He has all the fighting qualities in his game that make
Kumagae so dangerous, but he has not had the experience. Shimidzu
learns very quickly, and I look to see him a great factor in the
game in future years.
Both Shimidzu and Kumagae are marvellous court coverers, and seem
absolutely untiring. They are "getters" of almost unbelievable
activity, and accurate to a point that seems uncanny. Both men
hit to the lines with a certainty that makes it very dangerous to
attempt to take the net on anything except a deep forcing shot
that hurries them.
With such players as Kumagae and Shimidzu, followed by S. Kashio
and K. Yamasaki, and the late H. Mikami, Japan is a big factor in
future tennis. 1922 will again see Japan challenging for the
Davis Cup, and none but a first-class team can stop them. The
advent of a Japanese team with such players will mean that this
year we must call out our best to repel the Oriental invasion: so
competition receives another stimulus that should raise our
standard of play.
The probability of journeying to Japan to challenge for the Davis
Cup is not so remote but that we must consider it as a future
possibility.
CHAPTER XV. SPAIN AND THE CONTINENT
Spain
A new factor entered the arena of world tennis in 1921 in the
appearance of a Spanish Davis Cup team. Among their number is a
star who bids fair to become one of the greatest players the
world has ever seen.
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