Brosnahan 'chuffed' over Open

Timaru had a presence on centre court at the Australian Open tennis this year.

Tennis South Canterbury's development officer, Tony Brosnahan, swapped his coaching skills for his umpiring hat on a three-week trip to the Melbourne-based tournament.

During his time, he swapped duties between chair and line-umpiring.

Brosnahan said it was fantastic to be a part of the first grand slam of the year, even if it was his sixth time officiating.

"It was a great thrill working 16 days at the Australian Open," he said. "It's a big honour for someone from Timaru to be officiating at the Australian Open. I'm chuffed."

Brosnahan's first trip to the tournament was in 1996 and since then he has officiated in matches including a then-teenage Roger Federer, the No1 men's tennis player in the world.

He said he spent time chair umpiring for two women's qualifying matches, three junior matches and a wheelchair match.

He then swapped shirts, literally, and became a line umpire, which saw him have two night matches on Rod Laver Arena, the centre court for the tournament.

Brosnahan officiated in matches involving men's world No4 Rafael Nadal and world No11 Fernando Gonzalez, as well as women's world No3 Caroline Wozniacki, and No19 Nadia Petrova.

Brosnahan said the introduction of the hawk-eye challenge system, which allows an accurate projection of where a tennis ball landed to be asked for by the players on tight line calls, was a good thing for both players and the game.

The system allowed for the correct decision to be clarified quickly.

He said it was fantastic to think where officiating tennis had taken him, since his first big tournament, a Davis Cup tie in Christchurch, around 30 years ago.

"I've been all around the world with tennis.

"It's great a hobby can take you round the world.

Brosnahan said he was looking forward to getting back in to his job at Tennis South Canterbury, for which he travels to from Ashburton during the week, and spending time with his three children, who all play tennis.

- © Fairfax NZ News