NORTH SHORE
LOWNED AND MANAGED

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PAGE 41

Local athlete captures two firsts
in Smirnoff Open tennis tourney

NORTH VANCOUVER'’S Grant Connell served up a dou-
ble win over the weekend in the $25,000 Smirnoff Open
tennis tournament at the North Shore Winter Club, captur-
ing first place in both the singles and doubles finals.

Connell, 21, walked away with
$5,000 US for his singles win and
$750 US for the doubles victory,
marking the biggest paycheque to
date in his pro career.

In the singles final at his home
club, the North Vancouver favorite
started out slow, but moved into
an aggressive, hard-hitting serve-
and-volley game to defeat West
German Alexander Mronz in a 7-6,
(7-4), 6-1 championship.

In the doubies final, an all-
Canadian match, Connell teamed
with Toronto’s Glenn Michibata to
beat North Vancouver's Josef
Brabenec Jr. and Vancouver's
Tony Macken 6-4, 6-2.

“Ivs always great winning in
front of a home crowd,’’ Connell
said Tuesday in a telephone inter-
view from Las Vegas, where he is
playing in a United. States Tennis
Association (USTA) Challenger
Series tournament. ‘‘] was familiar
with the court and | grew up at the
winter club."’

Coming out of a series of sum-
mer matches where his perfor-
mance was not what it should have
been, Connell’s wins were ‘ta good
start to the winter season.”’

For the outdoor tournament in
Las Vegas, ‘I’m just going to take
one match at a time,’’ Connell
said, who seemed uneasy speaking
to the News 90 minutes before a
match,

Attendance at the Oct. 5 to 11
USTA-sanctioned North Shore
Winter Club tournament averaged
about 200 spectators every day
during preliminary play, and about
500 daily for the final few days'
competition.

“It was more than at Blue
Mountain (Racquet Club in Co-

bia tennis players is paving the way
for more and more talented young
playczs to strive for the top spots.

“I think everybody is realizing it
can be done,”’ he said. ‘‘Once one
person leads the way, the others
follow.’’

NORTH Vancouver tennis player
Grant Connell...a double win in
the $25,000 Smirnoff Open tennis
tournament.

With players such as Connell,
Brabenec and Walker, ‘‘the North
Shore is particularly strong’’ ir
producing top tenni. players,
noted Braley.

Following his two wins, Connell
will now be ranked among the
world’s top 100 doubles players
and among the world’s top 200
singles players.

One year ago this month, Con-

GRANT CONNELL IN ACTION: SEE PHOTO PAGE 12

quidam, which hosted a recent
Smirnoff-sponsored tourna-
ment),’* North Shore Winter Club
tennis pro Wayne Elderton said of
the attendance. ‘‘We were quite
pleased with it."’

Tennis B.C. administrative
director Scott Braley said Tuesday
the high calibre of British Colum-

nell swept the singles and doubles
championships on the Belgian sat-
ellite circuit, then the highlight of
his career.

In other Smirnoff Open news,
North Vancouver's Fabio Walker,
17, assumed a world ranking, and
will now be listed among the top
1,000 tennis players in the world.