West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 9 October 1934, page 11


TtLQENTRpUPE'S TENNttEARtiWiZS

Vines Makes £12,000. . . in First Year as ;./???'. Professional. ;

' (BY-SET.»*) .

?PVER1 since its inception over a decade ago,, through ;the successful efforts; of G. Cr Pyle to induce. Mile Suzanne: Lenelen. the greatest woman player

the' world has ' ever seen,' to 'forsakelthe amateur status; professional tennis has held olit hopes: of rich rewards to tennisplayers;,' Naturally. enough, 'the players themselves, whether successful or not, have not divulged what -they made (or failed ; to make*).' as pros. _ Exact figures have been almost. impossible to obtain, and without definite information a player would be unwise to become a professional just on the off-chance. ' ' However, since Ellsworttv Vines joined the Tilderi troupe early this year, this organisation has allowed' certain authentic facts to become known. The eight main members of the- troupe were Tilden,' Vines, Gledhill ana Chapin, .Vincent. Richards, Barnes, Plaa and Cochet Crochet has not been a success as a professional, but for the first four months and a half this year, through indoor exhibition matches, Vines is richer by nearly 40,000 dollars— 23,552 from the troupe's first American tour, 8,000 from teams' matches between . America and France, and 7,200 from a second tour. Tilden, as a player, netted about 26,000 dollars from the same matches.' Cochet cost the firm 17,381 dollars, and Plaa 8,972 —and the firm would have been much better off if the former, at least, had stayed to France. During . May and June; the Tilden troupe had a lean time. Tilden and Gledhill went to England to . July, to start a round of European matches with Plaa and Cochet. Apart from his earnings from exhibition .play, however, Vines has earned another 20,000 dollars or so already from newspaper articles and other sidelines, so that, less than 12 months after turning professional,, he had earned a total of about 60,000 dollars (£12,000 at par). The latest offer to Perry to turn professional with the Tilden troupe amounted to 50,000 dollars. But the world champion declined the offer, firstly because nearly half would have to be paid in British taxes; secondly because he would be ostracised by all British clubs; and thirdly because he does not want anything to interfere with his marriage to Miss Mary Lawson, an English film star. In other words, a high enough price to make up for all he would lose, and to provide satisfactorarily for his future, has not yet been mentioned to Perry. The Spring Tournament. A committee headed by Mr. Laurie Eichhorn, ,is proceeding energetically with the work of preparing for the annual spring championships tournament, the first big event of the 1934-35 season, which will begin at the Loton Park Club's courts on Saturday, October 27. Of the 18 events, the main titles to be contested are spring championship stogies and doubles for men and women. The men's stogies and doubles championships will be played to the best of three advantage sets until the semi-finals and finals, which will be played to the best of five advantage sets, while the women's singles and doubles, the mixed doubles, and the spring junior stogies and doubles championships, for boys and girls, will be played to the best of three advantage sets. Apart from the championships, there are handicap stogies and doubles for men, women and juniors of both sexes, and a mixed doubles handicap. Entries for all events close at 5 pjn. on Monday, October 22, with the club secretary, or the sports departments of Boans, Ltd.. Cans Bros., Foy and Gibson, Ltd., Harris, Scarfe and Sandovers, Ltd., the Central Sports Depot, or A. G. F Hoare of Bon Marche buildings.