Ageless Taylor set to make a racket
Sixty-two-year-old Southland tennis ace George Taylor will be up against players half his age at the Otago Indoor Open in Dunedin starting on Friday.
The Wyndham farmer is using the tournament as preparation for the ITF Seniors World Team Championships in Miami starting in late October, where he will represent New Zealand’s men’s 50+ team on the international stage.
This weekend’s Otago tournament to be staged at the Edgar Centre includes a number of S2 players like local hope Paddy Ou and talent from around the South Island like James Watt and Nick Jenkins vying for the title.
‘‘I don’t think there would be anyone else over thirty years of age in this tournament, there are some pretty good players there, I think there are three or four S2s, which are the next grade below players on tour, so in other words they are the best New Zealand players who aren’t on the professional tour,’’ he said.
Taylor will be participating in the tournament for the first time and is hoping to challenge himself even if he is knocked out of contention early on.
‘‘Out of the 43 men in the draw there are a number of guys about my level. We will be split into groups of eight and play our own little mini tournament in each of those divisions and I expect to get some really close matches, which will be ideal for what I am trying to do,’’ he said.
Edendale brother and sister Mitchell and Kimberly Heads will also be competing at the Otago Indoor Open.
Taylor attended the international seniors event in France in 2015 and fell in love with the tournament despite losing all six matches.
‘‘I don’t expect to go very far through the tournament, but it is a great experience, I love tennis and I always have and as I was getting older I was looking around for other types of tennis to play other than senior tennis,’’ he said.
‘‘I went to France two years ago in a 60s team and I loved it, it was great. It was a world teams event there as well and the individuals, but it’s the worlds so you need to be fairly high ranked in New Zealand to do well.’’
Taylor is a reserve for New Zealand in the younger 50+ age group, but should still take the court before reverting to the 60+ category for the individual championships.
With the standard of international seniors tennis so high, Taylor will have to play to his strengths.
‘‘Playing vets tennis and seniors tennis is a whole new kind of tennis to get into and I am really enjoying it because I am still fit enough to be mobile around the court and I have found that is my advantage,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s very difficult, you would have to be a really good New Zealand player to compete at the top level at the worlds. It is fairly full on and there are some fairly gifted older players still playing in that format.
‘‘I was never that gifted as a player, but I feel I am one of the fitter players on the seniors ranks and that gives me an advantage.’’