Cook Islands' Brett Baudinet matches Davis Cup doubles record
Photo:
Supplied
Cook Islands tennis player Brett Baudinet is now tied for the most double wins in the Davis Cup, also known as the World Cup of tennis.
Baudinet got the record at the competition's Asia-Oceania group tournament in Malaysia last week.
Baudinet said it was a good achievement for himself but also for his family and the Cook Islands.
"It's pretty overwhelming, to be honest," Baudinet said.
"For myself, it was definitely the biggest goal I had this year going into it and obviously we wanted our team to do well."
Baudinet has now been to the Davis Cup 21 times, with his first appearance in 2000.
"Not many people go this long, the guys that I started off with that are at my same age, they've kind of stopped playing Davis Cup level many years ago. But I guess for myself, it's just staying fit, both physically and mentally."
The Pacific Oceania team played the Philippines first where they lost all three matches. They also played against Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar where they lost overall,
However, Baudinet and his doubles partner Maka Ofati managed to secure one win against each team, which led to Baudinet securing the record tied with former Indian tennis player Leander Paes.
Baudinet said one of the biggest challenges is preparing for the event in Rarotonga which has a population of just over 10,000 people.
"I just have to maintain my fitness is one of the biggest things.
"A lot of the preparation kind of happens last minute that lifts my game back up to where it's been every year.
"But training wise there haven't been a lot of top players that I can hit with. For example, a couple of days before, I was hitting with a 13-year-old, that was the best person I could actually have an actual hit with."
Baudinet said it did help that he would arrive at Davis Cup several days early to train as a team.
He said he still felt like he was improving, mainly on the mental side of tennis.
"Physically, as you get older, past a certain point, it's hard to maintain that physical fitness all the way through.
"For me Davis Cup isn't just about how you perform on the court, it's also how you perform off… every year I'm there, I'm probably the loudest person off the court as well."
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