I felt it necessary to write a brief chapter on both of my touring buddies of 1991, Brett Patten and Peter Gerrans, both of Perth Western Australia. Technically though Brett was originally a country boy like myself, he was born and raised in Geraldton, north of Perth before he did his schooling in Perth.
I did not really know these two guys very well before our European tour as they were not in my age group in Perth State championships that we all played in the early 80's. I did know who they were however as they were highly ranked for their age groups and I saw them play many times.
Brett's family were mad keen tennis players, his brother Darren played on the professional circuit and he even took a set off 'Bobo' Zivojinovic at the Sydney Indoors one year. 'Big D' could play the game. Their father Don was a champion also and he partnered Darren for a World Championship Father/Son title, all in the genes.
Peter was coached by his father Ross, a coach of many years in Perth and who used to conduct coaching clinics in my home town of Albany when I was a teenager. Both Brett and Pete were destined to become good tennis players with the amount of tennis opportunities that they had in front of them when they were kids.
Personally I learned to hit on a brick wall at my parents house, something that I will touch on later in the book but first things first. I hope both Brett and Peter appreciate my 'kind' words towards them not only in their initial profiles but also throughout the book. I believe it all to be correct....
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