Seven years ago 14-year-old Finn Reynolds moved from Hawke's Bay to Auckland with his father to pursue a tennis dream.
In 2017, he was the first Kiwi junior to make a grand slam final in 24 years when he played the under-18 doubles final at the Australian Open in Melbourneand last weekend, now 21, he made his debut for New Zealand in the Davis Cup.
"It was a pretty surreal experience. I had a really good week of training leading up to it and Christophe [Lambert, Tennis NZ High Performance director] gave me a lot of good advice to prepare me for what it was going to be like.
With New Zealand's borders largely closed to international visitors due to Covid-19, the World Group 1 tie against South Korea needed a neutral venue.
Up stepped the prestigious US International Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
Reynolds faced world No 83 Kwon Soonwoo in the second singles match on day one, after teammate Rubin Statham had lost the opening rubber to Nam Jisung.
It was Reynolds' first match against a player ranked in the top 100 in the world and he put up a very respectable performance, serving for the first set at 5-3, before going on to lose the match 7-6, 6-3, before his team lost the tie 3-1.
Finn Reynolds said he went into the Davis Cup with a "really good game plan". Photo / Supplied
"A year ago, I would probably not have expected selection to be totally honest, but as I started playing this year, I was playing quite well and it was up for discussion. I kinda knew what level I needed to be at to have a chance and I feel like I met that, but still, you never know."
The journey to Rhode Island was a relatively short one. He's in the final year of a tennis scholarship at the University of Mississippi. And after the excitement of the weekend, he was back to his studies on Monday morning.
Tennis ability runs strong in the Reynolds family with his mother Louise a former Hawke's Bay No 1 and his father Andrew also a strong player.
Finn's brother Rob, 24, is also an excellent player, but, having been based in New Zealand at the time Covid-19 took hold, travel restrictions and then a foot injury saw him have plenty of time on his hands.
In February this year, Rob launched his own company, Reynolds Resistance Ltd which specialises in modern resistance training and recovery products.
After graduating from university in the middle of next year, Finn wants to become a professional tennis player, and he'll either base himself in the US or Europe.
"I definitely won't be able to spend much time in New Zealand unfortunately, but that's just the way it goes in tennis."
The only window for him would be in December and after spending two weeks in quarantine, he would have only about 10 days before he'd need to return to the US, where the season starts in January. MIQ also would deprive him of crucial pre-season training.
"It's tough to train really hard and then go and do quarantine for two weeks. It's just not worth it."
Apart from the support of his family, he still keeps in contact with his previous Hawke's Bay-based coach Simon Winter.
"He was my first coach outside my parents. We still message and we'll always keep in contact. There are so many great people in Hawke's Bay tennis. The Hawke's Bay community in general is always so supportive."
