Harvard Squad Gains Medieval Tennis Title

Harvard's court tennis players flattened Yale and Princeton in their annual tournament at Tuxedo Park, New York, last weekend.

The Crimson triumph surprised no one--at least no one who has heard of court tennis. The game, which bears only a very vague resemblance to regular lawn tennis, requires a fiendishly complex and expensive court. Since Yale and Princeton both have to practice in New York City, well-conditioned Harvard gentlemen with access to the only court in New England have consistently outpaced them.

In Saturday's singles matches, Harvard players swept by Yale in three straight victories, discouraging the Yale racquetmen so much that they didn't bother to contend for the doubles matches. Princeton's team, captained by their top squash player Burt Gay, added to the rout with a close win over the Yalles, 3-2.

Harvard's battle with Princeton capped the weekend. Third-slot singles player Gaines Gwathmey, a freshman, trounced his Tiger opponent, 6-1, 6-2. In second place, Bob Balley, also a freshman, easily outchased Walter Smedley of Princeton, 6-3, 6-2.

In the only Harvard loss of the day, senior Louis Bailey narrowly dropped to Princeton's Gay. Bailey led 5-3 in the opening exchanges of the first set, until Gay's serve suddenly developed force to drop Bailey, 6-5. In the second match, Bailey came from behind to turn the tables and upset Gay, 5-6, but Gay's endurance proved itself in the final round to swing the match for the Tigers with a 6.2 score.

'BONK'

Louis Bailey didn't even have time to step off the court before he and Haven Pell, a Harvard junior, faced off in doubles against the Princeton recquetmen. A wild rebound hit Pell in the eye early in the first game, but Bailey was able to lead nearly singlehandedly and crush Princeton, 41-29, under a new scoring system introduced halfway through the match.

In the final doubles match. Bob Bailey and Gwathmey easily outdistanced the Tiger players, 41-30, also under the new scoring system.

Harvard 'eams have been on top since the first intercollegiate court tennis tournament in 1956. So far, only Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have participated, but the University of Pennsylvania may be fielding a squad next year. Every two years, the top college players face off against teams from Oxford and Cambridge.

The limited appeal of the game, Pell explained yesterday, is primarily due to the rarity of courts in the U.S. Court tennis originated in French monasteries in the 11th century and was first played in an open courtyard. As a result, the court, now moved indoors, still contains a clutter of galleries, penthouses, doors, and windows all important to the scoring of the game.

'BONG'

A player can often bounce a shot off an angled wall to give a hit that is almost impossible to return, Pell explained yesterday. In addition, a skillful server may be able to aim the cloth bail into one of several openings to ring a bell and give an extra point.

Since the game has been accumulating technicalities for nine centuries, its rules are almost impossibly intricate. "I've been playing this game for about six years," Pell commented, "and I've never ever successfully explained it to anyone." There are elements of squash, badminton, and even horseshoes mixed into the sport. Fortunately, someone once adapted the game in a simpler court and devised simpler rules. The result was lawn tennis.

Court tennis, however has remained almost unchanged. The only major modification occured during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Formerly, there was a small window, "la lune" or "the moon," high up on the wall, and a ball hit through it gave several extra points.

In one crucial match, however, Henry aimed a vital shot for the window and missed, losing both shot and game. A royal decree for the removal of the window was issued, Pell explained, and "there's never been a moon shot since."