Another Chris Lewis in the making

Press, 24 November 1979, Page 20

Another Chris Lewis in the making

New Zealand tennis players have often been accused of not having the mental toughness to succeed in the cut-throat business that is now world tennis. That claim certainly does not apply to Bruce Derlin, the brilliant young Aucklander who will play Tony Roche at Wilding Park today. Unlike some of his tennis colleagues, Derlin appears to have the uncompromising attitude that is essential for survival on the tennis circuit which is made up these days of computer points, money and plenty of good tennis players. The claim is that Derlin is the best young prospect to emerge in this country since the advance of Chris Lewis from the early 19705. His results on his first major overseas tour in 19<9 testify to that. Derlin was a member of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association’s fivestrong Spalding junior touring team managed by the Hutt Valley coach, Kevin Woolcott, this year. Within a few weeks he had emerged as the star of the tour. He lost early in the Italian junior championships in Rome, but a week later won a major junior title in the northern part of the country. A few weeks later he added a tournament in France to his haul. The tennis world sat up and took notice when he scored a startling win over an American, Ben Testerman, 8-10, 7-6, 6-3,

in the pre-Wimbledon event at the London-New Zealand club’s courts. Testerman was ranked No. 1 in the United States in the 16 and under-age category and like the gifted youngsters that went before him, such as John McEnroe, Eliot Teltscher and Tim Wilkison, he possesses a strong all-round game and the ability and mentality to succeed. Derlin was beaten in the third round of that tournament at the Aorangi club, but he had made his point. He was to win several more tournaments in Europe before coming home early last month to start his assault on the New Zealand season. He was quickly into his stride, reaching the final of the Remuera invitation tournament where he lost to Peter Langsford in three sets, and stopped only for an injury. Derlin was not exactly the best known junior before last season. In the 1977-78 season he had been ranked only 15th in

juniors nationally. He worked out with the weigh t-lifter, Precious McKenzie, at the Games champion’s Auckland gymnasium and trained faithfully day after day. He had to make an impact. He started at Lower Hutt by winning the Puma invitation junior tournament, helped Auckland win the national teams’ event, represented New Zealand in the Linton Cup series and was finally rewarded with a national junior ranking of No 1 and a place in the Euro-pean-bound team. Derlin finds himself at home on most courts. He has come through where others have failed on Europe's slow clay courts, he has already proved himself on grass and he will adapt to other court surfaces. Possibly his greatest strength lies in his ground strokes. Not very big for a tennis player, Derlin makes up for that with his pace, determination and resistance.