Lewis family’s faith restored

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 1

Lewis family’s faith restored

PA Auckland The tide of congratulations and good will which poured into the Mount Albert home of Jim and Marcia Lewis, the parents of Chris Lewis, has restored their faith in New Zealand’s tennis fans.

Support for the Davis Cup player had sagged together with his world ranking which had slipped to nintyfirst earlier this year from a seeding in the mid-20s in 1981.

But the burst into today’s final for the unseeded Lewis not only catapulted him to the top but boosted confidence in his attitude. “There have been times when I have been disappointed with the response of tennis fans to Chris but my faith has been fully restored now,” said Mr Lewis yester-

day. “We now know that there has always been support for Chris and we have conveyed that to him,” said Mrs Lewis. “Obviously most people would not know about the efforts of Chris to do well. Sometimes they think that he is not trying, but that is so untrue. He works so hard, perhaps too hard. He is a perfectionist. “Sometimes there are injuries to get over but Chris would never talk about that because he is such a shy sort of person and intent on trying to overcome his own problems.”

Mr and Mrs Lewis decided to decline three offers to fly them to London for today’s final because the time available was too critical.