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September 2018

President Cecilie McIntyre [email protected] January Internatonals P 1 Wellington get together P 2

Hon Treasurer Paul Thomson [email protected] Future IC Events P 3 Mark Lewis Hall of Fame P 4 Questonnaire Coming P 5 IC Sportsmanship Award P 6 Hon Sec. Angela Hart [email protected] Auckland changes P 6 Wimbledon P 7 Vice President Russell Tills [email protected] US Open P 8-9 Laver Cup P 10. Link to IC Council website www.ictennis.net Angela Hart P 11 2019 ICNZ AGM DATE P 11.

January International Tournaments There have been delays this year in confirming the playing times of the Women’s ASB Classic. It will now stretch into the Sunday finals with that twilight session starting at 5pm Sunday 6th. The Men’s ASB Classic will be as in previous years. With play from Monday to Saturday. Therefore in 2018/9 the first get together will be AFTERNOON Tea at 1.30pm on Monday 31st December . Play will start on centre court at 3 pm and the outside courts at 2 pm The MORNING tea during the Men’s week will be 10.30 am Monday 7th January.

Angela has now sent all members the invitations to attend these. If you are based overseas but intend being back in Auckland then please let us know asap so we can ask for gate passes for you to come in to either or both Mondays. The email contained details of how to reserve your FREE ticket and gate passes to the morning / afternoon teas and the stand ticket to the relevant session. We must stress that although there is no charge for the teas and entry and you can ask for a ground pass for a partner to come with you to either or both occasions, if they want to sit in the stand with you, you must pay for those tickets. The cut off date for requests is Friday 5th October and forms, with or without extra ticket payments MUST be returned to Angela before then IF you intend coming.

Every year since we have been doing this there have been last minute requests….but no late applications will be accepted this year. In the past the return forms have gone to Tennis Auckland but now, although payment is still made out to Tennis Auckland they need to be sent to Angela. [email protected]

DON’T leave it till the last days. Work out now whether you will be able to join us for one or both days and any ground passes needed. 2

IC Get together in Wellington September 16th The Wellington area IC members and partners held a wonderful friendly get together on Sunday 16 th at the home of Graeme and Jacquie Liddell. 2 new members were introduced and given their ties, former Tennis NZ chair David Howman and Marc Paulik a former top 20 ranked player who is coaching in Hutt Valley. David has since spent 13 years as director general of WADA, the World Anti Drugs Agency and after returning to live in NZ was appointed chair of the Athletics Integrity Unit last year, believing it is time the fight against drugs in sport was taken into the court room.

President Cecilie McIntyre and Committee members Greg Long and Kevin Woolcott all spoke to update local members. Among others present were Marion Law, Sir Tom Eichelbaum , Colin Frampton, Guy Callen- der, Peter Osborne, Rodney Callender, Philip Seemann, Pat Guiney, Betty Knight, and David Patterson, Unfortunately Barrie Shute who helped to organise the event was overseas, David Patterson missed the main photo but was able to join us to catch up. Many thanks again to Graeme and Jacquie who welcomed everyone to their Khandallah home and organised delicious finger food.

Our hosts were Graeme, the tall man at the back right, and Jacquie kneeling front lef. Our sincere thanks go to them.

New members David and Marc with Cecilie . Greg, David P and Guy. 3

Future IC events overseas 2019 For members to think about!

IC France will be celebrating their 90th Anniversary in September next year Le Touquet with a special IC Week at Le Touquet. This will be the 25th IC Week which is always a very special event to be part of.

Paris

Details are on the IC Council website. On the home page click IC Week France. The Windmill Trophy is the men’s event , with the Orsini Trophy played as a plate event. The women play for the Mercelis Trophy with the Winnie Wooldridge Plate ( which was won by the NZ team at Wimbledon in 1999!) The Windmill Trophy teams comprise 4 men, two Under 45 and two 45 +. The Mercelis Trophy teams have 2 women, one Under 40 and one 40+ . The Captain can be Playing or Non Playing in both teams so you can have an extra person. ITF rankings are taken into consideration for seeding. Supporters are welcome and will be able to join in the Dinners etc on payment of the fees which are all listed on the website.

The other IC event we have been asked to join in is closer to home. This will be in October / November 2019 with dates to be confirmed. The Australian IC has invited NZ to send a team plus supporters to the get together they hold annually on the Gold Coast. The last 2 have been at the Royal Pines Resort where they have special accommodation arrangements. They envisage 2 days of activities, an official match and dinner and golf for those interested. The Gold Coast is easy for all NZ members to get to.

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The IC of Barbados has also an IC Event planned. 8th 12th April 2019 This is a doubles week, for 6 players . 2 ladies with a combined age of 100+ , 2 men with combined ages of 105+ and another team of 120+. Two mixed doubles will also be played with combined ages of 105+ and 110. Check the IC Council website for more details for this and other IC events planned. It may be possible for NZ players to combine with another IC to make up a team.

In the next Newsletter the Philanthropy sub committee will have a report. They have been working steadily doing an amazing amount of background planning including lesson plans to develop “character” as well as tennis skills to get this worthwhile initiative underway early next year. We are really pleased that several of our members who are now involved on the coaching side have offered their help. The team is well lead by our Vice President Russell Tills who made a special trip from London to the Canon Hill Park Tennis Club in Birmingham to meet with Felipe Buster from the IC of Chile, to view the ICGB Philanthropy programme.

One of those involved with the Philanthropy planning is Mark Lewis . He has just had a wonderful “once in a lifetime experience “ which was just the opposite to helping disadvantaged children and his longtime work in Auckland schools developing the Tennis Hot Shots programme. I asked him to let us know about this. Recently I was very fortunate to have been given the honour to introduce my great friend Michael Stch at his inducton into the Internatonal Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Many of you will recall that I worked with Michael for six years and during that tme he won the Wimbledon Men’s Singles and Doubles ttles along with numerous other tournaments which took him as high as number two in the world rankings behind Pete Sampras. The inducton ceremony, on a beautful day in Newport in front of a large centre court crowd, was televised live in the States on the Tennis Channel. Thirteen Hall of Famers were present on the stage including Jim Courier, Stan Smith, Kim Clijsters and Rosie Casals and I can honestly say it was one on the proudest moments in my life when I stood before them to introduce Michael. Even though it was rather surreal at the tme, I felt very comfortable talking about Michael, describing him as a person and as a player. By all accounts I did a prety decent job of it - several women came up to me aferwards and remarked that they had been moved to tears. Michael’s speech was outstanding. He talked for twenty minutes of the cuf and in his second language without faltering once. He told a couple of great stories which drew laughter from the audience but also spoke from the heart about how he missed the players on tour afer his retrement. I’d like to share a couple of brief excerpts from my introducton and I hope that I did the ICNZ Club and NZ proud with what I had to say. For me it was a once in a lifetme experience and a memory I will cherish forever. Here are a couple of excerpts and photos : 5 “As a young child in New Zealand, I grew up with my tennis playing brothers pretending to be Rod Laver or Ken Rosewall in a Wimbledon Final. How that Kiwi kid connected with a German across the other side of the world is testament to the truly internatonal favour of tennis.

I remember sitng with my brother Chris, a former Wimbledon singles fnalist, watching Michael tear apart a Swedish pro - ranked 70 in the world. Chris suggested Michael played a bit like Kevin Curren and I replied – only beter. He then said Michael would be tough on grass and I replied – he’s tough on any surface. Chris fnally predicted Michael might go alright at Wimbledon so I said - Mate, if you reached the fnal in 83 he could win it.

The defning moment of his Hall of Fame career was winning the Wimbledon Singles ttle in Mark & Michael with Stan 1991 against all odds. He was 66-1 startng the fortnight and afer surviving an early round Smith H o F President . scare he played some of most beautful grasscourt tennis I have ever seen. Michael out- played Courier and squeaked by Edberg in the semis. I vividly remember his last words to me before he took to Centre Court for the fnal against Becker. He had this steely look in his eyes and said: There is no way I’m going to lose this match. And he didn’t. Michael is a man true to his word.

I was very fortunate to have spent six years working with Michael at a tme when German tennis was experiencing a tennis boom. The country was undergoing massive politcal change and it was exhilaratng to be there when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. At the same tme, Michael was crashing through walls on his ascent to tennis greatness. Germans are renowned for their engineering, technical expertse, precision, reliability and performance. Throw in some improvisaton and creatvity and that’s how Michael was as a player. I guess my contributon to that was a Kiwi can do attude and let’s roll the sleeves up and get stuck in, and some good old Number 8 fencing wire when things weren’t working Jim Courier with Mark and his wife Ann Maree. quite so well. “

If you would like to view the video link to the ceremony which included the inducton of Helena Sukova, the President of the Czech Republic IC as well as Michael, click the link here.

A evening to thank Des and Jeannette Recently Russell and Julie Tills hosted a very friendly evening for those who have served on committees in the 18 years that Des was President of ICNZ. We are so pleased Des is still on the committee and is sharing his knowledge in so many ways. With quite a few new ’next generation’ members we are discussing the planning of ‘internal’ matches as well as hosting and touring with IC teams. Thanks also to Russell and Julie .

Questionnaire coming. With an eye to future events in NZ and teams playing or supporters travelling overseas, the committee would like you to fill in a VERY short Questionnaire. This will be emailed separately next week. Please just fill it in and press Reply. 6

Sir Michael Hintze Presents IC Jean Borotra CQS Sportsmanship Award to Gabriella Sabatini During Wimbledon, CQS Founder and CEO Sir Michael Hintze presented the IC Jean Borotra CQS Sportsmanship Award to Gabriella Sabatni. Sir Michael was joined by Rod Laver, who received the award in 2016. The award is made periodically “to a player who has shown throughout his or her playing career the outstanding standard of sportsmanship commensurate with the objects of the Internatonal Clubs.” CQS is a proud sponsor of the award and is a supporter of the IC’s broader initatves, which aim to enhance internatonal understanding and goodwill through sport . The link above shows all the previous winners of the award.

It has recently been announced that Rod Laver has agreed to allow his name to be used in the IC Junior World Challenge now that Compass is no longer involved. The regional events are held in the ‘odd years’ with the World Finals every second year. NZ is included in the Rod Laver Asian/ Oceanian Junior Challenge Zone and we will be working with Tennis NZ to try and enter a team. The event has been going for 14 years, with the first World Final being held in NZ .

Changes at Tennis Auckland . Former CEO Brent Robinson has always had a very good relatonship with ICNZ, speaking at our morning teas to update us about the new roof and stands and also coming to our Annual Dinners. We wish him well. New CEO Marcus has updated this press release. It has been a whirlwind four weeks since I took on the CEO role here at Tennis Auckland, thank you to all the clubs and affiliates that have provid- ed such a warm welcome. Having attended the August Delegates meeting, re-opened Nicholson Park, visited the Manukau and Scarbro Tennis Centres, met with a number of regional funders and stakeholders as well as spent time with the Tennis Auckland team, I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. 7

The last newsleter was sent just afer the very successful ICNZ Cocktail Party which was organised and hosted by Mark Hadley, along with our commitee member John Mills, before the matches started at Wimbledon.

As well as our 3 men in the doubles, Erin Routlife had a tremendous run in the doubles. She and her regular partner Alexa Guaracha from Chile took a gamble that they might have just enough WTA points to qualify for the Qualifying in the Ladies Doubles. They were the last pair to gain entry then won both matches in 2 sets to make the main draw. There they lost in 3 sets in the frst round to the 3rd seeds, who THEN went on right through the draw and won the fnal!!

Michael, Marcus and Artem with Erin, being interviewed for NZ TV.

In the Men’s Doubles, Artem and partner lost in the 1/4 fnals to eventual winners Jack Sock and Mike Bryan. Our most successful pairing though were Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen who lost that Men’s Final 7/5 in the 5th set. Their other most excitng match was winning the 1/4 fnal on Centre Court against 5th seeded Murray and Soares 6/4 in the 5th, very late at night, with the roof having to be closed and lights turned on during the match. Supporters in the Players’ Box that evening included Mark Hadley and commitee member Greg Long who had represented us at the IC Council AGM a few days prior. Very excitng for them! On 3 previous days, Greg had been in the Internatonal Box.

Davis Cup As I write this our NZ team is in South Korea ready to play a very important tie. The loser of this tie is relegated to Asia / Oceania Group 2 while the winner has a chance of being in the qualifying round for the reformatted World Cup style .

https://soundcloud.com/beyond-the-baseline If you are interested this link includes a chat with ITF President David Haggerty talking about the way his team has spent the last year travelling the world making presentations to all the nations involved . It was recorded soon after the vote was taken in August with 71 % voting in favour of the changes. The concept evolved after many discussions, with the announcement at Roland Garros that there would still be home and away ties making a difference to the acceptance level. (Note, this chat is now the second down on the website link, after the US Open discussion) TNZ supported the changes. This article was written just before the vote in Florida. http://www.tennisnz.com/news/tennis-nz-backs-radical-proposals-to-change-the-davis-cup There are other explanations of the changes on the Davis Cup website https://www.daviscup.com/en/news/290057.aspx However there are also commentators who have written opposing the move. 8

The US Open tournament was not one of the best for our NZ players, and congratulations go to Novak for winning his 14th title. Unfortunately, this Open will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. This is my 72nd Newsletter and the first time I’ve written my opinion so strongly, but it is how I feel and also similar to what many friends have expressed to me in the last few days. Sorry if anyone disagrees but you’re entitled to. Just as I feel so strongly that I’m writing my opinion!! I’ve been watching Naomi’s development over the last few years, even before she played in our Auckland International Tournament as a hard hitting but not always accurate youngster. I felt it was just a matter of time until she won an important title. What a shame her golden moment was spoiled by Serena’s outburst. Naomi was already a set up after playing near flawless tennis making just 5 unforced errors and breaking Serena’s serve twice to win the first set in 34 minutes but she held her nerve after the mid second set controversies to serve 2 huge serves in the last game to win 6/2 6/4. I see that has softened her first reaction, and says Serena was totally out of line for her outburst, but still believes the Umpire Carlos Ramos ‘blew it’. “No one was free from blame “ she said. As the whole world now knows, and not just followers of tennis, the lasting memory of the US Open 2018 will be , in my opinion, the dreadful unprofessional display by Serena . She was being beaten by the wonderful shot making of , a 20 year old playing in her first Grand Slam final. Serena was upset by the first warning, saying she didn't cheat, then the subsequent breaking of her racket when she had her serve broken again, followed by her angry words to the chair umpire who was following the rules in his normal strict way. Commentators had mentioned the stages of punishment for each warning and they were well known. I cannot work out why Serena's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou (who told Pam Shriver that yes he was coaching, but said all the coaches do it 100% of the (This graphic was on our screens) time) would bother to try to send signals when Serena was adamant she has never cheated. She may not have seen his signals this time which is why she got so angry for the first warning, but the TV audience saw them very clearly. Serena called umpire Carlos a liar and a thief who had robbed her and she demanded his apology. She has declared he would never umpire a match of hers again.

She might be right as The Times reports “The Tennis Umpires are considering refusing to preside over matches involving following the treatment of Carlos Ramos during the Women’s US Open final.” According to the report, an anonymous official has described a growing discontent among umpires who feel they are “not supported” by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), and that Ramos was “thrown to the wolves for simply doing his job and was not willing to be abused for it”. 9

Serena was fined US $17 000 for her code violations in the final but the WTA and USTA backed Serena’s claims of sexism. In my opinion the saddest part was when Naomi accepted her trophy while choking back tears. She never smiled and covered her face with her cap. When asked if her childhood dream of playing against Serena matched the reality, she politely sidestepped the question .“I’m sorry, “she said. “I know that everyone was cheering for her and I’m sorry it had to end like this.”

This was not an isolated incident. In 2011, Serana was similarly ill- mannered when losing to Sam Stosur in the fnal; in 2009 she was even more abusive in a verbal assault on a lineswoman while losing the semifnal to Kim Clijsters . Carlos Ramos previously drew negatve comment from Nadal and Djokovic when he issued code violatons against them. This does not sound like an umpire who is sexist; rather like one who applies the rules as they are writen. As is clear, coaching is not permited at the US Open. However, to give this some balance, there are many who say that Serena has highlighted double standards that have existed in acceptable behaviour. The Umpires perhaps need to have a uniform standard as to when a ‘sof warning’ should be used. "Some of these incidents, you know, have prompted us to refect on the clarity of our own communicaton to the chair umps," USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said. "These incidents will prompt us to analyse ways of perhaps insttutng some change. We certainly do not want inconsistencies. "I think it could potentally help every- body if there was some more consistency to this. I think Serena realised the crowd did not understand what had happened and she quietened their awful booing with a nice gesture to Naomi. I’m sure you will all have your opinion about what went on. Tennis was the loser.

New ICNZ Member Anton Betnk with Mark Hadley and Barry Weatherill.

Anton took Mark’s place during a recent match at Roehampton between ICGB and Harvard & Yale for the Barry Weatherill Cup! Barry is one of the driving forces behind the IC Philanthropy programmes. Look at your brochure P14-17 or the IC Council Philanthropy site. 10

Laver Cup 2018

The second editon of this Men's competton between Europe and the Rest of the World will be played in Chicago over 3 days, September 21st –23rd. Last year there was some brilliant tennis in Prague and the unusual sight of these two legends playing doubles. Keep your eye out for the TV coverage. 2018 teams are listed below.

This year in NZ the live coverage will start at 6am Saturday 22nd. This will be on the Sky channel ESPN2.

Last year’s match went down to the last match played, with Europe winning when the vital singles saw Federer beat Kyrgios 11/9 in the 3rd set tebreak!

Commitee Member Greg Long was our representatve at the IC Council AGM during Wimbledon, he reports: The IC organisation looks to be in great shape on a worldwide basis. The hub of the clubs and activities appear to be in Europe, where countries are in close proximity and they have a significant number of active tennis participants. There is a drive to create more activities and events and our New Zealand IC is well positioned for this. Being invited to attend the tennis at Wimbledon for 3 days was a tremendous experience as was the lunch in the Members’ Lounge. For others who will be the IC NZ representative in the future, I can only but say that you are in for a treat as the International Box on Centre Court is the best positioned in the stadium. (Photo Page 7 )

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Angela Hart

You will all be very pleased to know that our wonderful honorary secretary Angela Hart is about to take on another duty as President of Tennis Auckland for the forthcoming season. Angela, who was born in the Falkland Islands, worked for Tennis Auckland as secretary for a number of years and took over from our previous secretary, Pam Sowter both at Tennis Auckland AND for ICNZ. Angela has been a lifelong member of the Howick Tennis Club and has held nearly every positon in the club as well as being one of their leading players. (Very strong cross court fore- hand!!!!) Good luck in your new venture Angela!! We know you will do a great job as the leader of Tennis Auckland for the 2018 – 2019 season.

PS NZ Davis Cup result Unfortunately after a very good start by Rubin Statham, the NZ Davis Cup team were not able to beat South Korea in Gimcheon after our top doubles player Michael Venus, who doesn’t play many singles matches these days lost the vital 5th rubber. A bright spot though was the unexpected Davis Cup debut of 19-year-old Ajeet Rai. He combined with experienced to win the doubles after tweaked his back earlier in the morning and Ajeet was able to step in.

An Important message for ALL MEMBERS !!

The 63rd AGM and Dinner will be held on Sunday 5th May 2019. Please put this date into your diaries NOW. Details will be confrmed later but please think about coming to this. We will try to arrange a tennis match during the afernoon. Perhaps Auckland v the Rest of NZ or something along those lines.

Finally, a happier photo of Naomi Osaka at the later press conference. Let’s hope Karl can persuade her to come back to play in Auckland some tme.

Well, this newsleter is longer than usual, but we hope you enjoy the variety of news. Please send any contributons, whether you are based in NZ or around the world. Also remember to return your forms if you are coming to the morning or afernoon teas on December 31st and / or January 7th and watch for the Questonnaire which will be emailed very soon. To view the last Newsleter click here. July 2018 For the commitee. Cecilie [email protected]