Ruth Illingworth, a member at the Gidea Park Tennis Club, travels to Australia this week to compete in the World Veteran Team Championships.

She represents Great Britain in the Over 70's event which is named after the American star Althea Gibson.

Illingworth is part of the four strong team which competes in Melbourne, and play starts on Saturday. Then the veteran action moves to Perth for the World Individual Championships.

Ruth holds the Ladies Over 70 doubles title from the recent National Indoor Veteran Championships.

She was runner-up in the singles and her clubmate Laurie Ekers was runner-up in the men's over 75 singles.

While these stalwarts are keen to show how they can still play, another Gidea Park player Tom Higgins is still proving himself, as he reached the quarter finals of the latest Girobank Tour event.

His world ranking gave him a seeded position in the draw and he beat Barry Hewer (Surrey) 6-2, 6-2 before losing to James Smith (Northants) in three sets.

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