Tennis: Wilson has come a long way since his Rai Valley days

By TERRY MADDAFORD

TIMARU - Trivia time: who is the only Rai Valley School pupil to play for his country? And where is Rai Valley?

Answers: Glenn Wilson; somewhere between Nelson and Blenheim.

No wiser?

Wilson is the new non-playing captain of the New Zealand Davis Cup team who first hit a tennis ball at the small country school before his parents, in a farming community of about 300, laid a floodlit court on their property. He and his older brother, Dean, now coaching at the Milford Tennis Club, had many battles there.

His parents founded the Rai Valley Tennis Club. That asphalt court was the scene of annual "Davis Cup" ties between the young Wilsons, their uncle and a sharemilker.

"We lost the first four of those ties, which were held between Christmas and New Year," Wilson said. "Then we won one and they didn't turn up again."

Wilson, who can truly claim "I've been everywhere man," has walked into the job left vacant following Jeff Simpson's departure. Unfortunately, with Simpson went Brett Steven after 10 years at the helm of the Kiwi Davis Cup team.

But if Wilson is worried about tackling the top job in New Zealand tennis without one of the country's stars, he is not showing it. He is convinced he has four players capable of launching a successful post-Steven era.

"I had had some contact with Mark Nielsen, James Greenhalgh, Alistair Hunt and James Shortall over the years and I felt comfortable in going with them for this tie," Wilson said.

Wilson has a 100 per cent winning Davis Cup record, but one which is no big deal.

He played in a "dead" singles rubber in New Zealand's 5-0 win over Indonesia in 1997, his only court appearance in the three times he was selected for New Zealand. Hunt, Nielsen and Greenhalgh were also in that team.

Wilson applied for both the Davis and Fed Cup jobs after being assistant coach of the women's team.

"My preference was for the top [Davis Cup] job as I can see encouraging signs. I haven't got an automatic No 1. I want to have two or three players chasing that so there is some real competition," he said.

"If we can get two guys into the top 150 on the ATP Tour - and I don't think that is unrealistic - and James Greenhalgh can reach the top 100 in doubles then we will have a strong base."

Wilson has seen enough tennis to know what he wants.

After those early days in Rai Valley, he went on to the national programme in 1987 at the time Steven was No 1 and Matthew Ridge was in the top three. "He beat me," Wilson wistfully remembers.

Late that year Wilson headed to the United States and Iowa State University. He played college tennis for 31/2 years and fitted in some study.

He played in the ATP satellites for about three years with a highest singles ranking of 590 before deciding singles was too tough and opted for doubles. He won one challenger doubles title in the Czech Republic.

By 1997, after stints in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, Australia, Asia and many points in between, he was back in New Zealand. He coached at Auckland's Pompallier club for six months before taking a similar job in Christchurch. Last year he was appointed Canterbury regional coach.

"As a player I didn't accomplish all my goals," said 32-year-old Wilson. "But in playing Davis Cup I achieved my ultimate goal. From the time I had watched players like Brian Fairlie and Russell Simpson - as a ballboy - I set my sights on the Davis Cup."

Now his hope is to find the same resolve from his team, who face an away tie against Uzbekistan if they can wrap up the current clash with Thailand.

Victory in that round would get them back to the world group qualifying - the same level New Zealand tennis was at when Simpson and Steven called it quits.