‘Our daily life is nothing without sport’

The Malta Independent on Sunday meets HELEN ASCIAK, one of the all-time best female tennis players. She speaks about her consecutive local titles, participation at the Junior Wimbledon, her GSSE success, her husband Gordon and son Matthew and the pride of being honoured for services rendered

Helen Asciak née Degiorgio was born on 29 January 1963. She married Gordon Asciak in 1985 and they have two children, Gordon Jnr and Matthew.

Helen is the youngest of five children and incidentally it was her sister Vicky who introduced her to the game of tennis. “My father and mother were not interested, although my father, Dennis, was a well-known sportsman – a waterpolo player with Sliema ASC and Malta. My other sisters are Vicky, Theresa, Lucienne and Denise but it was only Vicky and Denise who used to play tennis. I attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart school and started playing tennis when I was nine.

Helen always showed promise even from a young age. “I was spotted by Gordon Mudge early on and he took me under his wing. I was taken for a whole month to the south of England where I took part in tournaments in Torquay, Plymouth and Dawlish, and I won the events in Plymouth and Dawlish. In the group, there was also Gordon, his sister Rosanne and Dennis Galea, the best elements in the game at that time. It was my first taste of international tennis.”

In a career spanning almost 30 years, Asciak has won the Malta women’s singles title 11 times, the first time in 1976 when she was only 13 years old. “At the age of 13 I was the ladies Malta Open Tennis Champion. I held this title for 10 consecutive years. Then I had

to wait until 1993 to win it again (the first time as Helen Asciak); beating my old time friend Carol Curmi in that year’s final. In between I stopped playing for a year while I was pregnant, first with Gordon Jnr and later with Matthew. In fact, those were probably the only occasions when I had to miss out on representing Malta in the Federation Cup.”

Helen has had an outstanding career. In fact, she must be one of the people who has most represented her country, considering her participation in numerous international tournaments. “These included several Federation Cup events, the European Championships, the Games for European Small States and other tournaments, like Junior Wimbledon and the Under 14 Australian Open.”

“Those were memorable events. Some of them I remember more than others for some particular reason. For example, in Turkey I remember I had a good run of nine wins out of nine matches in the Federation Cup. As a junior I was at my best, especially in the European championships. In the 1977 event, I had won five out of six matches, beating English, Italian and Swiss opponents in the process. I had lost to the Dutch No. 2.”

“I also remember with great pride my participation in the Under 14 Australian Open. I still say it was the best thing I ever did. It was like a Grand Slam event, though for juniors. But I managed to climb all the way to the final where I lost to Freeman, Australia’s No. 1.”

Another important moment for Helen was her participation at Wimbledon, which is the Wembley of Tennis. “It was not easy to take part in that event, especially in those days; as to be selected, one had to have a certain number of ranking points. Unfortunately, I never managed to get past the first round in the three times that I took part – 1979, 1980 and 1981, that is, when I was 16, 17 and 18 years old. But I am proud that I was accepted to play at Junior Wimbledon for three consecutive years which is a great honour.”

Her biggest achievement, apart from the Malta titles, was the gold medal which she won with Carol Curmi in Monaco in the 1987 in the Games for European Small States in the women’s doubles event. It was also Malta’s first gold medal in these Games. “Coming to the Malta Games, that was another great moment, not just for me but for Maltese tennis in general. It was a great day when Gordon and I each won a gold medal in the doubles events. I had left my young children at home. I played the first final with Carol and we registered a victory. It was the fourth in succession. Then Gordon played in the men’s final with Chris Gatt and they also won. It was also the first gold medal won by the men in tennis at these Games.”

“I was very pleased for the boys to have won that medal. Unfortunately it was to be the one and only medal. And one had to take into consideration that it was very difficult for two Maltese players to be successful against experienced foreign opponents. The Luxembourg pair were very strong, but Gordon and Chris were stronger on the day.”

“Ours was an easy win in the final. Monaco had Guardigli who had a very good level, but her partner was not of the same standard and we made the most of it. It was made even more memorable because of the participation of the public. The Marsa centre court was packed to capacity on that occasion and the public really appreciated our efforts. Their support was fantastic.”

Asciak was named Sportswoman of the Year in 1977 when she was just 14 years old and was runner-up on several occasions. In 1993, she was awarded Gieh irRepubblika by the then President of the Republic, Dr Censu Tabone. “These are all wonderful achievements which I really cherish – a recognition for my contribution towards sport. And last year Gordon was elected to the Hall of Fame. Jokingly I tell Gordon that I was elected to the Hall of Fame before Facebook time, more than 10 years ago.”

But is there a particular moment which stands out for Helen? “Surely it is when Carol Curmi and I won the Gold Medal in Monaco in 1987 that life changed for us. We became famous overnight; appearing on the front pages of all the newspapers and being interviewed by many journalists. Wherever I went everyone congratulated me. It was great. My father was so proud of me. He was my top supporter together with my sister Denise.”

Currently Helen helps her husband Gordon and son Matthew at the Asciak Tennis Academy situated at the Marsa Sports Club. “We have two indoor tennis courts which are very useful in winter. Gordon and Matthew train some of Malta’s Top Juniors together with our excellent team of coaches. We also coach children from the age of four and adults too. The Marsa Sports Club is a beautiful Club with 19 tennis courts and I consider myself fortunate to have grown up playing there and that I am still there every day.”

Helen, together with Gordon, were surely influential and she talks with great pride about her son. “My son Matthew is the current Malta champion. He won the Malta Open at 15, the youngest ever. His father Gordon was 16. Matthew won 16 consecutive championships. He has also won silver medal at the GSSE in doubles and bronze in singles. As a junior, Matthew was also the number four in Europe in the Under 14 Category.”

Like many Mediterranean people Helen’s favourite food is pasta. “I love all kinds of pasta which is undoubtedly my favourite plate.” And pasta and the Italian peninsula go hand in hand so it could be that’s why she loves it so much since Asciak’s favourite destination is Italy.

But does Helen find time for hobbies? “I love swimming and playing cards. Apart from these I also enjoy playing board games with Backgammon being my favourite pick.”

Helen wanted to send one final message to the sporting public. “Sport is so important in everybody’s life. During these difficult Covid times, I consider tennis as the safest possible sport. And it’s a beautiful sport that can still be enjoyed even in old age. To our top juniors, keep training hard, you are doing great.”