"Austral," the famous critic, describes him as "having
the genius of the game."
Jack Hawkes has an exaggerated American twist service that, since
he is a left-hander, places an unnecessary strain on his heart
muscles. It carries terrific twist but little speed and does not
Pay him for the amount of energy he expends.
His forehand drive is excellent, fast, deep, and well placed, yet
in making this he steps away from the ball, again wasting energy.
His backhand is a poke and very unreliable. To save it he runs
around everything possible, again causing unnecessary exertion.
His volleying is brilliant while his overhead is magnificent.
Hawkes' waste of energy has cost him many a match, yet for all
the inherent defects in his game he is so clever in using what he
has, his tactics are so good for so young a player that I believe
he will be one of the leading players of the world in a few
years. Under the watchful eyes of Norman Brookes I foresee Hawkes
changing his footwork to at least a reasonable copy of the old
master.
J. O. ANDERSON
This young player is again a promise rather than a star. He is a
big, rangy, hard-hitting type like Gerald Patterson. He is crude,
at times careless and unfortunately handicapped in 1920 and 1921
by a severe illness that only allowed him to resume play in the
middle of the latter year. His ground strokes are flat drives
fore and backhand. His forehand is a particularly fine shot.
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