15 April, 2025

No practice makes perfect for father-and-son champs

Finalists… Ngataringa Tennis Club’s men’s doubles champions Andre and Neve Upston (left) with runners-up Allister Irving and Angus Craighead.

Father-and-son combo Andre and 13-year-old Neve Upston swept through four matches to become Ngataringa club doubles champions – without even a practice match in the lead-up.
However, the title victory was not without some anxious moments for 58-year-old Andre, who calls himself “very much the junior partner” of the team.
“Neve suggested we play together – he thought it would be fun,” Andre says.
“I was really nervous [in the final]. I didn’t want to let him down. They were hitting to me as the weaker player and because I was nervous I wasn’t playing that well either.”
The Upston duo surprised second seeds Chris White and Josh Wilson in the first round, and took out top seeds Allister Irving and Angus Craighead 6-3 6-2 in the final.
“But it was much closer than it seemed on the scoreboard,” Andre says. “All the games went to deuce and they were up 3-1 in the first set.”
Neve and Andre are poles apart in tennis terms. Neve is a nationally ranked junior, recently selected to represent New Zealand, winner of a junior invitation tournament at the ASB classic in January and recently Ngataringa men’s singles champion.
Playing in the club doubles champs was Andre’s first competitive tennis in decades.
He played as a junior in Wellington, reaching regional rep level as a teenager but giving up at 17.
“I was at a much lower level than Neve is playing at now,” he says.
Andre didn’t play for 30 years – until Neve was given a tennis racquet at about 6.
Father and son began hitting at the council court at Narrow Neck and Neve got the tennis bug, winning a couple of under-10 regional tennis competitions in Napier and Rotorua.
The father-and-son practice has continued, with the pair still rallying with each other for around four hours a week, most often early in the morning at the Ngataringa Club.
“It’s really quiet and peaceful down at Ngataringa in the mornings,” Andre says.

Women’s doubles winners (from left) Leigh Steckler and Lisa Chaddock with runners-up Lisa McCloskey and Trudie von Huben.

Mixed-doubles champs Chris White and Claudia Pearce (left) with runners-up: Allister Irving and Natalie McKay