FEBRUARY 2020

President Cecilie McIntyre [email protected] Page 1-3 IC Morning Teas 7 ASB Classic Weeks. th Hon Sec. Angela Hart [email protected] Page 3 Date for 2020 AGM & Dinner 17 May Page 4 Philanthropy Programme Update Vice President Russell Tills [email protected] Page 5 Blast From The Past Judy Tinnock Hon Treasurer Chris Ronayne [email protected] Page 6 Possible future of Classic Men’s Week Link to IC Council website www.ictennis.net Page 7 Julian Tatum Junior Challenge

Have a look through this website and click the flags to see news of the other countries. Page 8-12 Drop Shots

Morning and afternoon teas. We have continued our tradition of inviting all IC Members and a guest to our teas, held on both Mondays of the International Men's and Women’s Tournaments. Thanks to Auckland for the ticket arrangements. The photos are available to all who wish to see them on our Cluster link. https://cluster.co/i/XVX3DXDD We had around 70 at each and all enjoyed catching up with their tennis friends. The new Members introduced were Julie Turner, Robin Denton, and Hon Members Peter Kiely and Tony Woolf , here with ICNZ President Cecilie McIntyre. Thanks to those who came from around the country to join in. As you will see ( on Page 2 ) one of the new Members invited, Troy Tipene was unable to be with us, as he was starting a new job but his message was read out and commented on favourably by many.

Don & Jude Turner, Jill Bignell, a former President of Tennis Auckland and organiser of our morning teas, Gloria and Guy Nash, a Life member of Tennis Auckland with the current TA President, Ross Pickett.

1 Troy’s message : Morning all and please accept my apologies for not being able to be present today. For me the new year creates new opportunities in my work life therefore I could not make today. I feel privileged to be invited into the ICNZ club and look forward to many events throughout the years, …. if I could quickly go back through my years playing this game. Tennis has and will always form a major part of my life. I have met so many wonderful people throughout the years and I remember the days when I first started hitting a tennis ball against the walls down at Beach Haven tennis club through to playing at some of the most amazing tennis tournaments around the world. I would like to thank my amazing parents who supported me for so many years. Their dedication was endless like so many more parents in the sport and without their support there is no way I would be the person I am today. So many people I would like to thank, Judy Chaloner my first coach, Kevin Woolcott my National Coach followed by Brian Fairlie and Jeff Simpson through to Frankie Dennis and Dick and Desrae Garrett from Maori Tennis. All these people taught me so much which in all honesty I transferred to my life personally today. Moving on after the National Squad years I decided to pack my bags at the age of 17 and move to Germany under the guidance of Tony and Maureen Parun. These years were pretty tough being away from home. Many of the younger generation wouldn’t understand as we didn’t have internet or Skype back in the day and making a phone call was like taking a loan out at a bank so I was only able to make them once a month. However Tony and Maureen were basically my new mum and dad. These years were just amazing and to be able to visit the Parun family today still brings tears to my eyes. Totally amazing people and for them to open their house for me back then I will never forget. I had the most amazing experiences while in Europe. Playing at Wimbledon and juniors the highlights. Playing Club tennis and travelling around Europe with my best buddy Julian Faulls. Hosting some great friends in Germany … Michael Zoricich and the Turner brothers but my fondest memories will always be my playing time in . So many friends and families I won’t name because I know I will forget most but I think you all know who you are and some are in this room now. You all played a major part in my life. Tennis will always be part of my life and after giving away the sport in the early 90s to now picking up a racquet after a 25 year break I have to say how hard is this sport. It probably doesn’t help I’m now 30kg over my ideal fighting weight but I haven’t lost the passion for winning even at this level. This is the most amazing game and amazing people and thankyou to everyone who helped me along the way. I look forward to meeting you all at the next event. Troy Tipene.

Other features during the two weeks of great tennis were the successful return to the ASB Classic of , the Sold Out signs for all sessions of the Women’s week, only one day of rain over the fortnight, the arrival of a future star in the Men’s week with 21 year old winning his first ATP title….with many predicting a very bright future for him. We were also impressed with young . Stage One of the upgrade to the ASB Stadium came with the new Yock Stand. We need lots of money now to be able to have a roof over the complex in the future!! With the Australian bush fires being so devastating, many innovative ways were found to raise money, including Serena donating her winnings and auctioning her tennis dresses, other players donating and special seats created for all sessions. 2 .

Serena & Olympia

After many visits to Auckand the popular retiring played her second to last tournament with friend Serena. They were finalists in the doubles.

Coco Ugo

Our AGM and Annual Dinner 2020

Our Annual Dinner and AGM will be held on Sunday May 17 th, starting around 5.30 with our mix and mingle for members and guests. More details will be sent to members, but please make a note of the date...we encourage members from out of Auckland to come if possible. This year our guest speaker will be a tennis man whose voice will be more familiar than his face to many of you. Matt Brown commentates the matches on radio sport for both weeks, with IC member David Mustard as his comments man. Matt has for the last few years been the voice of the English commentaries at Roland Garros in the on-line radio station. He also does a 90 minute commentary stint each day for the American TV network. He is known for his tennis Podcasts keeping NZ listeners up to date with our touring players and local tennis news.

Matt is the Sports News Director for Radio ZB and Matt Brown & David Mustard. Radio Sport with his particular interest in tennis. He has also been the MC for recent Tennis NZ Annual Award evenings. 3 During the Men’s Weeks morning tea our V P Russell Tills gave us an update on our IC Philanthropy Programme. ACE Programme 2020 The ICNZ philanthropy initiative is the ACE Programme, which is a series of 8 lessons teaching disadvantaged children a combination of tennis tuition and life skills. The age range of the children is 9-13 years old and the venue for the lessons are low decile primary and intermediate schools. ACE is an acronym for Aspirational Childhood Education, but we, of course, know it as a service winner. We are hopeful that the children will experience both in the ACE Programme. In 2020, the ACE Programme will be building on its experiences from the 2019 pilot at Bairds Mainfreight Primary School in Otara, South Auckland. The intention for 2020, is to run four ACE Programmes with four different primary or intermediate schools, one per term and ideally in different parts of Auckland. The number of children participating in the ACE Programme in 2020 is expected to be close to 100; a considerable increase from the 17 from the pilot. In 2020 the ACE Programme will have a new Lead Coach in Campbell Cramer-Roberts. With 27 years as Head Coach at Glendowie Tennis Club, having been elected Tennis New Zealand Club Coach of the Year in 2016 Campbell brings a very successful coaching career to the ACE Programme. During his time in East Auckland, Campbell worked with several low decile schools, so has both a knowledge and enthusiasm for the children who will be participating in the ACE Programme. Running four ACE Programmes during the year is a step up in the funding requirements for 2020. We have sought a grant from the IC Council philanthropy organisation, ICP, for 50% of the 2020 costs and early indications are that they will be supportive. It is a prerequisite of the ICP funding, that the remaining 50% is funded locally. To that extent, we have established the ACE Charitable Trust which will assist our endeavours to raise funding locally from charitable trusts and sporting trusts. In addition, the Trust will be our vehicle for the running and administering of the ACE programme. Guy Nash has very kindly agreed to come on board as our ACE Programme Co-ordinator and we welcome his involvement and extensive administrative experience.

Russell Tills

Judy Murray in Auckland during the ASB Classics.

Several IC members attended the ASB Classic Coaches’ conference. Pictured here with Judy are Feletei Sofele, Kevin Woolcott, Janine Perkinson, Julia Sim and James Greenhalgh.

Judy Murray was very popular with her presentation, reminding the coaches to make their lessons fun.

Also as T N Z Honorary Vice President Kevin Woolcott’s role included presenting certificates to coaches who had passed their coach accreditation.

4 Blast From the Past Judy Tinnock

It is great to be able to remember the achievements of some of our older members and in this newsletter Jill Bignell looks at the career of Judy Tinnock (Burke). Judy came to Auckland from a little village, Midhirst in Taranaki in the fifties to further her tennis. She was a member of a well known sporting family, with her brother Peter Burke having had a long career in rugby as an All Black and an adminstrator.

Judy's playing career was very distinguished. She won 4 NZ Singles titles, 4 Doubles with Elaine Stephan (Becroft) and two mixed with Mark Otway. Judy (centre) with Betty Kay and her Her Auckland record was even more impressive, winning six Singles, daughter Angela at the recent IC afternoon tea. eight Doubles and one Mixed. She was a member of the winning Auckland Nunneley Casket team in the early 1950's and in 1954 trav- elled to England to play on the international circuit. Judy did well there winning some Counties singles tournaments and at Wimbledon partnered Heather Robson in the Ladies' Doubles to reach the quarter finals. She played with Mark Otway in the Mixed Doubles and reached the semi-finals which qualified them both as members of the Last Eight Club. She lost to Doris Hart, a well known top American player in the third round of the Singles. In fact all her Wimbledon losses that year were at the hands of Doris Hart! Judy and Heather were Teddy Tinling girls and both came home with some very attractive tennis attire which was greatly admired by everyone back in New Zealand.

After her trip to the , Judy returned to Auckland and married Bill Tinnock who was an Olympic and Empire Games Rower. He won two medals, one at the 1950 Games in Auckland and the other in Vancouver in 1954 but Bill and Judy with Janine Perkinson in 2016. missed out at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Sadly he passed away in 2017. Judy and Bill have two children, Angela who brings Judy to our morning teas at the ASB Classic tournaments and Craig. She has one grandson, William who was named after Bill, much to the delight of his grandparents. After Judy retired from competitive tennis, she and Sue Blackwood set up a coaching school together and they were able to encourage many young players to further their tennis careers. Judy, along with Sue and two others, Ethne Mitchell and Raewyn Ferkins, were in the first North Shore Nunneley Casket team which beat Auck- land after the split from the Auckland Association. All are current ICNZ members.

Judy was one of the first ladies to become a member of our NZ IC and served on our committee for a number of years in the nineties. Well done Judy! What an amazing career!!

5 The Future of the ASB Classic Men’s Week

(From a NZ Herald article by Michael Burgess) The men's ASB Classic format could be radically reshaped — if tournament director (and ICNZ hon member) Karl Budge has his way. It could include sets being reduced to first to four games, instead of the traditional six, or a no advantage rule being introduced into singles, as is used in doubles.

Budge wants to reduce the amount of time players have to spend on court, because of the focus on workload a week out from the , with its prestige, rankings importance and huge prizemoney.

Most players want to compete the week before a , to tune up and prepare, but conversely don't want to compromise their ability to be 100 per cent for Melbourne. That can be an issue for players who reach the last four in Auckland in particular, and historically players who come through a tough Saturday final here struggle to reset for gruelling best-of-five-set marathons that start on Monday or Tuesday in Melbourne.

“I want to have a format that encourages the best players to play," said Budge. "If you look at [2020 finalists] Benoit [Paire] and Ugo Humbert, especially Paire, he has played three-set matches all the way through this week. Even the best athlete in the world is going to be pretty fatigued going into next week. It's something that we need to consider.”

''How do we make sure we are putting on a really compelling, competitive product, that justifies the [ATP ranking] points allocation we get, but is also catering for the needs of the ever-changing world of professional sport?"

One idea that Budge has is to replicate the format of the ATP Next Gen finals, where sets are first to four games, with a tiebreak at 3-3. It might upset traditionalists, but he argues that as well as lessening the players' load, it won't affect the quality, instead increasing the number of pivotal moments in a match.

"I'd like to see shorter matches, so they are not playing so much tennis," said Budge.

"My ideal scenario is that there is an hour-and-a-half of tennis on court. That's enough and it becomes more competitive because you are not allowed to drift in sets in that scenario [first to four]."

"Every point is more important. At the moment, if you are 5-2 down, a lot of the players are focusing on the next set. With a reduced format, the data and the feedback coming out of Next Gen in Milan was that because they were best of four, they were always on. So every point really matters, which is great for fans, great for TV, and delivers a more entertaining product."

But any changes have to be sanctioned by the Tour and won't be easy, given the implications for ranking points and prizemoney and the precedent it might set. I need to rely on the Tour," said Budge. "They are far better positioned than I am to come up with those concepts. “My desire is to not overload players the week before a Grand Slam, so any way we can achieve that, I will be very supportive of. Everyone recognises that it is a challenging week before Grand Slams and we need a solution that works for everyone."

Budge will also be pushing for other changes, like more down time between the ATP Cup finishing and the beginning of the men's ASB Classic. Overall he is thrilled with the fortnight, with 17 of the 20 sessions sold out and worldwide coverage of Serena Williams' triumph. 6 I asked Julian Tatum, who has recently retired from the IC Council to write a piece for our Newsletter. Julian has been to NZ several times and was here officially when NZ held the first worldwide finals of what has now become the IC Rod Laver Junior Challenge. He is an Honorary Member of ICNZ as well as many other IC's around the world. This is a background to interest our newer members, to show you some aspects of the value of the 42 international Clubs around the world.

It has been my privilege to have been first co-opted in 2001, and then made a permanent member of the Council Executive (responsible for Events, the Website, liaison with the All England Club, for the IT aspect of meetings, as well as the IC lunch at Wimbledon each year ( which sometimes involves the presentation of the CQS IC Sportsmanship award) As usual, all the participants in the meetings are volunteers and although there is a small allowance to attend these meetings it often costs the attendees something out of their own pocket, which they willingly give. (The perks include seats at Bercy and Roland Garros after the meetings). It was at one of my first Council meetings as a co-optee, that I heard a report from Athol Tills of NZ who had asked to send some juniors to NZ for practice, that inspired me to establish the event which is now called “The IC Rod Laver Worldwide Junior Challenge” Our main donor from 2005 until 2018 has been the Compass Group and when they finished, there was an opportunity to change the name. So, at last year’s Wimbledon IC lunch, I asked Rod if he would lend his name to the event and he agreed immediately (the wine must have been flowing quite well that day). Over 2000 >16 year olds have now taken part and it has been staged on every continent. The Finals have all been unique events in their own right and I am grateful to everyone in their local ICs who have so willingly thrown themselves into the formidable task of organising these events all over the world. As part of my “extrication” from the Council, we needed to ensure that we would have continuity for this event. For the past few years Kit Spencer of the Bahamas IC has been running the Junior Challenge day to day, but for me to ease into retirement we needed Kit to take over all the Events from me. (Natasha Starling had been recruited to take on the Website and has done a great job so far) Felipe Bunster was recruited to take over the day to day running of the Junior Challenge as he had experience of staging this event in Chile when he started the IC of Chile, so we knew it would be in good hands. I have retained the liaison with the All England club until we can find a volunteer who lives locally and is close to the action at Wimbledon. I have involved myself with lots of other things during my period on the Council including creating an IC Philanthropy tie, the new IC pin badge and cufflinks, both of the latter having contributed to the Council funds.

The IC is an amazing organisation and I have derived an incredible amount of pleasure from travelling the world, playing in IC matches and events, and making friends under its auspices. However, having done 26 years on the IC of GB committee and 18 years on the Council, I really thought it was time to let younger members take the IC onto bigger and better things, with new ideas and energy. So, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone I have harangued over the years to get some action. It really was only for the sake of the IC !

The International Club is in good shape with lots of major events like IC Weeks stretching far into the future and I am confident it will continue its success. I shall of course, be watching closely from the side-lines and may even take part in the odd geriatric event, if invited. Julian Tatum

You can read this booklet by clicking this link to the IC Council website and scrolling up through the pages.

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Thinking about the link to the Council website….. recently a summary of our match with IC was featured on the home page. Read it here

CANADIAN IC to celebrate their 55th Anniversary. Toronto September 1st – 4th 2020 It seems to be a very different type of event, but also one which caters for more ‘ordinary’ IC members in all countries. Maybe if there is enough interest from members who are planning to be in the area in early September between Australia and NZ we could have a team. The dates are during the US Open, which this year will be between Tuesday 25th August (qualifying) and Sunday 13 th Sept.

Details and an explanation of how this will be played were sent to ALL our members, those living overseas as well, last month. Contact us if more details are needed.

Some of you will know about a universal rating scheme for tennis which is growing in its use. Similar to Golf’s handicap system which instantly gives an idea of a player’s ability.

Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) is a global tennis player rating system intended to produce an objective, consistent, and accurate index of players' skill in the game of tennis. UTR rates all players on a single 16-point scale, without regard to age, gender, nationality, or locale of a given match. All professional players in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have UTRs, as do most college players and many junior tournament players worldwide, as well as many adult league and tournament players. The UTR database includes results from more than 8 million matches and 200+ countries. More than 800,000 players have UTRs.

As shown last week during the Australian Open ……

Stan’s ATP rank is 15 and his UTR is 15.69

This link explains it , if you want to know more.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Tennis_Rating

8 Several of our members played in the NZ Seniors National Individual Championships which were held in Hamilton on 25-29 January. Conditions were very hot and sunny with some matches going late into the evening. Congratulations to the following who won gold medals in their respective age groups: Gilles de Gouy, Deanne Alter, Andrew Lobb, Helen Litt, Feleti Sofele, John Lawrence, Peter Stokes, Sam Dean, Janine Perkinson, Peter Hampton and Stephen Temple. John Lawrence , pictured here with Kerry, was our top medal winner with 3 golds. HOWEVER if you think staged an amazing comeback against Tennys Sandgren to win in 5 sets, Helen Littwon her singles final after being 2-5 down in the 3rd set, saved match points, came back and won the match in a tiebreak. In total saving 10 match points along the way!! Then after a short break Helen played with her sister Lyn to win the doubles and after another short break played with Sam Dean to come runners-up in the mixed. An amazing effort. All good practice for those who will also play in the teams event in Napier at Easter. Our Hon Secretary Angela played in the doubles and mixed, good to get her report.

We also thank Feleti who takes great photos for our records. He played his first matches in the Individual Champs for 5 years and was a finalist in the singles and winner in the doubles . We have a Facebook page too which Feleti has helped set up . Please search for us under the International Tennis Club of NZ and LIKE or Follow us !!

DROP SHOTS

Once again, Karl Budge has proved he can recognise promising young players ...... last year Sofia Kenin played in the ASB Classic. She beat 4th seed Petra Martic then lost in 3 sets to Viktoria Kuzmova ...she and Genie Bouchard won the doubles final . Many of you will have watched her win an excellent final in Melbourne against Garbine Muguruza, one of the best women's final match in a recent Grand Slam. The sacrifices her parents made are interesting:

Her parents left the Soviet Union in 1987 and Alexander juggled day-time computer and English classes with night-time work for a car driving service. The family briefly returned to Moscow, where Sofia was born in 1998, before settling in Florida. ' Sofia never experienced the hardships that defined her father's early years in America, but the 21-year-old is acutely aware of them. "I think it gives her some toughness. I don't think she experienced that much, all the sacrifices that we had to go through but she knows about them," he said. "And when we just got to the country, that was very, very, very, very tough. I had to work at night, go to school in the morning and to drive in New York without speaking English." Sofia started playing in the driveway and showed great hand eye coordination, so her father had to persuade coaches to let her play with older pupils. From there, they didn't look back, as Alexander once again found himself driving at all hours - this time to find practice courts near USTA junior tournaments. "We were in the strangest places all around the United States and I was driving at night to find some community where we could find a court to practise in the morning," he said. In the years since, the Sofia has developed a reputation as an aggressive, counter-punching player - always out to prove a point. She played some amazing tennis, not only saving 2 set points in each set before beating Ash Barty in the semi-final , but never giving up. In the final there was a pivotal game in the 3rd set, at 2 all. Sofia was down 0-40 and hit 5 winners in a row.

So we have another new player to follow in the Women's Tour! After Sofia’s win, an emotional meeting. Her mother doesn't like to watch!

9 . DROP SHOTS Continued

Ash Barty was named Young Australian of the Year on Saturday (Jan 25) in recognition of her rise to number one in the world and Grand Slam triumph at last year's French Open. Barty was her country's first number one women's tennis player since her fellow indigenous Australian in 1976 when she first reached the top spot in June last year. The award, handed out on the eve of the Australia Day national holiday, was also won by Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 - the year after he won his second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

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Another Roger Record It’s too easy to get embroiled in all the stats from Federer’s longevity and record breaking, but one stood out. Thanks to his victory over John Millman, the 20-time Grand Slam champion is now a centurion at the Australian Open. (Wimbledon), and Serena Williams (US Open) have also notched up centuries at the majors, but Federer is out on his own, by also achieving this majestic milestone at Wimbledon last year. His astonishing 100 singles match wins at Melbourne Park have stretched across a record 21 successive campaigns Down Under.’ As one of the TV commentators said in his losing semi-final …’’ Roger is grace and power all wrapped up in one! “

Drop Shots are odd bits of information…. Here’s a different one. Did you realise, as I write this on Sunday 2nd February, that it is a rare 8 digit palindrome when written 02/02/2020. The same forward and backwards…the only time this century!!

Fed Cup in Wellington.

New Zealand's greatest tennis player of her generation Marina Erakovic is glad to help out as Fed Cup captain, but doesn't plan a major return to the sport. She will lead the New Zealand team for this week's tournament in Wellington where they'll look to get promotion out of Asia Oceania Group II. It's her first foray into tennis since the 31-year-old retired just over a year ago. Since then Marina has finished her Bachelor of Commerce degree and is going to med school this year. She was happy to help out with the Fed Cup team, when asked late last year by the former high performance director at Tennis NZ, Simon Rea. She is with the team in Wellington passing on her knowledge, it will be a more remote form of assistance later in the year though. Erakovic, who reached No 39 in the world is New Zealand's most successful ever Fed Cup player, with 18 singles wins, playing her first 2004, at the age of 16.

Sky Sport 4 will have live coverage Te ātiawa / Taranaki Whānui in the opening ceremony. from midday Feb 5th

10 DROP SHOTS Continued

Australian Sports Journo Slams for Advertorial Demands for Interview. JANUARY 18, 2020 (From Ubitennis website)

Greg Baum says the interview with Nadal had to ensure enough coverage to his sponsor as well .

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, of , has been criticised by leading sports Australian journalist Greg Baum for making certain demands before agreeing to do an interview in a column for the Sydney Morning Herald. Baum says he was offered the chance to interview Nadal one-on-one this week ahead of the Australian Open - but the interview came with strings attached - "The interview would last 10 minutes, 15 max.

The questions to be asked would have to be submitted in advance. And one would have to be about a travel insurance agency that is sponsoring Nadal. The subsequent story would have to carry a tagline at the end noting

Nadal’s involvement with the sponsor. A tagline is not so unusual, and normally is just that, a line .

But this one was 50 words. That’s not all, far from it. The story would have to include a high-res image from the insurance company’s campaign.

That is, its ad, dressed up as editorial. It would also have to include a picture of Nadal at a press conference taken against the backdrop of the company’s “branded media wall”. " While Baum says the points were not posed as demands but as questions, he says it was implied that the interview would be agreed upon only if the demands were adhered to.

Baum said he finally declined the interview and says he wonders if Nadal knows about the demands being made while agreeing to the interview. "Does Nadal know about these machinations in his name? He should.

Ingenue that he sometimes seems, he’s too big a figure in tennis to represent himself as merely a pawn in a game.

Does he care? He really should. The guy has earned around $170 million in his career, and you can quadruple that for endorsements, so this sort of chicanery only makes him look greedy. If (insert name of latest sponsor) really matters so much to him, he can buy an ad.

He can buy the bloody paper. Does it matter? Yes, it does. It goes to the heart of editorial independence, and the way some think they can ride roughshod over it. The Australian Open is a big event, Nadal nearly its biggest star.

In both, there is an abiding public interest far outweighing the commercial. That should be terms and conditions enough for an interview. However much the insurance agency might think Nadal belongs to them, he doesn’t.

All sports ration out their stars to media now. At one level, that is only to be expected: demand is enormous.

But of the sports I cover, only tennis - the richest sport of all - puts a price on its stars (and make no mistake,

Nadal was not being volunteered to us, he was being sold to us - or the highest bidder).

Remember, this interview was offered, not sought."

11 DROP SHOTS Continued

NZ to host Group 1 tie against Venezuela BREAKING NEWS !!

New Zealand has been awarded home advantage for next month’s Davis Cup Tennis Group 1 play-off against Venezuela. The Davis Cup Committee has taken the decision that the tie on the 6th and 7th of March be relocated to New Zealand in line with regulation 27.4.2 of the Davis Cup Rules and Regulations.

The tie was due to take place at the agreed neutral venue of Miami. However, the Committee reserves the right to relocate a tie in order to ensure that Davis Cup hosting requirements are met.

It’s been agreed that New Zealand will host the tie with Venezuela considered the visiting nation. Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson has welcomed the change. “As you can imagine Tennis NZ is very excited to be given this opportunity and we are very happy to support the ITF in this decision. 2 of our Davis Cup stars, Artem Sitak We have not confirmed a venue but will be updating everyone as soon as we and , with Simon Rae can.” Paterson said. (centre).

Novak Djokovic says he was suffering from an ailment he “can’t really explain” when he took medical timeouts at crucial moments in matches at the Australian Open. The Serbian saw the tournament doctor in his semi-final win over Roger Federer as well as in the final against . On Sunday night, he went off court before the fifth set for treatment. The move saw many fans and experts questioning whether Djokovic was using medical timeouts tactically. However he claimed to not know what was going on with his body. “I didn’t have any injuries and it was very strange to me because I’ve done things pretty much the same as I always do. My energy completely collapsed,” he said on Nine “Every time I would toss the ball, I would feel dizzy. And it was just - you know, we were trying to do everything possible within the circumstances to kind of find a way to rejuvenate, I guess, and I was lucky. The mysterious breaks saw Djokovic draw criticism during the match. “He had the doctor. He had the trainer. He had the drinks. He had the food. He had the whole kitchen sink,” American leg- end John McEnroe said. Like McEnroe, Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt was also cynical as to why Djokovic called for the doctor in the third set. “He’s probably sick with the score line, down a double break here in the third set,” Hewitt said on Channel 9. The indomitable Serb stretched his unbeaten streak this season to 13 by rallying from two sets to one down and beating the courageous fifth-seeded Austrian 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a near four-hour ordeal. Victory puts him alongside his fellow legends as only the third man in history to win eight or more titles at the same Slam after Nadal (12 at the French Open) and Federer (eight at Wimbledon). It also ensured he will once again be world number one when the new rankings are released on Monday, usurping Nadal. Federer remains third with Thiem moving up a place to a career-high fourth. Thiem had energy sapping victories over Nadal and Zverev on the way to the final, and will surely be a future Grand Slam winner.

Please remember to note the date of our next AGM and Annual Dinner. Sunday 17th May from 5.30 pm ...at the usual Carlton Cornwall Bowling club lounge. More details later. For the committee, Please send any news and photos Cecilie for the next Newsletter !! [email protected]

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