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A former New Zealand tennis ace says things could have been a lot different if he had obeyed his local club's rules.
Brian Fairlie said he was "surprised and honoured" to receive an honorary life membership from West End Tennis Club in Auckland yesterday, particularly after a few early misdemeanours.
"You had to be 10 or over to play here, but I was just six. So I used to sneak in and hit a few balls around. I don't think I ever got caught," said Fairlie.
His indiscretions paid off and at 15 Fairlie was being coached in Australia by former great John Alexander, and two years later he began an illustrious Davis Cup career alongside his rival and New Zealand tennis great, Onny Parun.
Fairlie, who was among the world's top 20 players in the early 1970s, brushed shoulders with some of the game's greats, including John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe and Tony Roche.
He went on to make 13 appearances at Wimbledon before his retirement from top level tennis in 1979.
Now retired, the 60-year-old, who briefly owned a chain of appliance stores in Auckland in the early 1980s before a decade of tennis coaching, said he hadn't hit a ball in 12 years.
Despite the long time away from the game, Fairlie said he was saddened by the state of tennis in New Zealand and gave the game's administrators a serve.
"The trouble is, the kids never experience how well their peers play, and these days there are 17-year-old girls winning majors.
"Doing well in juniors isn't enough any more, and even though the poor kids here are doing their best they have no idea of the standard that's required overseas."
He's holding out hope for a player to take the mantle Brett Stephen left behind but says without more cash for the sport that's unlikely to happen.
"These days there's nobody ... you can't blame the kids, but they need to be living, breathing and playing tennis overseas, and that costs a lot of money."
