Cardiff-based tennis pro Chris Lewis helped Team GB to the silver medal in the ITF (International Tennis Federation) World Team Games in South Africa.
GB defeated Russia 2-1, Mozambique 3-0, defeated USA 3-0, and Spain 2-1 to reach the over-35s final against France. The French won 2-0, with the final match not needing to be played.
Lewis, who is head performance coach at Cardiff Metropolitan University in association with XL Tennis, and is originally from Neath, was making his GB debut, in his first year of eligibility in this ‘young seniors’ age group.
He partnered James Auckland to victory, 7-6(2), 6-2, over Russian pair Mikhail Elgin and Leonid Mazo, before beating Mozambique’s Bruno Figueiredo in the singles 6-0, 6-0.
In the next match, he beat Stuart Duncan of the USA, 6-2, 6-4, but in the semi-final, lost to Spain’s Pedro Sala-Lozano, 6-7(1), 3-6, and in the final, lost to France’s Steeve Noblecourt, 4-6, 3-6.
The tournament in Cape Town involved 86 four-man teams from 26 countries.
“I feel very fortunate to have had such an amazing experience in Cape Town and to come back with a silver medal is fantastic,” said Lewis. “Competing against a different country each day made for a great event and I know I speak for the whole team when I say that we’d like to go one better next year!”
Tennis Wales chief executive, Peter Drew added: “This was a fantastic result for Great Britain, and for Chris on his debut. Playing for GB is the ultimate honour at team level, and to achieve the silver medal in such a strong competition is really a great achievement.”
Information on all aspects of tennis in Wales is available from Tennis Wales at 029 20 463335 or www.lta.org.uk/in-your-area/Wales/ and for regular updates follow Tennis Wales on Twitter @tenniswales
