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diff --git a/old/10961.txt b/old/10961.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a526b80 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10961.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2871 @@ +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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES *** + +***** This file should be named 10961.txt or 10961.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/9/6/10961/ + +Produced by Sjaani, Michael Ciesielski, Garrett Alley and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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