Tennis: Hard grind paying off for Nielsen

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Mark Nielsen has been on the road, or, more accurately, in the air, for the past 13 years living the "have racket, will travel" life of a professional tennis player.

It has not been easy for the 24-year-old Aucklander who first played in Australia as an 11-year-old.

He has not enjoyed the success his predecessors Brett Steven and Kelly Evernden had on the ATP Tour but he has refused to give in.

He reached the top 200 in 2000, but had a poor run last year as his ranking slipped to 457.

"This year has been a lot better," said Nielsen, who kick-started New Zealand's Davis Cup tie against India in Wellington with a comfortable 6-4 6-0 6-1 win over Harsha Mankad yesterday.

"My first-round win at the Heineken Open in Auckland gave me a lot of confidence.

"I just wish I could have won in the second round."

That first-up win at Stanley St over sixth seed Andreas Vinciguerra was followed by a good run in Futures and Challenger tournaments where he reached two finals and two quarter-finals - including the $US25,000 ($57,000) tournament in Hamilton.

In between times, he played Davis Cup against Indonesia at Invercargill in February where he won his opening singles and joined Alistair Hunt to win the doubles.

"When I was growing up, my ambition was to play on the ATP Tour and in the Grand Slams," said Nielsen, who grew up watching his mother playing midweek at the Milford Tennis Club.

"Davis Cup is something I've grown into. If you are not getting success on the tour and breaking into the top 100, the Davis Cup will keep your name in front of people.

"It gives you the chance to play in front of a crowd in your own country. I love that.

"Playing Davis Cup away is really difficult," said Nielsen, who has followed Steven into the No 1 slot in the New Zealand team.

"It is a great learning curve and I'm sure I am now able to take things from the Davis Cup into other tournaments. In our sport it is difficult to make much of an impact.

"Often we are drawn against countries like Uzbekistan and Lebanon which have little connection with New Zealand."

Nielsen said he could always identify with Evernden and Steven when thinking about the Davis Cup, and he has particular respect for Evernden.

"He hit the ball so clean from the back of the court.

"I did not see a lot of him but I hope I have been able to take some of the things he did and put them into my game."

Nielsen said he had great respect for Steven's work ethic.

"His way was to play as hard as he could and to win matches."

Winning more matches would help to ease the pressure on Nielsen.

"I'm frustrated I haven't done better. I had a good year in 2000 but could not consolidate that in 2001.

"Even though I felt down that year, I haven't given up," said Nielsen, who has virtually lived out of a suitcase since leaving King's College with School Certificate.

"If my ranking continues to move in the right direction I'll stick with it.

"I have had a lot of successes but still haven't really broken through.

"Maybe that will come this year when I head to the States and Europe. Who knows?"