Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/315708
ITFWORLD SPRING 2014 9 www.itftennis.com "I'm very much excited about it because it's only the second time they do this," Orth said. "I know two years ago it was for the Canadian Lorne Main, and now it's for me, so it's a big, big honour… When I got the letter I was getting this award it was a surprise and I was very happy." Before Orth became an international star in the senior realm, she logged a lot of time on the courts. As a teenager, she played tennis in the summer and skied in the winter. She actually kept to that childhood habit until a couple of years ago when she abandoned skiing after falling off a horse — the horse stumbled — and injured her shoulder. The shoulder was "a mess," but she rehabbed until she could play again. Eventually, Orth journeyed to the upper level of the women's game, posting some impressive victories. She beat Virginia Wade twice — once in an under-21 event in Monte Carlo and the next time in Rome when Wade was the reigning Wimbledon champion. She also had a career victory over Evonne Goolagong, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, at a South African tournament. "They were still much better than me, but sometimes you have a chance, you have a good day and one of them has a bad day, and you win," said Orth, laughing. Orth was a constant figure in Fed Cup action for Germany. She played in 11 ties, helping Germany to six tie victories and amassing a personal 2-2 singles and an 8-3 doubles record. "I liked Fed Cup because it's very exciting, everybody was there, and you played against all the good players," she remembered. Orth's days of playing on the women's tour came to a happy conclusion — she stopped to become a mother and her son was born in 1970. But tennis — and her childhood doubles partner — lured her back to competitive senior tennis in her early 40s. "When I was a young girl I had a good doubles partner, Helga Masthoff, and we travelled together and that was a lot of fun," Orth said. "I started at 42 again because my former doubles partner said, 'Heide, I was waiting for you and now we play.'" Orth's first senior singles World Individual Championships title came with a win over countrywoman Kerstin Seelbach at Kooyong Club in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. It was a walk down memory lane for Orth, who 20 years before had represented Germany in Fed Cup at the same venue. So began Orth's second career on the ITF Seniors Circuit. She was year-end No. 1 in the ITF Seniors World Rankings in a singles age group 14 times between 1997 and 2012, and in the 2004 season was No. 1 in two age groups (the over 55s and over 60s). "Mostly I'm playing in the 70s because now there's so many good players in that age group it's a good challenge," Orth said. "We're all getting old together, but I don't feel so old." In all, Orth's won titles at ten Super- Seniors World Team Championships, and at the Super-Seniors World Individual Championships has won ten singles and ten doubles titles. All that makes Orth the most decorated senior women's player in history, which confirms her as the perfect candidate to be honoured with the award. And her only worry concerning the dinner is a familiar one for anyone attending a special occasion — what to wear? "I'll have to go shopping when I'm home in Germany and see what I find," she said. "I hope it works out nicely for me." At home in Ettlingen, Germany Orth during her 'fi rst' playing career