Matt Hair to lead NZ tennis team

Marlborough tennis coach Matt Hair has been named as captain of the New Zealand team to contest the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup campaign.

The annual event, formerly known as the Fed Cup, takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 24-29.

The Billie Jean King Cup is the premier women’s international team tennis competition. The captain’s role is in a non-playing capacity, similar to that of a head coach in other sports.

Matt, now based in Marlborough, brings more than 20 years of high-level coaching experience in Europe to the role, including eight years working as a coach for the Austrian Tennis Federation. He currently coaches world number 61 Julia Grabher, who is competing this week in the French Open at Roland Garros.

“It’s a huge honour to be named as captain for the New Zealand team,” said Matt.

“We have a talented group of players, with a mix of youth and experience and I’m confident we can get the job done in Malaysia and earn our spot back in Group 1.”

Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson endorsed Matt’s appointment, saying, “To be able to call on a Kiwi coach of Matt’s experience from both the WTA Tour and from his work within Europe is a huge asset for tennis in New Zealand.

“We’re committed to providing the best environments we can for both our men’s and women’s national teams and we look forward to Matt’s valuable insights into this.”

New Zealand will compete in Asia/Oceania Group 2 and will be hopeful of wining one of the two promotion spots which are up for grabs, as they did in 2020 when the Group 2 tie was held in Wellington.

Incumbent captain Marina Erakovic was unavailable for the role this year but remains involved as part of the player selection panel. The five players competing in the event will be announced next week.