Peliwo seeks to build on Wimbledon
Autographs in demand
WINNIPEG — Babe Ruth once said of autographs, “Who would want to collect that crap?” Apparently, a lot of people still do.
“I’ve got to figure out a way to shorten my signature,” admitted Filip Peliwo, as a small gathering of autograph hounds lined up to to get the North Vancouver athlete’s John Henry on Peliwo postcards being distributed at an ITF pro futures tournament at Sargent Park Tennis Garden.
Peliwo advanced to the semifinals of the event with a 6- 1, 6- 3 win Friday over Josh Zavala, a 24- year- old American.
Most of the competition at this third- tier tournament — the East Coast Hockey League of tennis compared to the NHL or ATP Tour of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic — is compromised of former NCAA players or travelling pros from Europe, such as 23- year- old Croatian Ante Pavic, the No. 2 seed who Peliwo will face today. Pavic is ranked No. 412 in the world. The fifthseeded Peliwo is No. 620.
Since winning the Wimbledon junior men’s title in July, Peliwo has spent a lot of time painstakingly writing his autograph on cards proffered by eager tennis fans. It’s been suggested to him that he should get a stamp made, such are the increasing demands on his time.
“I must have signed 500 cards at Granby [ ATP challenger tourney in Quebec],” he admitted. “It was the same at Rogers Cup [ ATP Masters tournament in Toronto]. It’s all happened since Wimbledon, not before.”
Sargent Park Tennis Garden is a long way from the All- England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the village of Wimbledon, where the 18- year- old Peliwo announced himself in July as perhaps the future of Canadian men’s tennis when he stormed back to defeat American Mitchell Krueger to take the title.
Tennis greats such as Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg have used Wimbledon junior success as a springboard to the pros, but Peliwo has found the next step up to be a challenging one.
First- round losses at the Granby ATP Challenger, the Oldum Brown in Vancouver, a first- round defeat in Saskatoon and in qualifying for the Rogers Cup, have him searching to find the feeling of winning again.
All of his defeats since Wimbledon have come against higherranked and more experienced opponents.
“It was to be expected, but I’ve tried to do all I could do avoid that,” Peliwo admitted. “There’s been a lot of attention since Wimbledon. It’s been hectic, actually. I haven’t had any wins since then. I’ve obviously played in a bunch of tough tournaments, but I haven’t been playing my best tennis. I’m starting to play better, and it’s starting to calm down now — the attention from the media and everyone.”
Winnipeg is not exactly a tennis mecca. The Manshield pro futures tournament offers only US$ 15,000 in prize money and it represents the first pro tennis event in the city since the 1999 Pan- American Games.
But for Peliwo, it’s something of a refuge and a place to find his tennis footing again following the whirlwind weeks since the Wimbledon victory.
Peliwo said he’s trying to focus on what’s in front of him and not look ahead to Flushing Meadows in two weeks’ time. If he reaches the final of the U. S. Open, he will have completed the Junior Grand Slam of tennis by being a finalist in all four events. He lost in the final of the French and Aussie Opens earlier this year.