June– July 2019

President Cecilie McIntyre [email protected] Page 1-3 AGM and Annual Dinner Page 4 Roland Garros

Hon Treasurer Paul Thomson [email protected] Page 5 Ashleigh Barty

Hon Sec. Angela Hart [email protected] Page 6 Sedgman Tills Trophy match in October Gold Coast Queensland Page 7 News of Members Vice President Russell Tills [email protected] Page 8 Blast from the Past . The Redwood Stand Link to IC Council website www.ictennis.net Page 9-11 Philanthropy and Drop Shots

AGM & Dinner We had 106 members and guests at the very successful 63rd AGM and Dinner on the 19th May. Most of the new members who have been invited since the last AGM were there to receive their badges or ties, with the exception of the 3 Fed Cup players, Erin Routliffe, and who came to the January morning tea.

Photos. Barrie Shute from Wellington and Judy Davidson from . No 1 ranked singles player Rubin Statham is off the circuit recovering from a hip operation, here with Guy and Gloria Nash. The new members invited since the last AGM with President Cecilie McIntyre, Membership Committee Chair Lynette Duncan and Patron Jeff Robson. Cecilie, Jeff Sowter, Lynette, Angela Swinkels, Feleti Sofele, Glenn Ryder, Lesley Ferkins, Neil Carter, Jean Murray, Julia Sim, Alison Glenie, Jules Stephan and Jeff.

1 Our Guest Speaker was Wellington member David Howman, who was Chair of Tennis NZ when it was based in Wellington. He entertained us with stories from his 13 years as the Director General of WADA, the world anti drug agency, then he moved on to found and Chair the Athletics Integrity Unit. Last year in Oslo he was awarded the Ethics in Sports Award in the outstanding individual category. Some of his accounts were amusing, but at the same time very worrying. Thank you David! There are many more photos taken by Malcolm and Feleti on our ‘private’ photo sharing site Cluster. Please ask if you have not been able to access this, or use this link. https://cluster.co/i/XVX3DXDD

We were very pleased to see 2 of our top players, members who first played in ICNZ Junior teams but have been travelling each May until now…. recently retired Marina Erakovic and Rubin Statham who was recovering from a hip operation and appeared with crutches! Another younger member who first played in our Junior Trans Tasman team is Martin Colenbrander who will be part of our team in the IC Week in France in September. Mention was also made of our Patron Jeff Robson who at 93 still has a wonderful memory about tennis matches. He is a foundation member of our club, which was established in 1956.

2 Jill Bignell spoke to the nomination of 2 Life Members

It gives me great pleasure today to present to you a nomination for Life Membership of our International Lawn Tennis Club of NZ. I have known this person since our early days in the fifties at the Parnell Lawn Tennis Club, when it was situated on the present Cathedral site. He has worked on our IC committee for over 50 years and has contributed hugely and generously to supporting some of our up and coming Junior players in NZ. He has an impressive playing record, having been a representative, a holder of the NZ doubles title, numerous NZ junior titles, a senior ranked player from 1956 till 1965, NZU Blue and an Wilding Shield player for many years. Thank you Margaret for supporting him for so long. You will all know who I am referring to by now - our extremely generous Anonymous Donor Brian Woolf.

The second person that I have great pleasure in nominating as a Life Member will be well known to you all. I first met him in the fifties at the NZ Junior Championships in Auckland at Stanley St. It was my first national Junior tournament and his last!!!! He went on to represent NZ in Australia in 1956 and was a nationally ranked player. He has also served for over 50 years as a committee member and a long serving President for 18 years. As a club we have been so fortunate to have him as the Australasian representative on the International Lawn Tennis Club Council and this has helped keep the name of the ICNZ prominent in world tennis circles. He has been a wonderful ambassador for us all when teams of NZ IC members have travelled in the past to visit and play against overseas IC Clubs and we must also acknowledge the magnificent support Jeannette has given to him for so long. Thank you Des for all the work and thought that you have put into your role as a member and a President over so many years. – Des Shaw

3 Roland Garros This year as usual we have had some great matches and all night viewing…. From 9pm till 6 am the first week!! The annual cocktail reception, where IC Members from all countries are invited, was held on the first Tuesday. We were represented by Des & Jeannette, at Roland Garros to attend the IC Council meeting. Martin Colenbrander was also there as the hitting partner of Julia Goerges along with Gilles de Gouy and Trudi. During the week Des and Jeannette were introduced to Martina Navratilova by French player (and an Hon ICNZ Member) Gail Benedetti .

One of the outstanding contests was a 4th round match between Stan Wawrinka and Stephanos Tsitsipas which finished 8/6 in the th5 set after just over 5 hours. It was repeated next day for us as the “Match of the Day” so many more could appreciate the dramatic turns in the match. Stephanos wrote this on Facebook soon after his loss … “Today I felt something that I can’t really explain. Today was the first time in my entire life, in my twenty years of existence that I felt that “aura”, the real definition of the word, competition. Not any kind of competition though, it felt different than any other time, any other battle, any other moment on the .

There is something about today that I won’t be able to explain. It’s a feeling that makes me appreciate the sport that I chose to pursue in my life as a career. The bitter taste of that loss is something unexplainable.

Stan Wawrinka makes our sport real and pragmatic. It’s something that’s rare to find in the world that we are at. It’s something unique. There is loads of charm and charisma to it. We both struggled, we both went beyond our limits, we both experienced luck and our destiny was drawn on that Parisian court after five hours of physical and mental suffering. I really don’t know if what I feel right now is positive or negative. There is no bipolar effect to it. Today I learned something that no school, no class- room, no teacher would be able to teach. It’s called, living life! “

There were many other wonderful matches, congratulations to Rafael Nadal on his amazing 12th title. To see Roger Federer still playing some remarkable clay court tennis, Novak Djokovic returning to top form and Dominic Thiem emerging as the best of the next generation to be runner up to Rafa for the second year in a row was a privilege. Dom’s first set effort in the final was breath-taking at times. A quote from the 2018 champion Simona Halep “It was an honour to play here as defending champion . I wasn’t good enough here, but I will come back stronger. Paris, you will always have my heart”

Stan and Roger also showed their sportsmanship here . Before they went on court to play, a camera captured their respect for each other with something rare in the pre match encounter in the ‘tunnel’.

4 Ashleigh Barty In the April newsletter we featured Ashleigh, and mentioned we had first heard of her in 2012 as a 16 year old. After she won the WTA Player of the Month Award following her breakthrough singles win at the Miami Open I wrote : “Ashleigh is a quiet but determined player, who mixes her shots so well she is a pleasure to watch. She has variety in her game, she can match the power with the hard hitters, she has an excellent serve, winning many free points from aces but she can also slice and volley and mix it up. “A bit of a turning point was to play my brand of tennis and execute better on the big points,” she told AAP following her Miami victory.” All tennis members will now know the story of Ash Barty’s great run through Roland Garros , displaying such an array of slices , drop shots , volleys and crunch- ing forehands that she was a pleasure to watch…and no squeals or grunts from either finalist. It has been great to see Ash continue to play ‘her way’ and win her first singles. As I write this she has just made a perfect transition to grass courts by winning the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, with the win making her the top ranked player, and likely top seed for Wimbledon next month.

Ash’s reaction to winning the Birmingham final.

Julia added: “She served an ace when I had set point so I think that says it all. It was a high-quality match and she deserved to A gracious loser, Julia Goerges is familiar to NZers, win. I did everything I could today but she was better. I’m very happy this week I got seven matches, which is what I wanted.” having won our ASB Classic the last 2 years and being (Julia and Ashley won 2 doubles before defaulting the semi-final) a regular entrant here for the last 6 or 7 years.

A quote from The Telegraph sums it up…

“But Barty’s chief virtue is her versatility. Unlike Naomi Osaka – the only player who remains ahead of her in the world rankings – she does not rely on slamming the ball into the corners, but works her way Rod Laver was a special Roland through rallies with touch Garros guest celebrating 50 years and imagination, using since his last title here. more different spin settings than a top-of-the-range His support for his fellow Australian washing machine...”. was very encouraging right We have all enjoyed the through the 2 weeks. variety Ashleigh displays.

5 Sedgman-Tills Trophy Gold Coast 19/20 October 2019

Greg Long spoke about the rejuvenation of Trans-Tasman rivalry. A match will be played at the KDV Sport Club near the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, on 19/20 October. The Sedgman-Tills Trophy will be at stake for this fixture and any members interested in playing or supporting should contact Greg, Paul White, Cecilie or Russell. It is likely we will be fielding men’s and ladies’ members in 45+ and 65+ age groups and the Australian IC will endeavour to match all of our touring team. Thanks to those who have talked to Paul and Greg, more details will be going to you soon. We need to let the Australians know very soon, so if you haven’t made contact about playing please email Paul White [email protected] or Cecilie asap. We will also have a group of supporters who will be travelling, so please make sure we are aware of your plans if you are in that group as the size of the room booked at the resort for the Saturday and Sunday evenings will depend on numbers. Let us know also if you are interested in playing social tennis on the Saturday or golf will be available too at a charge, Cecilie & Dianne in front of the golf

driving range at KDV Sports where the match will be. The Saturday Social tennis will be at Royal Pines Resort. Judy Chaloner & Dianne Evers Recently I was on the Gold Coast and Australian IC President Kerryn Pratt arranged for me to meet with Dianne Evers, an ICA member and coach at the KDV Sports Club very near Royal Pines, where our match will be played on the Sunday. It is a very nice club with clay and hard courts and a double level golf driving range, gym, shop and café etc. Dianne and our IC member Judy Chaloner won the Australian Women’s Doubles final in 1979. In those days when the women’s matches were not valued as highly as these days, their final was played on Court 1 as the men were taking too long on Centre Court. They didn’t have a presentation, let alone seeing the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. So this year that was rectified.

Here are Judy’s thoughts: “This year we were able to arrange that, so now have photos (40 years later) of both of us with the trophy. Dianne is on the Australian IC Committee, even though she lives in Gold Coast and is an active and much appreciated member. They had their annual luncheon while I was there in January, and Kerryn Pratt invited me to go as a NZ IC member, as unbeknown to Dianne they were having a special presentation for her during the luncheon and also wanted me to be there and join in. It was at Royal South Yarra, and was an amazing event. A who’s who of Australian tennis from as far back as the 50s. Dianne & myself were asked to briefly speak about our memories of the day 40 years ago, and everyone was incredulous that we had never had a presentation, seen the trophy or held it...especially the men, couldn’t understand how that could ever have happened (we know that this was a consistent pattern!!). Afterwards Neale Fraser came and had a chat, and also Ken Rosewall who I had met on several previous occa- sions. The IC made me feel so very welcome...a great reminder of how far reaching the tennis community is. “

6 News of Members Jill Bignell and Rubin Statham with the Jack and Gwen Glenie Trophy for the Auckland Player of the Year .

Rubin Statham was awarded the Tennis Auckland Player of the Year. Surprisingly, Rubin had never won this trophy before, despite being the number one ranked Aucklander for many years. However, perseverance is one of Rubin’s strong points and the large crowd applauded generously when he took the stage on crutches after recent hip surgery. He was presented with his award by Jill Bignell whose parents donated the trophy. Awards to the winning teams of the Scarbro Caro Bowl competition were presented by Mary-Rose Scarborough. New IC Member Angela Swinkels spoke on behalf of the winning Royal Oak women’s team and expressed her thanks to sponsors Scarbro Construction and to Tennis Auckland for administering the competition.

Michael Venus has recovered from his rolled ankle, which necessitated time with a moon boot and resting his foot. He was pleased to have more time with baby daughter Lila but keen to get back on the court. This week at Halle he and Raven Klassen won the final of the ATP 500 grass court tournament. The singles winner was Roger Federer who won his 10th singles title at this tournament… an amazing record. Michael has just made the top 10 in rankings for the first time, and with Raven they are also the 10th ranked ’team’ in the race to the end of year play offs in London. *************************************** and his Israeli partner Jonathan Erlich have beaten the top seeds first round and won their quarter finals too in the ATP tournament in Turkey this week. and Wesley Koolhof are in the quarter-finals at the Eastbourne ATP tournament as I write this. ***************************** The Fed Cup team came 3rd in the recent Asia / Oceania Group 2 matches in . After 2 impressive wins they lost a very close tie to Hong Kong 2/1/ in the final pool match and then beat Malaysia to take 3rd spot. Good luck to all the players for their next competitions in ITF tournaments, and Erin who hopes to play doubles again at Wimbledon.

Hello Fellow Members, I am researching to write the history of the Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club that came into existence in 1910 as the YMCA & YWCA Lawn Tennis Club, then morphed into the Herne Bay Lawn Tennis Club in 1935. In 1996 the Ponsonby Squash Rackets Club closed and combined their membership in new facilities at the Herne Bay site to form the Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club. I have interviewed many of the people who have been Herne Bay members since the late 1950s, but would be very keen to talk to any IC members whose parents were Club members or associates of members prior to this period. Cheers, Chris 027-272-0448 [email protected]

7 Blast From The Past Redwood family and donation towards the Redwood Stand. In the last newsletter we talked about the demolition of the Yock Stand at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland . This is an opportune time to remember the history of the Redwood Stand which was built and opened in 1963.The benefactor of this stand was Jack Redwood who is the father of Heather, married to our Life Member and Patron, Jeff Robson. Both Jeff and Heather were double internationals in Tennis and Badminton and between them won numerous NZ titles in both sports. The original plans were drafted by Ken Hayr and Dr Tom Childs and discussed with Jeff, Heather and Jack Redwood. Jack donated 10,000.00 pounds (around $450,000.00 to- day) towards to the project and there were many fund-raising activities launched as well. Edgar Bartleet, a former Davis Cup player and solicitor, encouraged Selwyn Rob- inson and Maurice Yock to contribute to the rebuilding at Stanley St and as a result of these huge improvements to the centre, Auckland Tennis was able to host major events at what we liked to call the “Little Wimbledon of the South Pacific”. Tennis Auckland or, as it was then, the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association, decided to name the three new stands after these major contributors, hence the Redwood, Robinson and Yock Stands. Jack Redwood was President of the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association in 1965-66 and also had a love of gardens, spending many hours working in the grounds of Stanley St with Frank Simpson.. He was Chairman of the fund raising and rebuilding committee and arranged working bees to keep everything up to a high standard. Heather remembers him as a perfectionist in whatever he took on, whether it was at his home or in his business. He owned the Auckland Glass Company which was a major sponsor of the early International Events and a guarantor against loss in the tournament. A plaque was put on the brick wall behind the Robinson Stand to acknowledge the efforts of Jack to Stanley St and the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association. Jack was very proud of this wall and plaque and always kept it in pristine order himself. For many years Jack and Effie Redwood hosted an event at their house in Titirangi to celebrate the International Tournament and welcome the overseas players. Many of us will remember those parties held in the lovely bush surroundings of their home. We are all indebted to the Redwood and Robson families for the wonderful support they have given to tennis and badminton, not only in Auckland but also nationally and internationally. Thank you from us all.

Redwood Stand is still in use although the Next Gen Health Club additions behind it are new. “Stanley St “ as we called it in the 1960’s Below, progress on the Yock Stand .

8 Philanthropy As mentioned in the last Newsletter the Pilot programme of 8 lessons was being completed. There were 8 lessons for 16 children combining Life Skills and Tennis Tuition. There was interesting feedback to a questionnaire on both aspects, with all children feeling better about introducing themselves to people for the first time, and the major- ity of them wanting the lessons to last longer and to keep playing tennis. Some are wanting to go to a full sized court, so the challenge is for us to get local clubs involved. There is a lot for our group of members running this pilot to think about and how it can be continued. The coaches all said they learned a lot after being part of it.

"ICPhilanthropy provides funds for facilities, equipment and coaching for programmes to help disadvantaged children and young people with learning difficulties, largely in sections of society where people struggle and where there are limited facilities and funding for sport. Our goal is to teach new life skills through tennis and to give children the belief that anything is possible even in difficult circumstances."

We will be sending all members an introduction to the worldwide IC Philanthropy programme next month but in the meantime please watch the 4 minute video on the home page of ICP’s website which gives an overview of the work we are doing: http://www.icphilanthropy.ictennis.net/

We are all so lucky in this country .It is wonderful to see how this initiative has grown worldwide over the last 10 years and now we are a part of it thanks to Russell Tills and the team of IC Members. Kevin Woolcott, Tracey ’O Connor, John Mills, with assistance from Mark Lewis in his capacity with Tennis Auckland and Chris Ronayne as a helper. Thanks also to Greg Long and Don Turner with the planning and Lyn Duncan with the legal aspects.

Drop Shots The ATP Finals will be moving to Turin in 2021 with the second to last time in London starting on 19th November this year. The Italian city will host the tennis event for five years through 2025. Five cities bid for the event,: London; Manchester, England; Singapore; and Turin. Held each November, the ‘ATP Finals’ is the season-ending event for the top eight men's singles players and doubles teams. Italy also recently began hosting the Next Gen Finals, a year-end event for the best It is no wonder the players appreciate the crowds we get under-21 players. That tournament is due to from the first day of both our Classic Tournaments in be held in Milan at least through 2021. The January. Next Gen Finals and the ATP Finals are held This is near the end of the first set in the FINAL of a WTA on back-to-back weeks, which will create a event in Lugano Switzerland ...... in April 2019 . Milan-Turin focal point for the sport in 2021.

9 Drop Shots continued.

Court Philippe Chatrier’s retractable roof will be in operation from 2020 and French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli confirmed that it would be used if necessary and that

night sessions would start in 2021. Matches at Roland Garros usually finish at 2130 local time

at the latest, when play is no longer possible due to the fading light. The lighting will be on four

main courts: Lenglen, Chatrier, Mathieu, and Court No. 4. For the other ones it will be 2021.

Wimbledon No 1 Court

The All England Lawn Tennis Club unveiled the fully retractable roof on top of its second biggest court on time in May. The roof was built on a budget of £70m and took three years to complete. It will enable more matches to be played for longer if weather conditions turn during the club's Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament. The roof was needed for the opening ceremony as rainfall swept across SW19 on the Sunday afternoon! The new roof takes about 10 minutes to close, and then the air conditioning needs another 20 minutes to acclimatise the arena for indoor play. Adding the roof has allowed the club to put about 1,000 extra seats in the court and replace the current seats with wider and better padded ones "They had to build a special crane to put it up there and reinforce the courts that they are on because it's so heavy."

Roof opening celebration day.

The IC Council have produced a range of boxed sets of Rain!!’ cuff links with the IC logo at the cost of £10 or NZ$19 a pair. It can happen at any Let us know if you would like some as we will have 2 tournament . A whole committee members at Wimbledon who may be able day was lost at Roland to bring them back for you by mid July. Otherwise contact Julian Tatum [email protected] Garros this year. They will be pleased to have their roof next year……. Something we REALLY need at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland !!

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Wimbledon TV Coverage and tie break changes. A change from recent years is the introduction of a tie-break decider in the final set to stop the possibility of matches extending towards the incredible 11-hour-five-minute epic between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon 2010 which Isner eventually won by claiming the final set by a score of 70-68. This time around, if the score gets to 12-12 a tie-break will be introduced with the winner being the first person to reach 7 points.

Each day's start time has been brought forward by 30 minutes to begin at 11am BST starting here at 10 pm on Duke Channel This will be on the outside courts. I’m not sure yet about Centre Court starting time. Replays on Duke from 9am and highlights at ASB finalist Bianca Andresscu has had to withdraw from 4.30pm the following day. TV1 will apparently Wimbledon because she needs more time to recover from a have coverage from midnight. shoulder injury. Spark Sport will have coverage of other courts, Marcos Baghdatis has if you have the app. announced his retirement This will cover 7 courts including coverage after Wimbledon where he from the World Feed which edits a mix of has been given a wild card. action. Selected highlights will be available to watch on demand.

The dates for the two ASB Classic events have been announced. Women’s Week will start on Monday 6 January through Sunday 12 January, followed by the Men’s Week which will see play from Monday 13 January through until Saturday 18 January.. Make a note of the 2 Mondays when our IC Morning Teas will be held. The confirmed dates keep the tournament in line with the , and Tournament Direc- tor Karl Budge is happy with the schedule. “The ASB Classic are the premium events in Auckland’s summer social calendar, and this move in dates out of the New Year’s window makes the ASB Classic even more accessible for not only Aucklanders, but tennis fans from around ”.

Many thanks to those who have paid your subs. The notices were sent early June, using an automated system. This gives you the chance to check your details and indicate any which have changed. We are also requesting your Date of Birth which we require to indicate to the IC Council what our ranges of ages are. This is private to just 3 administrators and won’t be shared. It also helps us when we are choosing teams to play other IC’s or within NZ. There are just 2 levels of payment. $50 for N Z based members and Honorary members. NZ members living overseas do not pay a subscription, but please confirm your details. If desired, when you are 70 or over, you may pay a Lifetime Membership of $500. This saves you receiving any further subs notices. If you need your form re-sent please contact us asap. The forms get returned by email and then payment made separately by automatic banking or by cheque. We only have 5 members without email, and their forms have been posted.

Please remember to let us know asap if you are interested in playing against Australia in October (P 6) and haven't already confirmed. All news from members is welcome for the next Newsletter. Previous issues can be read on the IC Council Website Click on the NZ flag on the lower right of the home page and then the Noticeboard.

Enjoy the overnight viewing coming up from Wimbledon. For the committee Cecilie

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