Two of the world's most noted tennis officials have been selected to oversee the South African Airways Open that begins at Westridge Park Tennis Stadium in Durban on Monday.
Gerry Armstrong, who was the man in charge of last year's Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has been appointed tournament supervisor for the R875 000 tournament while American Joan Vormbaum, who was honoured with the task of umpiring the 1984 US Open women’s final between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, has been named as Chief of Umpires.
There is a bonus as well for South African Iain Smith, who will be the tournament referee. This is Smith's first ATP referee appointment. Smith, South Africa’s highest qualified tennis official has been working for the past thirteen years at numerous international tennis events including Wimbledon and the US Open as well as the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.
Armstrong is no stranger to South Africa and was a chair umpire at the 1993 SA Open, also at Westridge Park. His last visit to the country was in 2003 when he was tournament referee for the Davis Cup tie between South Africa and Poland in Polokwane. On that occasion he brought his entire family to the country and enjoyed a short holiday over the Easter period.
The 51-year-old Briton is one of the world’s most popular umpires but his expertise does not end with tennis alone. In his teenage years he was, in fact, the England Under-18 goalkeeper and currently he plays off a golf handicap of five. Armstrong spent some 10 years on the tennis tour before taking up umpiring. His first Wimbledon as an official was in 1973 and in 1990, he was hired by the ATP Tour as a professional official.
Other than that 1984 US Open final, Vormbaum has also officiated in the 1992 Wimbledon women’s singles semifinal, the 1992 US Open men’s doubles semifinal and the 1998 US Open women’s doubles final. In 1992 Vormbaum was appointed consultant to the ATP Tour for their Officiating Program and in 1995 the task Line Umpire Program Coordinator, that is assigning line umpires, was added to her tasks.
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