Umpire David Langman could not keep score during a game between top New Zealand player Alistair Hunt and Aucklandbased professional Wesley Whitehouse, of South Africa.
Langman decided it was advantage to one of the players while the amused spectators came up with other options.
Josh decided it was 15-40 with Whitehouse to serve, but after another volley between the athletes, Langman confessed he was lost.
‘‘Stick to what we decided earlier,'' Josh replied.
Seconds later, Josh was comfortably installed on the ladder, Langman was crouched behind the net waiting for the ball and the crowd was in stitches of laughter.
The new umpire provided consistent clear calls in favour of Whitehouse prompting Hunt to declare,
‘‘I liked the other guy''.
After the game, Josh declared the invited guests were ‘‘cool'' and ‘‘pretty fun''.
‘‘That was 5-2 to Wesley Whitehouse from South Africa,'' he said.
Josh has been playing tennis for about seven years. He joined the Wanaka Junior Tennis Academy when he moved from Brisbane, Australia, to Wanaka about three years ago.
The crowd of more than 150 enjoyed exhibitions by Hunt, Whitehouse, Wanaka professional coach Perry Crockett and New Zealander Stephen Downes.
The celebrations also included a champagne breakfast and fundraising auction, with club captain Stephen May hoping up to $20,000 would be raised to help pay for two new tennis courts and a small grandstand.
The Wanaka Tennis Club has 405 members and in the past eight years has built five courts and a clubhouse.
One of the new courts would have an international-grade surface and the club hoped to attract more international and national players to Wanaka, May said.
