? You will never find expert players, who appreciate what I
+may call the geometry of the court, penalise themselves in this manner.
+Yet the habit, for some reason or other, would appear to be on the
+increase.
+
+_Low Volleys_.--For these strokes the head of your racket should be
+above your wrist, your elbow low down, and your knees slightly bent. You
+should, in fact, stoop so that your eye is level with the flight of the
+ball. The late Mr. H.S. Mahony used to say that if girls would only bend
+down more to the ball they would be able to volley much better. You
+should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor
+relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the
+place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to
+remember the oft-repeated maxim: "Keep your eye on the ball." Watch it
+up to the moment of striking. Do not always "smash" every overhead ball
+when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste
+of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a
+mistake. For a _smash_ the right shoulder should be down and well under
+the ball, the head and weight well back, the weight transferred at the
+moment of striking from the right to the left leg, the body balanced
+with extended left arm, and the body-weight brought right on to the ball
+as it is hit. Finish to the left of your left knee as in the service.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+MATCH AND TOURNAMENT PLAY
+
+When you have acquired a certain knowledge of the game and can play the
+various strokes in the correct way, then, as I have said, tournament and
+match play is the very best method of improvement. I would emphasize the
+need for a certain standard of efficiency, because I am convinced that
+at the present time there are too many weak players competing at open
+meetings. The style of these players has only to be watched to be
+condemned, and their knowledge of the game is hopelessly limited.
+Invariably making strokes in a wrong way, tournament play only serves to
+consolidate weaknesses and check advance.
+
+But assuming you have practised on sound lines and are fit to take part
+in what, after all, should be a test of trained skill, tournaments will
+then be a great help to you. You will more often than not play against
+better players than yourself--an advantage denied you in practice--and
+against all varieties of attack and defence. You have the chance of
+watching first-class matches and learning at first hand how the
+different strokes should be played. You should be careful, however, to
+limit the number of your tournaments, especially when the excitement and
+strain are new to you; otherwise you will do much more harm than good. I
+am convinced that, generally speaking, players attend too many meetings.
+Instead of their play improving, it may deteriorate. They run the
+fearful risk of staleness--one of the greatest dangers to a lawn tennis
+player--and they become physically worn out. As soon as you find you are
+losing interest in the game, when it becomes an effort to go into court,
+give the game a rest. It is clear you have overdone it and need a
+period of recuperation. One or two tournaments at a time, and then a
+rest to practise the new strokes and tactical moves you have learnt and
+seen, would, I feel sure, be much more helpful to your game than
+tournament touring, week-in and week-out.
+
+Some people advise you to dismiss the coming match entirely from your
+mind before going into court. Personally I find this physically
+impossible, and I do not commend the suggestion. I think it is much
+better to study your opponent's game before pitting your own against it.
+Many matches may be lost while you are finding out the right line of
+attack. Therefore I advise you to think about the match you are going to
+play. Mentally rehearse your mode of campaign. But do not worry over the
+possible result. At all costs it must not be allowed to disturb your
+sleep the night before--there is nothing puts me off my game so much as
+a sleepless night.
+
+As soon as you know who your opponent is, seize every opportunity to
+watch her play, get to know her strong and her weak points, and map out
+your plan of campaign. Then come the first preliminaries, the toss for
+choice of sides or service. In choosing your side you must take into
+consideration the position of the sun, the wind, the slope of the court
+(if any), and the background. If you have won the toss and do not mind
+on which side you start playing, and also have a good service, elect to
+begin the service. If you have won the toss and for some good reason do
+not wish to serve first, you can make your opponent serve; but remember
+that you also give her choice of courts.
+
+One of the great things to remember in match play is this--do not strive
+to win outright with every stroke. Especially does this maxim apply to
+the return of the service. So many players are inaccurate with this
+important stroke simply because their sole ambition is to make it end
+the rest. Much better to work for your opening. Try to imagine where
+your opponent will be after taking a certain stroke, and then according
+to this position determine which is the best stroke to play next. It is
+similar to playing chess. You should think a move or sometimes two moves
+in advance. Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief
+factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to
+send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious
+to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before
+you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not
+where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back
+to the original place--that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly
+leaving. She will most probably be beaten by this simple device. Trite
+though the hint may appear, always try to send the ball where it will
+be least expected.
+
+[Illustration: TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A PRIVATE MIXED
+DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE SATCHVILLE MRS. C.W. HILLYARD AND MR.
+NORMAN BROOKES MISS PINCKNEY AND MR. G.W.HILLYARD]
+
+Again I would urge the importance of keeping your whole attention
+absorbed on the game. Complete concentration is absolutely essential.
+You _must_ lose yourself in the game--eye, mind, and hand all working
+together. If you find that events transpiring outside the court are
+attracting your attention, you cannot be watching the ball. Many
+players, even when concentrating, take their eye off the ball too soon,
+with the result that it is not properly timed and not hit cleanly in the
+centre of the racket.
+
+In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never
+give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the
+experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player
+has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore,
+unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of
+the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win
+the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: MISS D.K. DOUGLASS AND MR. A.F. WILDING MISS EASTLAKE
+SMITH AND MR. R.F. DOUGHERTY TWO WELL-KNOWN PAIRS WHO COMPETED IN A
+PRIVATE MIXED DOUBLES TOURNAMENT AT THORPE'S SATCHVILLE]
+
+The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time;
+never for one moment slack off. For if you do it is very hard to get
+going again, and you may find yourself caught up and passed at the post
+before you have a chance of getting back into your stride. I well
+remember being a set up and five games to one against Miss C.M. Wilson
+(now Mrs. Luard) one year at Newcastle, when victory for me meant
+permanent possession of the challenge cup. This cup was very valuable,
+for it had a splendid list of names inscribed upon it; it had been going
+for very many years. Miss Wilson seemed so off her game, and I was
+winning so comfortably, that I could almost see that cup on my
+sideboard! But it was not to be. (At any rate not that year. I was lucky
+enough to win the Cup outright in 1908, when it was even more
+valuable, as Miss Sutton's name had been added.) Whether I
+unconsciously slacked off, thinking the match was mine (which is a fatal
+thing to do at any time), or whether Miss Wilson suddenly found her
+game, is impossible for me to say, but she eventually won that match and
+the cup and championship for the year. She never gave in, but played
+most pluckily right up to the end. I remember another match where the
+result hung in the balance for some time. I was playing Miss A.N.G.
+Greene at Eastbourne in 1907; again the Cup would be my own property if
+I won it. I met Miss Greene in the second round. She won the first set,
+and was five games to four in the second set, and seven times she only
+wanted one point to win that match. I was able to make it five games
+all. It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after
+having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it
+completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite
+easily.
+
+Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching
+up your opponent, that when you do draw level _you do not relax your
+efforts_. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The
+strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when
+you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. A
+rest is taken, often involuntarily. It is fatal, because before you
+realize it and can get going again your opponent has run out a winner.
+This happened to me at Wimbledon in 1908 against Mrs. Sterry. I was
+behind the whole time, and it was a great relief in the second set to
+hear the score at last called five games all. But I had hardly taken a
+breather when Mrs. Sterry secured the set by seven games to five. The
+eleventh game I played almost unconsciously, so relieved was I at
+getting on even terms, when I ought to have spared no effort to win
+that critical game, even if I had failed. These three matches--and I
+could mention many others--show how important it is to play hard right
+up to the last stroke of the match, letting nothing put you off, never
+losing your temper, taking umpire's bad decisions and all the little
+annoyances that may disturb you in a sportsmanlike manner--keeping your
+whole attention, in fact, absolutely concentrated on the game.
+
+[Illustration: MISS MAY SUTTON, WHO WON THE LADIES' CHAMPIONSHIP AT
+WIMBLEDON, 1905, 1907]
+
+In a single it is best when serving to stand as near the centre of the
+base-line as possible. In this position you have greater command of your
+court, and there is not so much scope for your opponent to put the ball
+out of your reach. Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion and
+ex-champion of England, in her desire to stand as near the centre of the
+court as she possibly can, gets so close that umpires find it very
+difficult to tell whether she is serving from the right court or the
+wrong. In fact, I think I am right in saying she has actually been
+pulled up for stepping over the centre line of the base-line. If you
+stand as close as she does you are liable to step over the line
+unconsciously. Stand as near the centre line as possible, but without
+any risk of stepping over it. On the other hand, there are players who
+prefer to serve from the other extreme end. Mr. A.W. Gore, the present
+champion of England, is one of these, but personally I cannot see any
+advantage in this position. It seems to leave so much open court, of
+which your adversary will not be slow to make use.
+
+Use the overhead service for choice, but have an underhand service ready
+at your command--it may come in very useful for a change. Remember that
+a good-length, well-placed service is better than a very fast one, and
+much less tiring in a long match. Keep your opponent wondering where the
+service will come next; vary it as much as you possibly can, both as to
+pace and direction. Be sure to make your opponent move to take it.
+
+I have tried the American service, but I think the strain is too severe
+for the average girl, and the advantage gained would be very slight, for
+the rest of your game would deteriorate, owing to fatigue. It places so
+much tension on all the muscles of the body, and I do not think it would
+do a girl's health any good to cultivate it. Of course if she were
+abnormally strong and did not feel the effects of the physical effort,
+she would be a tower of strength in the land, and her service would be
+an invaluable one.
+
+I am not an advocate of persistent volleying in a lady's single. I think
+it is too great a tax on the physique. Nor do I think it pays in the
+long-run. A volleyer, to my mind, is much easier to play against than a
+base-liner, and most of the first-class base-line players agree with me.
+The great physical exertion entailed in running continually to the net
+will after a time make the ground strokes weaker and weaker; and you
+_must_ have good length to be able to come up and volley with any
+success. Miss E.W. Thomson (now Mrs. Larcombe), one of our best lady
+volleyers, put up a magnificent game in the first set against Miss
+Sutton at Wimbledon in the championship singles of 1905. She had
+carefully watched Miss Sutton's game and thought out the best way to
+play her. Volleying most judiciously, she would force Miss Sutton up to
+the net with a short drop stroke, and then, lobbing over her head nearly
+on to the base-line, take up a position at the net, winning the ace with
+a neat cross volley. These tactics she repeated again and again, and
+actually led by five games to two. If she could have lasted she must
+have won that match. But she could not keep it up. She became obviously
+exhausted, did not get up to the net quickly enough, and her length got
+shorter and shorter. Miss Sutton eventually won that set and the next
+easily. I do not know what would have happened if Miss Thomson, when
+she found she was tiring, had stayed back for a little while and then
+resumed her tactics at the net. Perhaps she would have come much nearer
+to victory.
+
+A very large majority of non-volleyers in singles have won the ladies'
+championship, and I think that fact helps to prove my argument. Miss
+Maud Watson, Miss Rice, Mrs. Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton,
+Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are
+the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley.
+You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play
+and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length
+ball.
+
+In _Doubles_ of course it is different. I think then a girl should
+volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make
+the game so much more attractive. I think it would be an excellent plan
+if ladies' doubles were always played like men's doubles, both players
+moving together and keeping parallel with one another, going up to the
+net together and retiring to the back of the court together. Competitors
+would improve their volleying, and the double, instead of being the
+dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
+would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
+change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
+would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
+formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
+Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
+tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
+the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
+improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.
+
+Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
+volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
+event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
+experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
+played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
+base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
+event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
+volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
+wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
+Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
+ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
+pities.
+
+In _Mixed Doubles_ a girl has a very important part to play.
+Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
+partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
+double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
+he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
+"plums." She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
+the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
+down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
+moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
+tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
+Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
+way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
+Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
+off, however "jumpy" the opposing man is, or however much he is running
+across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
+is without looking at him.
+
+To play a mixed double you must be able to lob. It is really the most
+necessary stroke to cultivate. A very good return of the opposing lady's
+service, when both men are at the net, is a lob back to the server. It
+is much safer than lobbing over the man's head--if at all short your
+ball will be instantly killed--and it also gives your partner at the net
+plenty of time to anticipate any kind of return. It will be difficult
+for the server to return a good-length lob out of your partner's reach.
+The opposing man at the net will not be able to do anything with this
+lob--it is quite out of his reach--and it would be useless for him to
+run across as he might do for a cross drive. It is usually best, I
+think, for a lady to serve down the centre of the court in a mixed
+double. It shuts up the angles of the court more, and there is less risk
+of her partner being passed down his side line.
+
+Do not enter for too many events in a tournament. You may get thoroughly
+worn out and not able to do yourself justice in any, and you would
+probably have to play when you were very tired--bad for your game, and
+worse still for your partner's chance in a double. Remember that before
+playing an important match it is very injudicious to watch another game.
+It is likely to put your eye out. If possible, do not travel by train
+just before playing, or carry anything heavy, such as your tennis bag,
+for this will make your hand shaky and unsteady.
+
+To sum up, there are five golden rules which I have found very helpful
+to me when playing an important match. I give them to you in the hope
+that they may prove equally valuable. Always remember that constant
+practice of these rules will make their pursuit natural in a match.
+
+I. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL
+
+You have so often been told this, I know, and perhaps the familiar ring
+about the advice may evoke contempt. Yet unless this rule is implicitly
+obeyed you cannot expect much success at lawn tennis. Taking your eye
+off the ball is the secret of every mis-hit and mis-timed stroke. You
+must not be content merely to look at the ball, but follow it right on
+to your racket; watch it up to the actual moment of striking. The court
+and the position of your opponent must be mentally engraved at the same
+time. How frequently attentive observation will reveal a player lifting
+his or her eye from the ball a fraction too soon! Always be on your
+guard against this inclination. It is at first done almost
+unconsciously, but it soon becomes a habit.
+
+
+II. KEEP YOUR MIND ON THE GAME
+
+This is a most important rule. As I have remarked before, complete
+concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried
+about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your
+game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment
+playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well
+demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain.
+The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more
+or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the
+whole time.
+
+
+III. KEEP PERFECT CONTROL OF THE TEMPER
+
+This rule some players will find much more difficult than others. You
+hear of a person having the right temperament for games, of being
+naturally imperturbable. It is a priceless quality, for to my mind it is
+half the battle if nothing can disturb your equanimity. To be calm and
+placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any
+way put out, whatever little worries may turn up--and sometimes these
+worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit--that is one of
+the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not
+natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. But it requires
+much practice and an abundance of will-power and self-control. It is a
+very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be
+upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your
+opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up
+harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at
+something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have
+a much better chance of winning the match.
+
+
+IV. KEEP YOUR HEART IN THE GAME
+
+By this I mean do not get easily downhearted and discouraged. Fight
+pluckily to the end, however things are going against you. Courage and
+pluck are wanted above all things to carry you successfully through your
+matches. Never say die, however hopeless the score may sound against
+you. If you are very done up, try not to make it too obvious. Your
+opponent may be just as played out as you are. Seeing your signals of
+distress, she will buoy herself up and continue the struggle with
+renewed hope and vigour.
+
+
+V. KEEP YOUR METHOD ON THE MOVE
+
+This maxim is rather difficult to explain. What I mean is, you should
+vary your manner of play and re-adapt it in order to counteract your
+opponent. Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great
+mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving
+unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on
+the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in
+the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do
+what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her
+plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt
+myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. It
+gives her plenty of excellent practice, of course, and when you find she
+is beginning not to mind it so much, give it a rest. When you go back to
+it you will probably find it successful again. Use your brain, and
+always know what you are trying to do. Play with an object of attack and
+defence. Do not merely return the ball aimlessly; let each stroke have
+its little work to do to complete the whole victory. This is difficult,
+I know, but it is so much more fascinating, and is, I am sure, the way
+the game was meant to be played. There is much science that can be
+brought into lawn tennis, always something new to learn. And that is the
+reason why we never tire of playing it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
+
+A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
+inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
+particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
+so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
+suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
+first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
+you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
+enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a "Slazenger" racket,
+preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
+manufacturers.
+
+The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
+wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
+back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
+part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
+with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
+If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
+been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung--the frame
+would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
+than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
+and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
+of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
+the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
+my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
+prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.
+
+The handle should be about five inches in circumference--at least, that
+is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
+circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
+hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
+the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
+tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
+requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
+handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
+when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
+and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
+experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?
+
+You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
+tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
+in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
+necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
+sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
+usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
+rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
+will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.
+
+Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
+to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
+when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
+bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
+plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
+little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
+stock.
+
+And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
+during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
+tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
+experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
+their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
+"garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse--a most
+unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
+you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
+action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
+which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
+volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
+to the net--all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
+and facility.
+
+[Illustration: ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS
+E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)]
+
+I advise a plain gored skirt--not pleated; I think these most
+unsuitable on court--about four or five inches from the ground. It
+should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
+Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
+untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides--dropping at the
+back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
+the laundry. A plain shirt without "frills or furbelows"--if any
+trimming at all, tucks are the neatest--a collar, tie, and waistband, go
+to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
+desire.
+
+The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
+matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
+flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
+White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
+not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
+material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
+to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
+urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
+brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
+brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
+same colour.
+
+I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
+the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
+it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
+seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
+not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
+the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
+look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
+other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
+is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
+drag about the court.
+
+If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
+called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
+men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
+wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
+movements.
+
+I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
+the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
+tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
+make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the "gym"
+shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
+find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
+shoe--there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
+wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
+pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
+and can always replace them without any great expense.
+
+I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
+not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
+to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
+good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
+article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
+tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
+however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
+contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
+material--blanket is very popular and serviceable--and it should reach
+to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.
+
+I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
+are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
+ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
+match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
+bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
+adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
+her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
+most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
+player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
+firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
+directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
+portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
+naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
+bracelet in court.
+
+_Training for match play_ is rather a difficult subject for me to write
+about, for I have never gone in for proper "training." The great secret
+is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
+strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
+successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
+you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
+important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
+is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
+beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
+your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
+leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
+it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
+for an important match is to be always in "training"; not to have to
+alter your habits before a match is the secret. To change your diet and
+mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
+upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
+course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
+before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
+some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
+the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
+course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
+cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
+change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
+I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
+whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
+exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
+heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
+player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
+the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
+bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
+and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
+necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
+no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
+always "fit," and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
+without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
+sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
+if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
+important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
+necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
+open.
+
+As to _Courts_, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
+as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
+to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
+think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
+is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
+genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a _good_ grass
+court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
+appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
+to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
+weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
+day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
+good grass courts are few and far between.
+
+The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
+such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
+maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
+are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
+courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
+constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
+than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
+pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
+grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, "almost
+as rare a sight as a dead donkey." Happily we get this rare spectacle at
+Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902]
+
+What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
+convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
+more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
+on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
+courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
+good game the very first time he played on a first-class court--I refer
+to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
+the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
+He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
+that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
+and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
+never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
+false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
+thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
+When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
+found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
+and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
+much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
+depressing conditions--you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
+After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
+in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
+play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
+call "cabbage patches"--("Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage," was
+his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
+understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.
+
+A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
+good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
+Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
+three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
+wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
+few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
+On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
+if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
+it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
+game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.
+
+Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
+we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
+same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
+and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
+the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess--we should
+welcome it over here--is that when it rains play is quite out of the
+question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
+often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
+courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
+watering.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+TOURNAMENT AND CLUB MANAGEMENT
+
+I wish an "Order of Play" could be used more at English tournaments.
+That is to say, I wish matches could be arranged to take place at a
+certain hour, following the plan adopted at Wimbledon and at all the
+meetings on the Continent. Such an arrangement would greatly add to the
+comfort and enjoyment of competitors, and would, I imagine, be a great
+boon to the referee. Spectators, I know, would welcome it. I think a
+time-table might prove unworkable where handicap events are concerned,
+but in the case of open events I feel sure it could be introduced with
+great advantage to all concerned. I have so often sat hour after hour at
+a London tournament (having only entered for the open events), perhaps
+playing one match, perhaps not playing at all. If I had been told
+overnight that I should not be wanted, or exactly at what hour my match
+would take place, it would have been so much more satisfactory and saved
+so much wasted time. This waiting about takes away half the pleasure of
+playing in London meetings. Even if there are good matches going on you
+do not care to watch them incessantly; there may be a chance of your
+playing off a tie, and it would tend to put your eye out. On one
+occasion, having a long way to go to a tournament in which I was only
+entered for the open mixed doubles, I telephoned to know whether I
+should be wanted or not. "Well," replied the referee, "if I call you and
+you are not on the ground, I shall scratch you. In your own interest you
+had better come over." For my partner's sake, as well as my own, I was
+bound to go. As I expected, I sat the whole afternoon and evening doing
+absolutely nothing. When I begged to be allowed to play, as I had come
+some distance for this one match, the referee examined his programme and
+said, "Oh, it is quite impossible to-day. They have not played the round
+in front of you yet!"
+
+[Illustration: AFTER THE LADIES' FINAL AT WIMBLEDON: TEA ON THE LAWNS]
+
+This sort of thing implies gross mismanagement, besides resulting in
+unnecessary wear and tear for the competitors. If there was an order of
+play arranged for each day, all the bother would be obviated. I believe
+that business men who cannot get away in the early afternoon have their
+matches timed and arranged for them. Why are not all competitors treated
+alike?
+
+While I am on this subject of "waiting about," let me say that I think
+ladies do not take nearly enough care of themselves after playing. They
+ought to wrap up well if they have not time to change before their next
+match. Men are much more careful. They put on their coats immediately
+they leave the court, and change their clothes as soon as they can. But
+you will see girls chatting after a match, and even having tea, without
+deigning to put on an extra wrap. It is courting disaster. The colds and
+more dangerous ailments that arise from this little want of care
+naturally afford people a line of attack when they object to girls
+engaging in violent exercise.
+
+You cannot be too careful after strenuous play. I am well aware that
+ladies are catered for very badly at most of the tournaments in regard
+to changing-room accommodation. Some places we have had to put up with
+are disgraceful. I think most lady players will agree with me when I say
+that Wimbledon and Queen's Club are about the only two grounds where you
+can change with any degree of comfort. This is not right, and I am sure
+if men had to experience the changing-room accommodation afforded for
+our use there would not be many of them competing at tournaments. I
+think the two clubs I have mentioned are the only two where we even get
+a bathroom! Some tournaments provide a draughty tent for our use.
+Moreover, there is generally only one dressing-room, and feminine
+spectators often crowd round the one looking-glass, staring at the
+players as if they were animals on show! It is sometimes even impossible
+to sit down to rest after a hard and tiring contest.
+
+I appeal to secretaries of tournaments for some reform. A number of lady
+players have asked me to use this opportunity to point out some of our
+most pressing grievances. I hope these remarks, which are none too
+strong, may bear fruit. Visitors who come over from other countries are
+always loud in their complaints, and I am not surprised. I believe the
+Beckenham authorities are doing all they can to impart a little more
+comfort to the ladies' changing and resting-room, and they have greatly
+improved their accommodation. It is time other meetings followed their
+example. At the seaside meetings it does not so much matter. Most of the
+players stay near the ground and can go to their own rooms and be back
+in time to play again, if necessary; but in London tournaments, where
+there is often a long drive or train journey before one reaches home, it
+is most important that there should be a good changing-room.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: A TOURNAMENT HOUSE-PARTY AT NEWCASTLE _Front row (left to
+right_): THE LATE MISS C. MEYRE, MR. G.W. HILLYARD, MRS. HILLYARD, MRS.
+LAMBERT CHAMBERS, MR. N.E. BROOKES, MR. A.J. ROBERTS]
+
+There is another improvement which I feel sure would be greatly welcomed
+by competitors, and that is a separate tea-tent for their use. Often a
+player has only a few minutes to get her tea, and, with the general
+public engaged in the same amiable pursuit, she is not able to be served
+and has to go away tealess. If there were a competitors' tea-tent, a
+player could obtain her tea in comfort when she wanted it.
+
+Always bear in mind that a referee at a tournament has a most "worrying
+time of it." Players can and should help to make his task lighter.
+There are many ways in which they can assist to make the tournament as
+successful as possible. One is by being punctual and ready dressed to
+play when wanted, and another is by umpiring when they are disengaged
+and have not an important match just coming on. "Taking the chair" may
+help them not to dispute an umpire's decision when they are in court
+themselves. They will realize how difficult umpiring is, and that bad as
+umpires often are they are doing their best. To dispute a decision or to
+argue with the umpire never helps matters; it usually makes him nervous.
+A bad decision must be taken as a fortune of war, and borne in a
+sportsmanlike manner. But you must never allow the crowd to influence
+the umpire. It is a hopeless expedient, for many people who watch
+matches are ignorant of the rules of the game.
+
+Sometimes--I suppose it is Hobson's choice--an umpire is chosen from the
+"gate." If he knows little or nothing of his duties the result is
+disastrous. Should there be difficulty in getting an umpire who knows
+something of his work, I think the match should take care of itself. I
+have experienced umpires who do not even know how to score!
+
+And now a word or two about _Clubs._ It is very difficult to manage a
+lawn tennis club successfully; much tact is required. I think it is
+almost impossible to prevent a club being "cliquey," and I should always
+advise a player who wishes to improve her game to join one which is more
+concerned with its tennis than its social side. Some clubs still use the
+game for a garden-party, where long trailing skirts, sunshades, and
+basket chairs predominate. Perhaps a game or two is played in the cool
+of the evening. That sort of club should be avoided if you are a keen
+and enthusiastic player.
+
+The committee of a club should be a small one, consisting of members
+who are devoted to the best interests of the game. Their aim should be
+to keep in touch with all the latest developments, and above all to keep
+up to date, advancing with the times. A committee sometimes embraces old
+supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They
+have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like
+innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the
+benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good
+match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the
+members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly
+rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and
+combine well together. A committee should do all in its power to improve
+the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having
+well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with
+side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a
+player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters
+for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her
+game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad
+management of a club.
+
+[Illustration: "MY SISTERS AND MYSELF" _A picture postcard sent to Mrs.
+Lambert-Chambers by Miss May Sutton from her home in California_.]
+
+It is an excellent plan for members of the committee to drop in at some
+of the tournaments and see how things are done there. Developments may
+have occurred of which they know nothing, and they could pick up many a
+wrinkle by a tour of inspection. Before one secretary of a fairly large
+tournament went to Wimbledon he had never seen a canvas background.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+SOME PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+
+I have been asked to write what I can remember of my earliest tennis
+days. This is rather difficult, as it is now thirteen years since I
+entered for my first tournament in 1896. It is never easy or pleasant to
+write one's own biography, but I have been assured that readers will be
+interested to hear something of my career in court.
+
+I have said that 1896 was the first year I entered for a tournament,
+which is quite true; but I always reckon that my tournament experience
+did not really start until the year 1898, because in the two previous
+years I only entered for one tournament (The Gipsy), and only in the
+handicap at that, and I came out first round. In 1898 I played in three
+tournaments, and in more events at each one.
+
+My earliest recollections of a racket and tennis ball go back to when I
+was quite small. My greatest amusement was to play up against a brick
+wall, with numerous dolls and animals of all kinds as spectators--really
+as big a gate as we get now at some tournaments! Each toy in turn was
+chosen as my opponent. Needless to say, I always won these matches. My
+adversaries took very little interest in the proceedings. This was some
+years before I even played in a court, and I think it was a very good
+way of starting the game.
+
+I then played in a court we had at home, which was not very good;
+gooseberry bushes prevented our running outside the court at all. I next
+joined a club at Ealing Common, and at the age of eleven won my first
+prize, the Handicap Singles at our club tournament. Of course I was
+receiving enormous points, and I remember to this day how bored the best
+lady players in the club were when they had to play me. My game then,
+from all accounts, involved a sequence of very high lobs. I am now quite
+envious of the accuracy of my lobbing in those days. I had absolutely no
+pace, but was active and very steady, and desperately serious and keen
+about the game. At this time also I used to play at college, preferring
+tennis to cricket, which was the exception. Cricket was the great game.
+Tennis was pushed into the background, and very little interest was
+taken in it, even when the matches were played to decide the winner of
+the racket presented each year to the best player in the school by some
+kind parent. I won this racket one year, but could never use it, as it
+was heavily weighted with an enormous silver shield on which was a
+lengthy inscription. Of course the balance of the racket was absolutely
+upset.
+
+There was not much chance of improving at school, because nobody took
+the trouble to have the court or net of the right dimensions. The rules
+of the game were not even known. Every ball that touched the line was
+given out. I remember a very heated argument I had with a mistress who
+was umpiring a match for me, the result of which was that I had lines to
+write for impertinence!
+
+In 1899 I joined the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club, and won the singles
+championship cup three years in succession, thus keeping it for my own
+property. At one time Mrs. Hillyard and Mrs. Sterry had both been
+members of this same club. Curiously enough, Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry,
+Miss Sutton, and myself have all lived, at different periods of our
+lives, very close together--Mrs. Hillyard at Greenford, Mrs. Sterry and
+myself at Ealing, and Miss Sutton at Acton. I think about this time I
+very much improved my game by constantly playing singles against the
+best men in the club, and also doubles with three men. This was
+undoubtedly excellent practice for me.
+
+[Illustration: AUTOGRAPHS FROM MY ALBUM]
+
+In 1898 I won my first prizes in open tournaments, the handicap singles
+at Chiswick Park and Queen's Club. At Chiswick I received 15.4, and met
+Miss C. Cooper in the semi-final. I remember quite well my "stage
+fright" when I went into court against this famous player, even at the
+tremendous odds of owe 15.3 and give 15.4. I lost the first set easily,
+and the game was then postponed until the next day owing to failing
+light. After that first set, a friend said to me, "If you could only
+forget it's Miss Cooper, I am certain you could win." The next day I
+tried to follow out this advice, and eventually won the match with the
+score of 3/6, 6/1, 6/4. At Queen's I met Miss C. Cooper again. She was
+owing 40 and I was receiving 2/6. I again managed to win, this time in
+two sets, 6/2, 6/3. At Eastbourne the same year, my third tournament, I
+was in the second-class handicap owing 15, and survived a few rounds.
+Miss C.M. Wilson was also in the second class at 4/6, but we did not
+meet. Miss A.M. Morton, Miss A.N.G. Greene, Miss Garfit, Miss Robb, Mrs.
+Hillyard, Miss Dyas, Miss Austin, and Miss C. Cooper were in the first
+class. The classification for that year (1898) was:
+
+  Miss C. Cooper          Scratch
+
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Miss Dyas               1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss Steedman           2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+
+  Miss Garfit             4/6
+  Mrs. Kirby              4/6
+  Miss Legh               4/6
+
+The first player of any repute that I beat in Open Singles was Miss E.R.
+Morgan, whom I defeated in 1899 at Chiswick Park. I was beaten in the
+next round by Miss B. Tulloch after a severe tussle. I again won the
+Handicap Singles at Queen's. I was on the scratch mark, the farthest
+back I had yet been. Miss Austin was back-marker at owe 30.3.
+
+The classification for 1899 was:
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss Martin             Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+  Miss Austin             1/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          2/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss M.E. Robb          4/6
+  Miss Steedman           5/6
+
+  Miss Bromfield          15
+  Mrs. Kirby              15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+In 1900 Miss Marion Jones, then American lady champion, came over to
+England. I played one of the most exhausting matches against her that I
+have ever experienced. It was at Queen's Club in the Handicap Singles. I
+was owing 3/6 and Miss Jones receiving 3/6. There was a good deal of
+discussion at the time about this match, and in spite of the tremendous
+heat (we do not get such summers now) we were persuaded to go into
+court. In truth it was a gruelling day. I remember men walked about the
+streets fanning themselves. We played for hours in a blazing sun, and I
+eventually won, the score being 8/10, 6/2, 7/5. After the match Miss
+Jones was taken to the dressing-room in a fainting condition, and when I
+reached home I had an attack of sunstroke, and had my head packed in
+ice. The umpire was also seriously ill for some time. It was only the
+international element in the game and the controversy about the relative
+points that made us fight it out to the bitter end.
+
+We both thoroughly agreed with the notice of this match which appeared
+in _Lawn Tennis_ the following week:
+
+"The ladies had their example of untiring effort and splendid patience
+in the second round of the Handicap Singles, when Miss Marion Jones, the
+American champion (receive 3/6) met Miss D.K. Douglass (owe 3/6). The
+tie was played off under exceptionally trying circumstances. A fiercely
+hot sun was pouring its rays on the court, and there was scarcely a
+breath of air, yet for 2-1/2 hours, without hats, did these ladies
+strive for mastery. The first set fell to Miss Jones after 18 games had
+been played. The second was secured by Miss Douglass with comparative
+ease, neither the odds nor the previous exertions appearing to affect
+her. The third set brought out a remarkable display of patience,
+determination, and cool judgment, for when it stood out at 5 games to 1
+in Miss Jones's favour, Miss Douglass won the next 6 games right off,
+each game being fought out with great resolution. It may be doubted
+whether either for tennis' sake or 'kudos' such a contest under such
+conditions is wise. I was not surprised to hear it mentioned that not
+only had both competitors severely felt the strain, but that even the
+umpire had suffered."
+
+This year (1900) it is interesting to note that the champion of to-day,
+Miss D. Boothby, won the Handicap Singles at Beckenham, receiving 15.4.
+This year, too, saw my first appearance at Wimbledon. I was not in the
+lists very long, meeting Miss L. Martin first round. I do not think the
+game lasted long, and I have only a very faint recollection of it; but
+I remember thinking Miss Martin's strokes were the finest I had ever
+seen. At Eastbourne a couple of months later I was lucky enough to meet
+Miss C. Cooper on a very off day and run her close in the open singles.
+The match caused quite a sensation. We started rather late, in the tea
+interval, and nobody took the least interest in what was considered a
+forgone conclusion. However, when it got abroad that Misss Cooper had
+actually lost the first set, people came hurrying round the court in
+great consternation lest Miss Cooper, whom they all knew so well,
+should go down to a play who was quite unknown; I had been in the second
+class only the year before. Miss Cooper eventually secured the match,
+3/6, 9/7, 9/7. I met Mrs. Sterry on many subsequent occasions before I
+could get anything like so close to her. I really used to get quite
+weary of being beaten by her. When the Handicap Singles came out the day
+after this match I was put to owe 15 in the first class, which pleased
+me immensely. Miss Robb, Mrs. Greville, and Miss C. Cooper were owe 15.3
+and Mrs. Hillyard owe 30. I was in the classification for the first time
+at the end of this year.
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           Scratch
+  Miss C. Cooper          1/6
+
+  Miss Martin             2/6
+  Mrs. Greville           2/6
+
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               4/6
+  Miss Bromfield          5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             5/6
+  Miss C. Hill            5/6
+  Miss Longhurst          5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss A.M. Morton        15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      15
+
+In 1901 I won my first Challenge Cup in an open tournament, beating
+Mrs. Greville in the challenge round at Beckenham. Mrs. Greville's
+defeat came as a great surprise to every one. It was her third year for
+the cup, and this may have accounted for her being much below her usual
+form. I had certainly improved a great deal, even in that one week, for
+I had had a hard match every day, meeting Miss Tulloch, Miss Morton, and
+Countess Schulenberg (with whom I had a tremendous three-set match) in
+the preceding rounds. Mrs. Greville, on the other hand, had been
+standing out--the custom at Beckenham, one that I personally always find
+a great disadvantage. I was easily beaten this year at Wimbledon by Mrs.
+Sterry. Classification for 1901:
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss Martin             1/6
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      2/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           3/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          3/6
+  Miss Robb               3/6
+  Miss Lowther            4/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        4/6
+  Miss Thomson            5/6
+  Mrs. Winch              5/6
+  Mrs. Evered             15
+  Miss Lane               15
+  Miss Longhurst          15
+  Miss Tulloch            15
+
+At Wimbledon, in 1902, I had two very strenuous matches, which improved
+my game immensely. The first, against Mrs. Durlacher, I just won. The
+second, against the late Miss Robb, I just lost, after one of the
+closest matches I have ever played. Miss Robb won the championship this
+year. It was a great fight; and though of course it is hard to judge, I
+always feel I played in that game as well as I have ever played. The
+score in Miss Robb's favour was 6/4, 2/5, 9/7. Thus we both won
+seventeen games. This year I paid my first visit to Newcastle, a
+tournament which I always look forward to and enjoy as much as any
+meeting. The management is all one can desire, the people so keen and
+hospitable. I had a good hard fight with Mrs. Sterry, losing 7/5, 7/5,
+and winning with her the Ladies' Doubles cups. At Brighton I was again
+beaten by Mrs. Sterry, although managing this time to get a set. At
+Eastbourne the following week I won my first match against Mrs. Sterry
+in Open Singles, the score being 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. I was simply delighted,
+after so many reverses, to win a match against this player. I had been
+beaten so often by her, and sometimes felt as though I never should be
+rewarded by a victory to my credit. The classification of players for
+1902 was as follows:
+
+  Miss Robb               Scratch
+  Mrs. Sterry             Scratch
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      1/6
+  Miss L. Martin          1/6
+  Miss Longhurst          1/6
+
+  Mrs. Hillyard           2/6
+  Miss H. Lane            2/6
+  Miss A.M. Morton        3/6
+  Miss Greville           3/6
+  Miss Steedman           3/6
+  Mrs. Durlacher          3/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        3/6
+  Miss Lowther            3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          3/6
+  Miss Thomson            4/6
+  Mrs. Pickering          4/6
+
+In 1903 I paid my first visit to the Northern tournament, held at
+Manchester that year. I won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship
+with Mr. F.L. Riseley, and was beaten in the challenge round of the
+Ladies' Singles by Miss L. Martin after a very hard struggle: 4/6, 7/5,
+6/4. It seemed a great pity that Miss Martin was not able to play at
+Wimbledon that year. It was a lean year, and for me a lucky one, for
+with so many of the best players not competing for the championship
+(Mrs. Hillyard, Mrs. Sterry, Miss Robb, and Miss Martin were all
+absentees) I was given a chance of winning the coveted title. I met Miss
+E.W. Thomson in the final, who had beaten Miss Morton and Miss Wilson in
+the preceding rounds. I had had a good fight against Miss Lowther before
+reaching the final. Although I was expected to beat Miss Thomson, and
+actually did win the match, I scarcely deserved my triumph. Miss Thomson
+played by far the better tennis, and it was really very hard luck on her
+that she did not succeed. At one time she was a set up and four games to
+one, and I was forced to play on the defensive nearly the whole time.
+Miss Thomson played beautifully, placing with great accuracy down the
+lines and across the court. Indeed, her placing was so good that I
+always seemed to be yards away from her return, when I had thought there
+was plenty of time to get to the ball. It has always been a marvel to me
+how I won that match; but I think it was chiefly condition--Miss Thomson
+was never a very good stayer.
+
+[Illustration: SOME OF THE FRUITS OF VICTORY. _In the centre is the All
+England Championship, won by Mrs. Lambert Chambers in 1903, 1904, 1906_]
+
+By the way, Miss Thomson and I were introduced to each other at the
+Gipsy Tournament--my first tournament. I had no partner for the Ladies'
+Doubles Handicap, and the secretary put us together on the programme.
+Little did I dream then that we should one day fight out the final of
+the Championship on the centre court at Wimbledon, or as a pair twice
+win the All England Doubles Championship. Classification for 1903:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+  Miss L. Martin          Scratch
+  Miss E.W. Thomson       1/6
+  Miss Lowther            1/6
+  Miss C M. Wilson        2/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Morton             3/6
+  Miss Longhurst          3/6
+  Miss Bromfield          4/6
+  Miss H. Lane            4/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Mrs. Houselander        5/6
+  Miss Stawell-Brown      5/6
+
+In 1904 I again won the championship, beating Mrs. Sterry in the
+challenge round. This year and 1906 were my most successful years. I was
+fortunate enough in both to go through the season without a reverse in
+open singles. Classification for 1904 was as follows:
+
+  Miss D.K. Douglass      Scratch
+
+  Mrs. Sterry             1/6
+  Mrs. Hillyard           1/6
+  Miss C.M. Wilson        1/6
+
+  Miss Thomson            2/6
+  Miss Morton             2/6
+
+  Miss W. Longhurst       3/6
+  Miss V. Pinckney        3/6
+  Miss Greene             3/6
+  Miss Lane               3/6
+  Mrs. Greville           4/6
+  Miss Stawell Brown      4/6
+  Mrs. Winch              4/6
+  Miss Garfit             5/6
+  Miss Kendal             5/6
+  Miss D. Boothby         5/6
+  Miss M. Coles           5/6
+  Miss A. Ransome         5/6
+  Miss E. Longhurst       15
+  Miss Squire             15
+  Miss Eastlake Smith     15
+  Miss Paterson           15
+  Miss Tootell            15
+
+In 1905 I paid my first visit to the South of France. I was unlucky
+enough to sprain my wrist; but in spite of this mishap, the change of
+conditions, courts, and surroundings were all so novel that I thoroughly
+enjoyed my visit. The courts at the Beau Site, Cannes, are absolutely
+perfect, both as regards surface and background; and when one has got
+used to the different bound of the ball and the rather trying glare of
+the sun, one could not wish for better conditions for good tennis. Many
+a famous match has been fought out on these courts; and situated as they
+are in the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Beau Site, where most of the
+players stay, the environment is ideal. I was only able to play in the
+Monte Carlo tournament, after a few days' practice on the Beau Site
+courts, for it was just at the start of the Nice tournament that the
+accident to my wrist occurred. It was very disappointing to default
+after coming so far to take part in these tournaments. Several months
+elapsed before I could use my wrist again, and I was not able to play in
+any of the tournaments before I defended my title at Wimbledon.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHALLENGE ROUND AT WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS SUTTON
+(AMERICA) _v_. MISS D.K. DOUGLASS]
+
+This year Miss May Sutton, the American lady champion, paid her first
+visit to England, and carried all before her, winning the championship
+of England and many other events, all without the loss of a single
+set--truly a wonderful performance. If any one had pluck it was Miss
+Sutton. To come to a strange country, practically friendless (Miss
+Sutton made many friends over here, but she came over alone), and to
+play and defeat one after another of the best players in this country,
+was a feat which filled us all with unbounded admiration.
+
+[Illustration: MOTOR CARS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ALL-ENGLAND GROUND AT
+WIMBLEDON DURING THE LADIES CHALLENGE ROUND, 1906]
+
+I have played Miss Sutton five times, losing three and winning two of
+the matches. Of the three matches I lost, two were at Wimbledon, in the
+challenge rounds of 1905 and 1907, and the third at Beckenham in the
+challenge round of 1907. My two victories were both gained in 1906, in
+the challenge rounds at Liverpool and Wimbledon. Certainly the most
+exciting match I have ever played, and the one that gave me the most
+pleasure to win, was my match at Wimbledon against Miss Sutton in 1906.
+The match itself was not exactly enjoyable--the strain was too great; so
+much seemed to depend upon me, both for my own reputation, and that of
+my country. When Mr. Palmer, secretary of the All England Club, escorted
+us into the centre court and left us, with a word of encouragement in my
+ear, I felt helpless and destitute. You cannot realize what it means to
+face four thousand people and know that so much depends on your own
+exertions and coolness. Miss Sutton, I think, must have felt this
+loneliness in a still greater degree, for she was away from her country,
+her own people and friends. I have never had such a craving to speak to
+some one as I had in this match--just one friendly word to tell me
+whether I was playing the right sort of game or not. I confess my
+feelings were very strung up.
+
+I remember in the second set, when Miss Sutton led at three games to
+love, I said to the umpire as we crossed over, "I wonder, have I gone
+off, or is she playing much better?" But, of course, his face was like a
+mask; he didn't vouchsafe a word. Not that I expected him to speak, but
+I felt I simply must say something to some one. He told me afterwards he
+wanted to say, "I don't know; but stick to it whatever happens!"
+Concentration on the game in this match was terribly difficult, as the
+crowd was so huge and seemed so excited; it was almost impossible to
+forget the people and lose yourself in the game. I can quite well
+remember a dispute going on in the open stand for quite a long time
+during the first set. I think a lady would not put down her sunshade;
+there was quite a commotion about it. And then people near would shout
+advice to me, or scream out, "It's over! Run!" This happened two or
+three times; and although I knew they were trying to help me, which in
+itself was cheering and encouraging, it was very distracting and
+disconcerting. But after some time I lost it all, and became engrossed
+in the game. I think in 1907 Miss Sutton was much steadier and played a
+better all-round game, but I do not think she had quite the same
+terrific fore-hand drive as in the first two years she was over here.
+Her strokes were safer perhaps, but not so formidable and powerful.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBLEDON, 1906: MISS DOUGLASS (NOW MRS. LAMBERT
+CHAMBERS) WRESTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP FROM MISS SUTTON, THE HOLDER.]
+
+One of the great charms of playing in various tournaments is the means
+it affords of visiting all the different towns and countries. It may
+involve considerable travelling and expense, but the touring abroad is
+both an education and a delight. Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Homburg,
+Baden-Baden and Dinard, all bring the pleasantest reminiscences. Many of
+us have travelled about together, which is the jolliest way of doing
+the tournaments. I remember one most enjoyable trip, when Miss Lowther
+motored the Hillyards and myself through Germany--an ideal way of
+"doing" tournaments! The place at which a meeting is held, its
+surroundings, also the facilities it offers for amusement in the evening
+after your day's tennis is over, add to the enjoyment and make a
+material difference. It will always be one of my chief delights, in
+thinking of my tennis career, to remember the hospitality and many
+courtesies I have everywhere received, and the many friends I have made,
+who I trust will remain friends long after my tennis is a thing of the
+past.
+
+It is extraordinary how naive the general public sometimes are. People
+will watch first-class tennis, sitting for hours together perhaps in
+great discomfort, and yet display a lamentable want of knowledge about
+the game. In fact, to many its object is a mystery! This seems hardly
+possible, but it is quite true. I once overheard a lady who was
+watching a match in the centre court at Wimbledon remark, "There, that's
+the very first time that man has hit the net with the ball, and he has
+had hundreds of tries!" I thought the man mentioned must be playing
+pretty good tennis! One really wonders why these onlookers spend so much
+time round a court, or where the pleasure can come in for them.
+
+At a garden party not so very long ago where tennis was on the
+programme, the visitors, arriving on the court, found one solitary ball,
+tied round with a long piece of string, the other end being attached to
+the net. To a natural inquiry the hostess replied, "Oh, they lost so
+many balls in the shrubbery last year, I really couldn't afford it, and
+thought of this plan. It has been most successful. This ball has lasted
+for ages!" Another lady at Eastbourne, whom I had noticed because she
+never left her seat, bringing her lunch with her so as not to lose a
+moment's play, asked me at the end of the week, while watching a double,
+whether the partners were side by side or opposite, as in bridge!
+
+One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the
+first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me,
+"You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis."
+"Making?" I say. "Spending, you mean!"--which always makes them stare in
+amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very
+common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are
+no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's
+Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course,
+cannot compete in open tournaments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+MY MOST MEMORABLE MATCH (BY LEADING PLAYERS)
+
+_The following contributions, in response to a request for some account
+of their most noteworthy encounter on court, have been kindly furnished
+for this volume by leading lady players._
+
+
+MRS. G.W. HILLYARD
+
+(_Champion_, 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1900)
+
+One of the most exciting matches I remember was the final for the
+Championship at Wimbledon, played on the centre court on July 6, 1889,
+between Miss Rice and me. I started very nervously, as Miss Rice had
+given me rather a fright in the Irish Championship the month before,
+when she appeared in Dublin as a "dark horse." On that occasion I had
+only scraped through 7/5, 7/5. I began the match at Wimbledon by
+serving a double fault, and lost several games by doing the same thing
+in the first set. My length was awful, and Miss Rice was playing well
+from the start. She had a very fine fore-hand drive, but, like myself, a
+bad back-hand. She led at 3 games to 1, and took the first set at 6/4.
+In the second set I regained my confidence a little, winning three love
+games out of the first four; but Miss Rice won the next four games in
+succession, the score being called 5/3 and 40/15 against me. At this
+point, in my despair, I said to Mr. Chipp, who was umpiring the match,
+"What _can_ I do?" His grim answer was, "Play better, I should think." I
+then fully realized that I had not been playing my best game, and that
+to win I must hit harder. This I did, with the result that my length
+improved and I snatched this game from the fire--although Miss Rice was
+three times within a stroke of the match--and I eventually won the set
+at 8/6.
+
+The last set was well fought out, for, although I began well and led at
+3/1, Miss Rice won the next three games in succession and reached 40/30
+in the following game. This was her last effort, as I ran out at 6/4,
+winning the Championship for the second time. I think it was one of the
+closest matches I ever played, and I see by _Pastime_ that I only won 18
+games to her 16, and 110 strokes to her 100, and I felt I was most lucky
+to win at all.
+
+[Signature: Blanche Hillyard]
+
+
+MRS. STERRY
+
+(_Champion_, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1901, 1908)
+
+Of course it goes without saying that my most memorable and exciting
+matches will all be those in which I have excelled or been the most
+distinguished person at the immediate moment! Let me just say that I am
+not going to give details of any match, as that is beyond my power and,
+I assume, of little interest to the reader.
+
+Winning my first championship of the Ealing Lawn Tennis Club at the age
+of 14 was a very important moment in my life. How well I remember,
+bedecked by my proud mother in my best clothes, running off to the Club
+on the Saturday afternoon to play in the final without a vestige of
+nerve (would that I had none now!), and winning--that was the first
+really important match of my life.
+
+Another great game will always be imprinted on my memory, and that was
+in 1894, the first year that the late Mr. H.S. Mahony and I won the All
+England Mixed Championship. We beat Mrs. Hillyard and Mr. W. Baddeley in
+the final. The excitement of the onlookers was intense, and never shall
+I forget the overpowering sensation I felt as we walked, after our win,
+past the Aigburth Cricket Ground Stand, packed to its limit. How the
+people clapped and cheered us! It was tremendous.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. HILLYARD]
+
+[Illustration: MRS. STERRY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS V.M. PINCKNEY]
+
+[Illustration: MISS D. BOOTHBY]
+
+Another memory--the year 1895. Certainly I must be honest and say it
+wasn't exactly a good championship win, for Miss Dodd, Mrs. Hillyard,
+and Miss Martin were all standing out. Any of these could have beaten
+me. Nevertheless it was a delightful feeling to win the blue ribbon of
+England, especially as my opponent in the final, Miss Jackson, had led
+5-love in both sets! By some good fortune I was able to win seven games
+off the reel in each case.
+
+One more match--in 1907. I had heard a great deal about Miss May Sutton
+(who made her first appearance in England in 1905) beating everybody
+without the loss of a set. I had also heard she was a giant of strength,
+and that the harder one hit the more she liked it. The first time I met
+her was at Liverpool in 1907--I did not play the previous season. I was
+determined to introduce unfamiliar tactics, giving her short balls in
+order to entice her up to the net. The result was that many of her
+terrific drives went out, and I think this was primarily the reason why
+I was the first lady in England to take a set from her. I recollect her
+telling me, after the match was over, that my game was very different to
+any other she had ever played, and that she was not anxious to meet me
+again--remarks I took as a great compliment.
+
+There are scores of games just the reverse of pleasant which are
+imprinted on my memory, but I am not going to revive them at my own
+expense, hoping they have been forgotten and forgiven to my account, by
+any unfortunate partners I have ever let down.
+
+[Signature: Chattie R. Sterry.]
+
+MRS. DURLACHER
+
+_(Doubles Champion,_ 1899; _Mixed Doubles Champion of Ireland, 1898,
+1901, 1902)_
+
+
+A match that remains in my memory perhaps more than any other was the
+final of the Irish Championship Singles at Dublin in 1902, when Miss
+Martin and I met and had a long struggle for supremacy. At one time it
+really seemed as if I must win this match, as I led at 5 games to 1 and
+was within a stroke of the match. But I could not make that one point.
+Once when I had the advantage and only wanted an ace to win the match,
+one of my returns ran along the top of the net, and then, unfortunately
+for me, dropped my side. Miss Martin stuck to her guns persistently and
+eventually pulled the match out of the fire, winning the next six games
+straight off and thus becoming Irish Champion for 1902. It was very
+disappointing to lose after being so near victory. The score in Mis
+Martin's favour was 6/8, 6/4, 7/5.
+
+[Signature: Ruth Durlacher]
+
+
+MISS V.M. PINCKNEY
+
+_(Champion of London, 1907, 1908)_
+
+In recalling the most remarkable lawn tennis match that I have ever
+played, I do not think I can do better than give the Open Mixed Double
+semi-final that took place on the final day of the Kent Championship
+Meeting at Beckenham on June 1, 1908. Mr. Roper Barrett and I met Mr.
+Prebble and Miss Boothby, and the story of the match is one of startling
+lapses and recoveries. In the first set Mr. Prebble and Miss Boothby
+profited by the combination born of frequent association in Mixed
+Doubles. Miss Boothby was very good from the back of the court and Mr.
+Prebble seemed to make mincemeat of my returns. It was their set by 6/4.
+In the second set Mr. Roper Barrett was quite wonderful, and killed
+every ball that he could possibly reach. The result was that the set was
+easily ours by 6/1. Our opponents, however, had something in reserve,
+and, I playing badly, they ran away to 5/0 in the third set. All seemed
+over. My partner and I made a great effort and got one game, and we
+congratulated ourselves on saving a love set. Then the excitement began,
+and we added game after game to our side. I am sure the crowd beame
+intensely interested, and quite worked themselves up as we drew to 5
+all. Mr. Barrett at this time was simply invincible, and I managed
+somehow to keep the balls out of Mr. Prebble's reach and play everything
+to Miss Boothby, upon whom devolved the responsibility. My partner
+volleyed at all kinds of remarkable angles, and, as _The Sportsman_ in
+describing the match, remarked, "sat on the net and was in complete
+command." We took seven games consecutively and won the set at 7/5, and
+with it a memorable match.
+
+[Signature: Violet M. Pinckney]
+
+
+MISS D. BOOTHBY
+
+(_Champion_, 1909)
+
+Without doubt my most exciting match was the final last year at
+Wimbledon. In every player's heart there must be a faint hope that one
+day she may win the All England Championship. At least it has always
+been in mine.
+
+From Christmas and all through the spring my family and friends had
+dinned into my ears that now was my chance, and if I did not win this
+year I never would. Only when I was leading one set up and 2-love in the
+second did all these things flash across my mind. I suddenly got
+nervous. Oh, the misery of it! I served double fault after double fault
+(I learnt afterwards that I gave away sixteen points in this way), and
+my friends told me that it was a relief to them when my service went
+over the net at all, however slowly. My opponent, Miss Morton, caught
+up, won the set 6/4, and led me 4/2 in the final set. All this time I
+had been fighting hard to regain confidence. At last my nerve came
+back--I was determined to win, and, only after a very great effort, just
+succeeded in capturing the Championship with the narrow margin of 8/6 in
+the final set.
+
+It was not until I had finished and had come off the court that I
+realized how very excited I had been, and how relieved I was when it was
+all over. Only those who have had experience can know how exhausting it
+is to concentrate one's whole thoughts and efforts, without cessation,
+for an hour or more. Fortunately you do not feel the strain until
+afterwards, when it does not matter, and then you can look back with
+very great pleasure and satisfaction on a hard-won fight.
+
+[Signature: Dora P. Boothby.]
+
+
+MRS. LARCOMBE
+
+(_Doubles Champion_, 1903, 1904; _Mixed Doubles Champion_, 1904, 1905)
+
+
+My "most memorable match" was in the All England Mixed Doubles
+Championship at Liverpool in 1904. Mr. S.H. Smith and I were playing
+Miss Wilson and Mr. A.W. Gore, and we had a great struggle for victory.
+I do not remember the exact score, but at one time our opponents were
+within an ace of the match. Miss Wilson served to me in the left
+court--a good service out on the side line. I played a straight
+back-hand shot down the line, passing Mr. Gore's forehand--rather a
+desperate stroke, as if it failed to pass him it meant certain death
+from one of his straight-arm volleys. Perhaps he was not guarding his
+line so well as usual, under the impression that I would not have the
+courage to try to pass him at such a critical moment--anyway, we won the
+point; and eventually the match and the championship, beating the
+holders, Miss D.K. Douglass and Mr. F.L. Riseley, in a most exciting
+match--almost as "memorable" to me, because I hit Mr. Riseley three
+times with smashes. I remember that side-line stroke and those three
+"hits" with great joy!
+
+[Signature: Ethel W. Larcombe.]
+
+MRS. LAMPLOUGH
+
+(_Covered Court Champion_, 1907)
+
+I find it a matter of some difficulty to decide which is the most
+memorable of the more important matches in which I have played. Four or
+five as I recall them seem, each in turn, to have left a lasting
+impression on my memory for one reason or another. Yet none of them
+appear more worthy of note than the others. The match which I think I
+shall remember long after many others are forgotten took place last year
+(1909) in the comparatively small and little-known tournament at Romsey.
+For the first time for some years I had missed winter practice on the
+covered courts at Queen's Club and in the South of France, and when I
+started again late in June, on moderate club courts and against none too
+keen opponents, I found myself looking forward with apprehension to my
+first effort in public. In the semi-final of the Ladies' Open Singles
+at Romsey I met Miss Sugden, whose well-merited reputation as a lawn
+tennis player is more or less a local one, chiefly for the reason that
+she has not competed in any of the first-class tournaments. It was a
+close afternoon, and the court being heavy we both felt the heat very
+much as the game progressed. I never really looked like winning the
+first set; my opponent led 4/1, and though I managed to equalize she
+easily ran out at 6/4. It was in the second set that the real struggle
+took place. In spite of all my efforts, Miss Sugden won game after game,
+until the game stood at 5/1 against me and 30 all; but by good luck I
+snatched that game and the two following. At 5/4 and my service we had
+deuce quite ten or twelve times, but in the end I managed to win and
+took the set at 7/5. After that I felt better, and with renewed
+confidence and steadier nerves I won the final set at, I think, 6/3.
+
+There was nothing particularly remarkable in the match, but somehow I
+felt that confidence in myself for the future depended in a great
+measure on my success in this event, and, in spite of having a very
+sporting opponent, I never felt more relieved in my life than when the
+last stroke was played.
+
+[Signature: Gladys S. Lamplough.]
+
+
+MISS A.M. MORTON
+
+(_Runner up for the Championship_, 1909)
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Larcombe]
+
+[Illustration: Mrs. Lamplough]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.M. Morton]
+
+[Illustration: Miss A.N.G. Greene]
+
+I feel I owe an apology to Mrs. Luard for writing about a match in which
+I happened to beat her, as she is, and was then, a player altogether a
+class above me. No doubt it became "memorable," as I certainly never
+expected to win at the outset, and still less so when I was undergoing
+one of those ghastly "creep-ups" in the final set. It happened in 1904
+at Wimbledon, on the centre court, in the semi-final of the
+Championship. Miss Wilson (as she then was) started well and won the
+first set 6/3, the second went to me at 6/4, and the third set seemed as
+if it would go to either of us in turn. Everything went well for me till
+I actually got to 5/1 and it was 15/40 on her service; then I lost two
+points quite easily--those winning shots are so hard to make! And at
+deuce we had a tremendous rally, which ended in a good side-line shot by
+my opponent that I couldn't get to and didn't even try. The linesman
+called "out," which I contradicted, and general confusion took place,
+the spectators joining in the fray--and it all arose through the ball
+being given "out" in the middle of the long rally when a train was
+passing, and we neither of us heard it. I never knew the explanation
+till after the match and was quite convinced I had "sneaked" the point,
+and somehow I went all to pieces, and everything went as badly as it
+had gone well before, till Miss Wilson crept up to 6/5. Then I made an
+expiring effort just in time. I dare say she was tired, for I won that
+game fairly easily. We had a great fight for the thirteenth, which I
+fortunately won, and finished the match with a love game. And no one was
+more surprised than I.
+
+[Signature: A.M. Morton.]
+
+
+MISS A.N.G. GREENE
+
+_(East of England Champion_, 1903, 1905)
+
+It is difficult to decide on the most memorable match one has ever
+played. Each in turn seems at the time to be the most important. One
+which I found very exciting at the time was against Mrs. Luard in the
+final for the Cup at Felixstowe. I won the first set 6/3, and led 5/1
+and 40/30 in the next, when Mrs. Luard sent me a short easy ball--a
+certain "kill" at any other time. I sent it out. Four times after that I
+was within a point of the match, but could not quite pull it off, and
+Mrs. Luard, playing up brilliantly, not only won that set, but led 5/2
+in the third. Then I made a final effort, and though it was always
+touch-and-go I managed to make it 6/5. In the next game Mrs. Luard was
+40-love, but after a great struggle I got it, and so won the match,
+though it was anybody's game to the end.
+
+[Signature: A.N.G. Greene.]
+
+
+
+
+  INDEX
+
+
+  A
+
+  All England Club
+  Athletics for girls
+  Austin, Miss
+
+
+  B
+
+  Back-hand drive
+  Baddeley, Mr. W.
+  Baden-Baden
+  Barrett, Mr. Roper
+  Beau Site, Hotel
+  Beckenham
+  Boothby
+  Brighton
+
+
+  C
+
+  Cannes
+  Championship, the
+  Chipp, Mr. H.
+  Chiswick Park
+  Clubs
+  "Complete Lawn Tennis Player, The"
+  Cooper, Miss C. (see also Sterry, Mrs.)
+  Courts
+
+
+  D
+
+  Diet
+  Dinard
+  Dod, Miss
+  Doherty, Mr. R.F.
+  Doubles
+  Douglass, Miss D.K.
+  Dress
+  Dressing-rooms
+  Driving
+  Drop-shots
+  Dublin
+  Durlacher, Mrs.
+  Dyas, Miss
+
+
+  E
+
+  Ealing L.T.C.
+  Ealing Common L.T.C.
+  Eastbourne
+
+
+  F
+
+  Felixstowe
+  Fore-hand drive
+  France, South of
+
+
+  G
+
+  Garfit, Miss
+  Gipsy Tournament
+  Gore, Mr. A.W.
+  Greene, Miss A.N.G.
+  Greville, Mrs.
+
+
+  H
+
+  Half-volley
+  Head-work
+  Health, effect on
+  Hillyard
+    Mr. G.W.
+    Mrs.
+  Homburg
+
+
+  J
+
+  Jackson, Miss
+  Jones, Miss M.
+
+
+  L
+
+  Lamplough, Mrs.
+  Larcombe, Mrs.
+    See Thomson, Miss
+  _Lawn Tennis_
+  Lawn tennis and golf
+    cost of
+  Liverpool
+  Lobbing
+  Lob-volley
+  Low volleys
+  Lowther, Miss
+  Luard, Mrs.
+    (see also Wilson, Miss C.M.)
+
+
+  M
+
+  Mahony, Mr. H.S.
+  Manchester
+  Martin, Miss L.
+  Match play
+  Mixed doubles
+  Monte Carlo
+  Morgan, Miss E.R.
+  Morton, Miss
+  Myers, A. Wallis
+
+
+  N
+
+  Newcastle
+  Nice
+
+
+  P
+
+  Palmer, Mr.
+  _Pastime_
+  Pinckney, Miss V.
+  Practice, how to
+  Prebble, Mr. A.D.
+
+
+  Q
+
+  Queen's Club
+
+
+  R
+
+  Rackets
+  Reading
+  Rice, Miss
+  Riseley, Mr. F.L.
+  Robb, Miss
+  Romsey
+
+
+  S
+
+  Schulenberg, Countess
+  Service
+    American
+  Shoes
+  "Slazenger"
+  Smash
+  Smith, Mr. S.H.
+  _Sportsman, The_
+  Staleness
+  Sterry, Mrs.
+  Sugden, Miss
+  Sutton, Miss
+
+
+  T
+
+  Tactics
+  Thomson, Miss E.W.
+  Thorpe Satchville
+  Tournaments, abuse of
+  Tournaments, management of
+    value of
+  Training
+  Tulloch, Miss B.
+
+
+  U
+
+  Umpires
+
+
+  V
+
+  Volleying
+
+
+  W
+
+  Watson, Miss M.
+  Wilson, Miss C.M.
+  Wimbledon
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Lawn Tennis for Ladies, by Mrs. Lambert Chambers
+
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