Tennis: Dual tennis aim for the South African Kiwi

By CHRIS RATTUE

Violence in South Africa helped to persuade Ilke Gers' family to move to New Zealand six years ago.

When she arrived in this country, Gers - now 19 - had dabbled in tennis without any particular success.

"I was not that great. I didn't really know how to practice properly or anything like that," says Gers, who this weekend lines up in the qualifying tournament for ASB Classic which starts in Auckland on Monday.

But now Gers looks headed for selection in New Zealand's Federation Cup team and has set her sights on cracking the world's top 100.

It's a lofty goal. New Zealand is hardly a breeding ground for world-class tennis players, and Gers' ranking is around 450 at the moment.

But after leaving McLeans College in Howick, she has put all thought of studies on hold to pursue the dream.

It has involved competing on small circuits in the United States and Australia, and relying on help from her parents, a bit of prizemoney and the dollars she saved for this purpose doing odd jobs as a schoolgirl.

It has thrown her into the tough world of having to qualify each week to get the chance of making prizemoney - she made the main draw in four out of six tournaments on a circuit in Queensland and South Australia this year.

In 2001, she will attempt to push her ranking higher on a grasscourt circuit in Australia, as well as playing in the United States, while a place in the New Zealand's Federation Cup team to compete in an Asian zone also beckons.

"It's tough, especially being by yourself, but then it is tough for everyone," says Gers of life on the tennis circuit.

"My aim is to get a ranking under 300 next year, and then to get in the top 100. Yes, I can do it. If I didn't think I could then I wouldn't be doing this."

Gers said her family was not directly touched by violence in Pretoria, but "people all around us were."

"It was a tough decision for my parents to come here, but they did it because they thought it would be a better life for us, for reasons such as education and less violence."

Gers, who has a brother and two sisters, came under the guidance of Chris and Mark Lewis at Auckland Tennis, and Mark is now her individual coach.

"It didn't come to me suddenly. I have worked very hard at my tennis,"she said.

"Since I came to New Zealand I got the right type of coaching, but I wasn't very close to the top for my age group and I wasn't considered among the best of the girls.

"I think the coaching and the work I've put in are starting to pay off."

This weekend's qualifying tournament will provide Gers, who was beaten in the first round last year, with her biggest test yet because she rates it the strongest field she has been part of.

Gers will be joined by fellow New Zealanders Shelley Stephens, Tracey O'Connor and Tanja Markovic. The top four qualifiers from the 32-woman field go through to the main draw.