The fact that Australian tennis player Fred Stolle prefixes every sentence with "Shift," helps provide an insight into his personality.

Life for Stolle, is seems, consists of an uninterrupted series of minor aggravations, which even when he is winning never abate. His unblemished cynicism, however, is often quite humorous, and countryman John Newcombe, who defeated him in the semifinals at Longwood last night, misses no opportunity to bring it to the surface.

Newcombe was lying on the treatment table in the locker room at Longwood, Friday afternoon undergoing one of trainer Jock Semple's "greased-pig" massages, when Stolle stumbled in after dumping Ron Holmberg in the quarterfinals.

"Did you make any adjustments in your game after you dropped the first set?", Stolle was asked.

"Shi', 'ad to make soom. 'ad to get the boll on the coort," Stolle replied, then slumped, almost dejectedly, into a lounge chair and sipped from a cupful of beer.

"Stolle had just won his second three-set singles match at the U.S. Pro champion ships. He had won it beautifully, rebounding from a crushing 6-3 loss in the first set to shut off Holmberg's excellent placement game with 6-4 and 6-2 triumphs in the following two. Several Boston writers, eager for copy, were tentatively urging questions, trying to make the usually silent Stolle open up.

"Do you like the surface any better now?", one offered.

"No."

"Would you like it any better if you won the finals on it?"

"No."

"Even if you won $8,000 on it?"

"No, oy still wood'n like i'"

Newcombe shot him a sidewise glance and grinned. It was time.

"Bool," Newcombe cracked, "'e'd get doon ohn 'is knaighs and kiss the bludy coort if he woon own like tha'." The locker room exploded, and Stolle shrugged.

The writers were going to get their copy.