The trophies have disappeared but wonderful memories remain alive for Brian Fairlie, a great of New Zealand tennis.
At his official peak, when a proper ranking system was introduced 50-odd years ago, Fairlie was ranked an impressive 23 in the world, although he claims - with plenty of explanation - that he deserved to be a bit higher.
At 76, Fairlie lives alone nowadays, in the Dairy Flat house he has been in for 35 years.
And there’s nothing in this rural abode 30km north of downtown Auckland that screams tennis, or even whispers it.
The only easy-to-spot trophy is the photo of Fairlie cradling a 15kg snapper, a prized exhibit for this avid fisherman and hunter.
But as old tennis scrapbooks put together by his mother come tumbling out, so do the observations of the game past and present from a man who beat many of the best players in his era and won a big world championship tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Not all these observations are favourable, particularly when they involve tennis administration. It had started well, with Fairlie and fellow Kiwi great Onny Parun’s careers being kick-started in a four-man New Zealand team that toured overseas in the 1960s.
After that though...
Fairlie recalls helping pack out the Auckland courts for matches against Australian stars and getting a mere $20 for his efforts. He feels that players past who had put New Zealand tennis on a very good footing are shunned by today’s powerbrokers. And he despairs at the lack of innovation and foresight in New Zealand tennis. But through it all, his love of the game shines.
Australia was your launching pad...
“A sponsor arranged for me to live with (Australian tennis legend) John Alexander’s family in Narrabeen, in Sydney, for about 18 months. He was 15, I was a couple of years older. They had a tennis court in the back yard and I would play with John in the morning before he went to school.
“Then I’d do ball machine work, I’d go off to the gym about lunchtime, then John would arrive home with some other guys and we’d play tennis until dark. After that, I’d go on a 10-mile run. On the weekend I’d play matches.
“I even got to practice with (Aussie greats) John Newcombe and Tony Roche and play exhibition matches with them. I never had a coach. We learned by watching. By the time I was 17, I was virtually number one in New Zealand.”
Before that…
“I was born in Christchurch – we came to Auckland when I was four. My parents went into a fruit shop business in Westmere and I played at the West End club.
“You weren’t allowed on the court until you were 10 – but I snuck on from the age of six. I’d use the volley board, doing ground strokes and smashes all the time.
“I also played at Herne Bay where they had a surface called En Tout Cas, which is similar to clay. It helped me learn how to slide, which is how you play on clay.”
The big Auckland professional tournaments are coming up – do you get a special invite?
“No. At one point, a guy there was giving me tickets but nothing nice – they were way up on the concrete benches. They couldn’t even spell my name right.
“Yet without the likes of Onny Parun and me…we brought tennis to the forefront.
“We brought along other players like Russell Simpson, Chris Lewis, Kelly Evernden and Brett Steven. It’s ridiculous – there’s no Hall of Fame. Nothing. It has become very corporate.”
You formed a famous Davis Cup team with Onny Parun - are you still in contact?
“No, no. We were totally different. I’m not going to say any more than that.
“We came together in Davis Cup and performed but outside of that…we haven’t talked in 40 years.”
You had a title-winning doubles partnership with the Egyptian Ismail El Shafei.
“He is a hell of a nice guy. We played together for 10 years – I rang him up a year ago and said: ‘You’re still alive’. We hadn’t seen each other or spoken for over 40 years since I stopped playing.
“We travelled, practiced and roomed together. In those days we had to organise our entries, hotels, airfares, and everything. It was like a marriage.”
A different world
“I once played six different tournaments, in six continents, in six weeks. At Wimbledon, we got 100 pounds as first-round losers.
“Today, they get US$80,000. Rod Laver was the top earner in my day – he’d get US$200,000 a year. My best was US$135,000.”
And wooden racquets…
“The biggest change today is actually the strings. You can buy so many different ones – it is very technical. Some players even use different cross-strings.
“The two most important shots haven’t changed – the serve, and the return of serve. But the game has changed, mainly because of the racquets. The day of the one-hander has just about gone.”
The greatest tennis player is/was…
“In my day, by far the greatest was Rod Laver.
“I played him three times – the closest was 7-5 in the final set. At five-all, I put up a lob and he hit a smash from behind the baseline that landed right in the corner, to break my serve. That’s how great he was.
“In my opinion, you could put him off his game a bit if you mixed it up and played some junk tennis – slices, topspin. Just variance.
“But he was God.
“Laver was the perfect gentleman and a great ambassador for the game.
“The greatest ever has to be Novak Djokovic. Roger Federer was amazing – very elegant, but look at Djokovic’s record. Apart from Grand Slams, he’s the only player to have won all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and he’s won them many times.
“He was one of the players who improved his game every year.
“Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal – mind boggling.
Laver proved unbeatable but you did have a lot of significant victories...
“I’ve beaten Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Bob Lutz, Roscoe Tanner, Jan Kodes, Mal Anderson, Tom Gorman, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Ray Ruffles, Manolo Santana.
“I beat six Wimbledon winners. A lot of it was never reported back then. I got to the quarters of the US Open and the last 16 of the French.”
What about the current crop?
“Jannik Sinner is amazing. His whole game. He’s only 23, and his body is still maturing. He can only get better. He does everything – serve, forehand, backhand, volley, transition.
“I believe he can win around 20 Grand Slams.
“Carlos Alcaraz – what an exciting player, hitting winners and big shots. But he has lost his way a little bit. He’s become a little bit negative, and his serve can improve.
“He played a lot on clay courts when he was young and those players tend not to throw the ball out so far.”
The women?
“I enjoy watching the new number one Aryna Sabalenka. She hits the ball hard and is exciting to watch. Iga Swiatek is only a little bit better than most. In her prime, Serena Williams was pretty damn good.
“You don’t see many bad serves in women’s tennis these days. A few years back, they were terrible.”
Who were the greatest characters you met in tennis?
“Jimmy Connors and Ilie Năstase. I met Connors in Las Vegas. We got talking, and he challenged me to a set for $50, which was quite a bit of money for me in those days.
“We played at his Los Angeles club and I beat him. What a great player and competitor. He was Nadal-ish.
“I played Năstase once in Venezuela and had two match points before losing at 2 in the morning. He had talent oozing out of him.”
How can New Zealand find a way to produce stars again?
“You’ve got to leave New Zealand at a young age because there is no competition here.
“New Zealand Tennis needs someone who can raise money. I’m talking millions. If you do by chance find someone with the necessary talent, they’ve got to make the big decision to go overseas.
“There are places in Europe where you can play tennis and do your schooling. But it costs a lot of money. And you can’t send a young person on their own – you need at least one parent to go.
“If you look at the likes of Novak Djokovic… his parents made great sacrifices and took risks.
“Most of the top athletes don’t play tennis. Most good male athletes in New Zealand go to rugby and league, and a few to basketball.
“The average height of the top players these days is 6 foot 2 inches (1.88m). Who in New Zealand is looking at these particular things? There are no scouts and no foresight into how they can produce players.”
What career mementos do you have?
“No mementos. All the trophies I won – I don’t know where the hell they are. You just move on.”
You’ve never owned a cellphone or computer, but that is a very big television in your lounge
“It’s my entertainment centre…have you noticed there’s hardly any tennis on TV anymore.
“They’ve got every other imaginable sport there. Someone has made a decision. I love watching tennis, so I’m p***ed off with Sky. I’m thinking of ringing them up. Get the tennis back on.”
Was it hard stepping away from the court?
“I went into a business my father had started – Brian Fairlie Appliances. That fell through, it wasn’t good and I was left with a big debt.
“And it’s very hard to change your personality. I was so competitive.
“I was a 5 foot eight (1.72m) tennis player, so to play well I had to be so aggressive. I had to change because I couldn’t fit into society like that. It got me into strife with people.
“They couldn’t understand it.
“Life has not always been good… but you are dealt a hand and you go with it.
“I’ve got enough money to be comfortable, a nice house in the country to live in, a nice car to drive around in, I own a boat with a marina… and travelling around the world playing tennis was awesome.”
Chris Rattue has been a journalist since 1980 and is one of the most respected opinion writers in New Zealand sports journalism.
