Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 8, 1914Various
General
Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, July 8, 1914
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
Noticing that my opponent was standing a long way back, I now made a
display of hitting the ball hard and then dropped it just over the net.
Mr. Crawl did not notice what was happening till too late, and I not
only took the ace but had the satisfaction of noticing that my opponent
was breathing hard after his fruitless effort to reach the ball. I had,
so to speak, drawn first blood. I repeated the ruse with my next
service. Mr. Crawl, being now on the alert, reached the ball, but was
unable to stop himself, and charged into the net, and the score was
called "thirty all." A third time I brought off a drop serve; the ball
was returned and I then tossed it with an undercut stroke to the base
line. Mr. Crawl ran back, but the ball bounding high and with a strong
break he lost sight of it, and after some intricate manoeuvres, in
which he had the advantage of advice from the crowd, it eventually fell
on his head, and I scored the ace. I had now only to make one point to
reach the game, and I effected this by a high-kicking service that left
my opponent petrified.
During the set Mr. Crawl gradually got into his game, and, thanks to a
strong instinct of self-preservation, he succeeded in returning, when up
at the net, many of my drives at his chest and head which I had thought
were sure of their mark. His play in the last rally, when the score
stood at "5 games to 0 and 40 love" in my favour, called forth loud
applause, and I had to do all I knew to prevent him winning an ace which
might have resulted in his eventually capturing the game.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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