Wednesday. September 23, 1992 — North Shore News — 13 Hollyburn prepares for Canada’s tennis test Team Canada meets Austria in Davis Cup showdown on WV ciub’s grass courts CANADA’S DAVIS Cup playoff this weekend at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club against Austria will be a test of the ability of Canada’s nationa! team to draw on both the experienced international play of veterans and a promising youth movement within the team’s ranks. The Sept. 25 to 27 event will also serve as a test of the Cana- dians' desire to stay in the World Group section of the NEC Davis Cup. If Canada loses to Austria, it will be dropped to Group 1 Amer- ican zone play. - ' ‘The idea for the Davis Cup began in 1900 when Harvard stu- dent Dwight Davis asked a Boston silverware firm to create a pun- chbowl from 217 troy ounces of silver for the prize in a challenge match between the U.S. and Great Britain. Today, 93 countries compete for the Davis Cup, which has become the symbol of interna- tional tennis supremacy. Though Canada has never had a chance to sip champagne from the 18-inch bow! (which can hold 37 bottles of bubbly) recent perfor- mances by the team’s players sug- gest that Canada belongs in the upper echelon of the World Group. Canada’a last Davis Cup tie (or match), against a world-class Swedish team at the PNE’s Agrodome, served notice to the tennis world that Canada’s team was capable of beating the world’s a. DAVIS CUP TEAM-CA ‘GRANT CONNELL Py Age: 26 @ World Ranking: 165tix e@ Residence: Vancouver THE NORTH Shore’s Grant Connell, on the strength of some truly inspired Davis Cup play in yecent years, has earned the nickname ‘Davis Cup Connell.’’ On two occasions the left- hander has swept all three points in a Davis Cup series for Canada: first in 1990 against the Netherlands, propelling Canada into the World Group category, and again the following year. Connell reached his - highest ATP tour ranking (67th) foliow- ing a quarter-final finish at the Queen’s grass court’ champion- ships in which he defeated world No. 3-ranked Ivan Lendl. Against Austria this weekend, the Canadian Davis Cup team will be looking to “Davis Cup Connell’* to set the standard. By A.P. McCredie Sports Reporter best players on any given day. Nineteen-year-old Daniel Nestor — a key element in the aforementioned youth movement — defeated the world’s No. 1 player Stefan Edberg in the se- cond match against Sweden. Nestor’s knuckleball serve, clocked at 118 mph, kept him in the five-set match. Against Austria, the Canadian team will be looking for the for- midable weapon to win some games on the newly installed grass courts at Hollyburn. In the opening match against Sweden, North Vancouver’s Grant Connell — with a history of offer- ing some of his most inspired play in Davis Cup events -~- swept past Magnus Gustafsson, a player ranked 61 spots ahead of Connell on the ATP computer. Though Canada lost the next three matches, the team left the competition with a positive, con- fident attitude. Joining Nestor and Connell this See Hollyburn page 17 JA PROFILES... i eapEs eats Ey a GLENN MICHIBATA @ Age: 30 @ World Ranking: 338th ® Residence: Etobicoke, Ont. THE ELDER statesman of Canada’s Davis Cup team, Glenn Michibata has played 26 matches for Canada since 1982, accumulating a record of 11 vic- tories and 15 defeats in singles and doubles play. He is currently fifth on the all-time list of Ca- nadian leaders. The smooth-stroking right- hander has been a contender at the SunLife Nationals since 1980, claiming the No. 1 ranking in Canada with singles titles in 198: and 1982, His highest career world rank- ing on the ATP computer was No. 48. With plenty of pressure-situa- tion experience under his belt, Michibata is seen as a steadying force on the Canadian team. Davis Cup tournament director Charles H. Smith stands In front of the bran stadium installed at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver for this weekend’s Davis Cup Roe i world group riatch-up between Canada and Austria. CHRIS PRIDHAM @ Age: 27 @ World Ranking: 117th @ Residence: Oakville, Ont. CHRiS PRIDHAM has been a consistent element of Canada’s ABB Davis Cup team since 1987, recording two wins against Chile in 1988 and another against Uruguay in 1989 He has been a threat for the national singles crown since graduating from the junior ranks, but it was not until 1991 that the popular right-hander won his first Canadian men’s ii- tle. The former Canadian junior champion has reached a career high world ranking of No. 75 on the ATP computer, and con- tinues to flirt with the top 100 mark. Going into this weekend’s competition, Pridnham is ranked No. | in the country. DANIEL NESTOR @ Age: 19 © World Ranking: 243rd @ Residence: North York, Ont. THIS newcomer to the Davis Cup team will long be remembered by British Colum- bian and Canadian tennis fans for his tennis heroics earlier this year in Vancouver. Daniel Nestor was a part of what is surely the highlight of Canadian Davis Cup history: the January 1992 Davis Cup world group meeting with Sweden. A capacity crowd was thrilled ‘by Nestor’s stunning upset of the world’s No. 1 player, Stefan Edberg, at the Vancouver Agrodome earlier this year in the second singles match of the competition. In the final match, Nestor lost 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, to the No. 15 player in the world, Magnus Gustafsson. ___ NEWS photo Neil! Photos Ron Turenne/Tennis Canada @ Age: 19 @ World Ranking: 245th @ Residence: Boucherville, Quebec THIS Quebec native is one of the new crop of great young players to break into the ranks of the Canadian Davis Cup Team. ucente d new grass court Sebastien Lareau’s first Davis _ Cup appearance was.a successful one. He teamed up with Connell for a doubles victory during Canada’s September 1991 meeting against Cuba. This year has been a good one ; for Lareau. At the SunLife na- tionals earlier this summer, he and partner Martin Laurendeau captured the men’s doubles title. The Canadian team is hoping that the youth movement, head- ed by Lareau, will continue to improve with experience on the international circuit.