From Wairarapa, to Kazakhstan.
A mere 14,000km, give or take, as the crow flies.
Quite a journey for New Zealand’s best young tennis talent.
Just a few weeks ago, the Billie Jean King Cup/Davis Cup juniors were training and preparing at a new facility on the outskirts of Martinborough, on courts surrounded by paddocks and vineyards.
As mentioned above, this week and next, they are playing tennis a world away, in Shymkent – the third most populous city of Kazakhstan that has history dating back to at least the 12th Century.
From brand new courts in the New Zealand countryside, to an international tennis tournament in an ancient Silk Road region.
The connection between the two – clay.
KEEP READING