Geoff Ollivier

Geoff Ollivier (August 19, 1886 – October 10, 1960 He overcame John Peacock in the final in four sets. In 1914 he took his second New Zealand championships title beating Lancelot Jennings in the final in four sets. In 1919, Ollivier took his third title beating James Laurenson in the final in four sets. He won his fourth title in 1922, after playing indifferently throughout most of the tournament, beating Laurenson in straight sets in the final. Making one of his infrequent visits to Australia in 1923, Ollivier beat former Australasian champion Rice Gemmell in straight sets in the quarter finals of the City of Sydney championships with "delicate passing strokes and fine volleying". He lost the final in straight sets to reigning Australasian champion James Anderson. In 1925, Ollivier won his sixth title, beating Donald France in four sets in the final. Ollivier "kept France moving and was able to force him into a greater number of errors owing to superior court-craft". He won his seventh and last title in 1927 winning 9–7 in the fifth set against Edgar Bartleet. Ollivier had been two points from defeat. "When the game was varied, and court-craft played an important part, it was Olliver who most often scored the winning shot- the subtle winner that made the galleries laugh...if there was not as much net play as some of the spectators would have liked, it was because the players rightly judged it was too risky. Such hard-hitting baseline experts, able to lob to a hair's breadth, were not likely to make a tactical blunder". Even in his last year of play in 1928, by now aged 42, he beat British player Colin Gregory (who won the Australian championships soon afterwards).