Australasia and South Africa, the great colonies of the British Empire, should be on the edge of a great tennis wave.I look to see great players rise in Australasia to refill the gaps left by the passing of Wilding and the retirement of Brookes.It takes great players to fill such gaps; but great players are bred from the traditions of the former masters.
The early season of 1921 saw a significant and to my way of looking at it, wise move on the part of New Zealand when the New Zealand tennis association withdrew from the Australasian tennis association and decided to compete for the Davis Cup in future years as a separate nation.
No one can deny the great help Australia has been to New Zealand in tennis development, but the time has come now for New Zealand to stand on her own.Since the regrettable death of Anthony F.Wilding, in whose memory New Zealand has a tennis asset and standard that will always holda place in world sport, the New Zealand tennis players have been unable to produce a player of skill enough to make the Davis Cup team of Australasia.It has fallen to Australia with Norman E.Brookes, to whose unfailing support and interest Australasian tennis owes its progress since the war, G.L.Patterson, W.H.Anderson, R.L.Heath, and Pat O'Hara Wood to uphold the traditions of the game.
The Davis Cup challenge round of 1921 was staged in New Zealand in accord with the agreement between Australia and New Zealand and also in memory of A.F.Wilding.The tremendous interest in the play throughout the entire country showed the time was ripe for a drastic step forward if the step was ever to be taken.So after careful consideration the split of Australia and New Zealand has taken place.What will this mean to New Zealand? First it means that it will be years before another Davis Cup match will be staged on her shores, for it takes time and plenty of it to produce a winning team, but at the time, the fact is borne in on the tennis playing faction in New Zealand that as soon as they desire to challenge, their players will gain the opportunity of International competition.
Experience matures players faster than anything else and I am sure that the move that will place a team of New Zealand players in the field in the Davis Cup will be the first and biggest step forward to real world power in tennis.New Zealand produced one Wilding, why should not another appear?
I was tremendously impressed by the interest existing among the New Zealand boys in tennis.I met a great number during my few weeks in Auckland and seldom have seen such a magnificent physical type coupled with mental keenness.These boys, given the opportunity to play under adequate supervision and coaching, should produce tennis players of the highest class.
The New Zealand association has made a drastic move.I hope they have the wisdom to see far enough ahead to provide plenty of play for their young players and if possible to obtain adequate coaches in the clubs and schools.
Frankly I see no players of Davis Cup calibre now in New Zealand.I did see many boys whom I felt if given the chance would become DavisCup material.
The break with New Zealand will have no effect on Australia, except to relieve a slight friction that has existed.Australia has plenty of material coming to insure a succession of fine teams for the Davis Cup in the future.
Both Australia and New Zealand handle their tennis in the country in a most efficient manner and the game seems to me to be progressing in a natural and healthy manner.The next ten years will decide the fate of New Zealand tennis.If they organise a systematic development of their boys I feel convinced they will gain a place of equality with Australia.If they do not seize their opening now, tennis will not revive until some genius of the game such as Norman E.Brookes arises in their midst from only the Lord knows where.
The future should see America and Australia fighting for supremacy in the tennis world, with England and France close on their heels, to jump in the lead at the first faltering.
It is only a matter of time before the last differences between the International Federation and the America Association are patched up.The fundamental desires of each, to spread the growth of tennis, are the same.Sooner or later the bar will fall, and a truly International Federation, worldwide in scope, will follow.
I look to see the Davis Cup matches gain in importance and public interest as each year goes by.The growth of the public interest in the game is seen at every hand.Wimbledon must seek new quarters.The new grounds of the All England Club will provide accommodation for 20,000 to witness the championships.This enormous stadium is the result of public pressure, owing to the crowds that could not be accommodated at the old grounds.
Westside Club, Forest Hills, where the American Championship was held, is planning accommodation for 25,000, provided that they are awarded the championship for a long term of years.Davis Cup matches are now drawing from 10,000 to 15,000 where the accommodation is available.What will the future hold?
I believe that 1950 will find the game of tennis on a plane undreamedof to-day.Tennis is still in its infancy.May I have the pleasure to help in rocking the cradle.
My task is completed.I have delved into the past, analysed the present, and prophesied the future, with a complete disregard of conventions and traditions.
The old order changeth, and I trust that my book may aid slightly in turning the tennis thought in the direction of organized developments.The day of self is past.The day of co-operation is dawning.It is seen in the junior tennis, the municipal tennis, and the spirit of international brotherhood in the game.
