Vernon’s Murray Bennetto represented Hong Kong in Davis Cup tennis play in the 1990s.
Now, 50, he was the No. 1 player for Team Canada at the ITF Senior World Team Tennis Championships last week in Boca Raton, Fla.
Bennetto boosted Canada to 12th place in a field of 26 nations. The Canucks defeated Romania and Turkey and lost to the U.S., Germany and Netherlands. There were singles and doubles matches.
France won the tournament, brushing back the Americans in the semis and Spain in the final.
Bennetto went 2-3, including a strong 6-4, 6-4 win over Romanian’s top seed, Octavian Mustareata. He played four singles matches.
“I was just connecting with my shots and moving really well,” said Bennetto. “All of those matches were very close and tough. I just happened to win some points and things went my way.
“I was particularly happy with the win over the Romanian, who was a very good player. The next day, he beat one of the top Americans.”
Steve Kimoff of Vancouver (No. 2), Michel Lortie of Quebec and Oliver Kraut of Ontario rounded out Team Canada.
The selections were based on the 2013 national senior rankings. Bennetto won the provincials and placed third at nationals, both events taking place in Vancouver. He was actually ranked second in Canada, but the top-seeded player is American and was ineligible to represent Canada in Florida.
The surface in Florida was clay and Bennetto said the Canadians had to adjust to sliding into shots and stopping firm before hitting shots.
Bennetto is a local real estate agent.
