Steven (47) teed off at No 4 for the masters (over-40) Auckland team at Chisholm Links yesterday, playing against North Harbour's Stu Nicholls in the morning and Gavin
Ashwell (Northland) in round
two.
Although Anthony Wilding is the only New Zealander to win at Wimbledon - he was killed in World War 1 - Steven is rated as the top male New Zealand tennis player in recent times.
His best rankings were at No 32 in singles and No 16 in doubles.
During his professional career spanning 13 years, Steven won more than $US3.4 million on the ATP professional circuit.
He played for New Zealand in 20 Davis Cup ties over a 10-year period. The team's best placing was in the quarterfinals in 1991.
As an individual, his best placing was in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1993, and he made three ATP tour finals.
During his career, Steven defeated Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier and Pat Rafter.
A modest Steven admits that despite that impressive list of victims, the only player he beat when his opponent was at his best was Sampras.
His best year in doubles was when he paired up with Tommy Ho (United States) when the pair finished seventh in world rankings.
``Tommy suffered an injury the next year and so we played together for only one year,'' Steven said.
He also paired up with South African Lan Bale and made a final on the ATP circuit.
Bale now coaches in Queenstown and travels with and supports New Zealand's junior teams
Steven started playing golf seriously in 1999 when he called time on his professional tennis career.
He plays pennant golf for Auckland's Titirangi Club and also plays golf as a member of the Mangawhai Club.
His 20-year-old son Ryan is the senior champion of the Titirangi club.
Steven showed his golfing prowess last January when he won the New Zealand mid-amateur title on the Mangawhai course.
He was reluctant to talk about his deeds on the golf course yesterday, letting his clubs do the talking.
Steven had a comfortable 5 and 4 win over Nicholls in the morning, and won 3 and 1 over Ashwell in the afternoon.
