DYNAMIC DOUBLE ACT 'I COULDN'T BE A PROUDER DAD'

Tennis star Chris Lewis' violinist daughter Geneva is returning to Aotearoa to perform

- Kelly Bertrand.

As far as double acts go, Kiwi tennis icon Chris Lewis and his daughter Geneva are a rather impressive one.

Chris, who stunned the world when he famously reached the final of Wimbledon as an unseeded player in 1983, is these days a doting dad to his daughter, a talented violinist who has been invited back to Aotearoa to headline the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s opening performance of 2023.

“I couldn’t be a prouder dad,” Chris says from his California home. “It’ll be a surreal moment watching her on the stage at the Auckland Town Hall. I remember taking the kids to watch performances there when they were little and here we are now. It’s a big parenting moment, that’s for sure!”

It’s a welcome homecoming for US-based Chris, 65, who hasn’t been back to New Zealand since 2015, but even more so for Geneva, 24, who hasn’t visited since her family moved to America in 2005 to chase opportunities in the tennis world.

“It’s going to be a really emotional experience,” she tells. “I still have such a strong sense of home with New Zealand, but it’s not a place that I know too well! I’ve recently been trying to play music from New Zealand composers, and try and figure out a way where I can authentically have this connection to home. But of course, I can’t wait to get back and develop that connection even more.”