The Star: March 21, 2024

Thursday March 21 2024 The Star
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
SPORT 19
year legacy to Canterbury sport
Last year the venue staged a
tie (a 1-3 loss to Bulgaria) for the
first time since a 5-0 win over
Pakistan in 2016.
Wilding Park’s buildings and
39 courts were severely damaged
by the Canterbury earthquakes,
major remedial work was carried
out before the complex reopened
relatively quickly in April 2013.
One feature that survived was
the concrete volley wall used by
New Zealand tennis greats Onny
Parun and Brian Fairlie.
Swedish tennis icon Bjorn
Borg honed his ground strokes
in the caged area before an
exhibition match with Chris
Lewis, shortly after the Kiwi
made the 1983 Wimbledon final
against Borg’s nemesis John
McEnroe.
Post-earthquake, there are
24 hard courts, including six
indoors, enabling Wilding Park
to maintain its status as New
Zealand’s largest tennis centre.
Eight grass courts were
installed and ready for use
as part of an ambitious
redevelopment in November
2021, but they were out of
bounds about six months later.
“They looked beautiful and
people enjoyed playing on them
but it wasn’t the best use of the
funds unfortunately,” Johns said.
They cost about $80,000 to
maintain per year, not including
THEN AND NOW: Wilding Park’s grass courts, pictured in 1965, have now been replaced with a modern hard court
surface. The park has come a long way since the blueprint for tennis courts at Wilding Park was published in The Star on
May 30, 1923.
the salary of a full-time staff
member.
“It was a nice nostalgic idea,
but it didn’t really have any
commercial strengths. They
didn’t bring in any revenue so
we had to mothball them.
“There wasn’t a huge appetite
to play on grass. Juniors aren’t
that keen because (junior)
international tournaments are
on hard courts.”
Tennis Canterbury is looking
to use the now vacant grass
court area for pickleball, netball
and potentially other codes to
utilise the land.
That adaptability encapsulated
Wilding Park’s ability to
return serve in challenging
circumstances.
Johns said a line in the
Wilding Park strategic plan was
particularly apt as the venue
enters its second century: Over
a hundred years Wilding Park
has survived wars, depression,
recessions, pandemics and major
earthquakes.
“It’s a resilient place,” he said.
“People have talked about
moving our headquarters in
Canterbury a few times over that
period but it’s held fast.”
Powerful service made big impression
• By Chris Barclay
PANCHO GONZALES’
first serve is amateurish by
today’s standards on the men’s
professional tennis circuit.
Yet when the American tossed
the ball up at Wilding Park’s
grass centre court in January
1958, a young Dave Meredith
watched on awestruck.
A back-to-back US National
Championships (later US Open)
singles title winner in 1948-49,
Gonzales was almost hitting
his 30s when Christchurch was
included on his 87-match world
tour against Australian Lew
Hoad, six years his junior.
“Pancho was one of the
first guys that could serve
over a hundred mile an hour
(160km/h) with a wooden
racquet,” Meredith recalled.
“He was one of the bigger
servers in those days.”
American Sam Groth
currently holds the record for
the fastest serve in men’s tennis,
260km/h (163.4mp/h) during a
second round loss to Belarusian
Vladimir Ignatik at the 2012
Busan Open Challenger Tennis
tournament in South Korea.
Gonzales’ serve was also
negated by Hoad, who
triumphed 6-4 7-5 that summer
afternoon by pounding the
American’s backhand.
BIG HIT: Two-time US National Championships (later US Open) singles winner Pancho
Gonzales, serving here during the 1967 edition of the tournament in Forest Hills, New
York, made a lasting impression on Dave Meredith when he played an exhibition game
at Wilding Park in 1958.
“They all had different
weapons, court craft and all that
because a lot of it was played on
grass in those days. There was
a lot more net play,” Meredith
said.
The 75-year-old was
introduced to tennis by his
parents and he played for
Barrington, Avonside and
Hagley before snooker and
billiards – he is a multiple New
Zealand champion in both cue
sports – took precedence late in
his teenage years.
Meredith returned to tennis
in earnest when his three boys
Matt, Tim and James were
grasping the significance of
sport.
“I didn’t want to lead them
into billiards and snooker. In
those days people used to look
down on smoke-filled billiard
rooms,” he explained.
Meredith, who joined the
domestic masters tennis ranks in
2014 at age 66, is favoured to win
the 75+ age group men’s doubles
with a fellow Cantabrian, Gavin
Dunn.
They have known each other
since they were five years old, a
childhood that included serving
as ball boys when Australian
legends Rod Laver – his
favourite player back then – and
Ken Rosewall played indoors
at Canterbury Court, the old
Showgrounds building, during
the 1950s.
“What stood out for me as a
boy, watching Laver, was the
forearm on his racquet hand was
about half as big again his other
(right) arm. He was a marvellous
player in those days,” Meredith
said.
When Meredith and Dunn
last paired up for an Easter
tournament in Christchurch
in 2019, their six-member
Canterbury combination cruised
to overall 70+1 age group title
which is determined by total sets
won not matches.
They racked up 36 sets, never
dropped one, and won 78 per
cent of all points.
Meredith said he wouldn’t be
too bothered if he and Dunn
dropped down to the 70+
category if the draw revealed a
lack of viable rivals.
“As you get older there’s less
chances of North Island teams
coming down,” he said.
“We would benefit by getting
better games that way, even if
there’s less chance of winning
it. That’s what it’s about. You
don’t want to be going along and
playing easy teams, you want
some competition.”