A Tough Start As Kiwis Look Forward To Day Two At ASB Pro Circuit
Wednesday 11 March 2009, 8:51AM
By Dave Worsley
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It wasn’t the ideal start to day one for the New Zealanders at the ASB Pro Circuit at the Albany Tennis Park, North Harbour, but the big guns have yet to really hit the court.
Of the two Kiwis in singles action both Oliver Statham and Kairangi Vano were beaten in the first round of their respective tournaments.
Statham faced talented top seed Miles Armstrong of Australia and was beaten 6-2 6-2 in the US$15,000 men’s event. Vano had her chances after winning the first set in the US$10,000 women’s event but lost to well supported fifth seeded Korean Kyung-Yee Chae 2-6 7-5 6-0.
A major upset result in the first round of doubles was Australian Davis Cup hero Carsten Ball who is ranked just outside the top-100 and Kiwi Rubin Statham, the second seeds were defeated by the Malaysian wildcard duo of Adam Jaya and Yew-Ming Si 3-6 6-3 11-9. A surprising result considering how easily the Malaysians were defeated in Davis Cup just a few days ago.
There were victories for the other Kiwi combinations and Davis Cup duo Dan King-Turner and GD Jones easily put away their opponents, Yuichi Ito(Japan) and Hyun-Woo Nam(Korea) in their doubles match 6-3 6-1 while Adam Thompson combined with Australian Dayne Kelly to beat the younger local team of Marcus Daniell and Matt Simpson in three sets.
The second day promises some local success as King-Turner plays fellow Davis Cup team member Thompson, and fifth seeded Rubin Statham plays another Kiwi pro, Daniell.
Jones will be out to prove his worth when he plays fourth seeded Russian Artem Sitak who is ranked at 410, some 240 places higher than Jones, however the New Zealander is renowned for his fighting ability and could play better in the blusterly winds at North Harbour.
Wellington teenager, Finn Tearney will be hoping to add to his ATP ranking when he plays Australian Matt Reid, North Harbour’s Matt Simpson plays another Australian, James Lemke, while Canterbury teenager Logan MacKenzie has a harder task coming up against third seed Rameez Juniad from Australia as he bids for his first ranking points.
In the women’s draw Di Hollands plays the finalist from last year’s Hamilton Futures, Anna Wishink(Australia) in what is a winnable match. Fed Cup rep, Shona Lee is up against Queensland based Kiwi 16-year-old Chelsea Te Tai.
Day two of the ASB Pro Circuit commences at 10am.
Results: ASB Pro Circuit, North Harbour,
US$15,000 Men’s Futures
Men’s singles first round:
Young-Jun Kim(Korea) bt Steven Goh(Australia0 6-2 6-4, (8)Mao-Xin Gong(China) bt Haydn Lewis(Barbados) 6-4 6-1, (1)Miles Armstrong(Australia) bt (WC)Oliver Statham(New Zealand)6-2 6-2, Nima Roshan(Australia) bt Rylan Rizza(United States) 6-3 6-4, Jun-Chao Xu(China) bt Hyun-Woo Nam(Korea) 6-1 6-0.
US$10,000 Women’s Futures
Women’s singles first round:
(6)Ling Zhang(Hong Kong) bt Yuka Kuroda(Japan) 6-2 6-0, (5)Kyung-Yee Chae(Korea) bt Kairangi Vano(New Zealand) 2-6 7-5 6-0, Ayaka Maekawa(Japan) bt Alison Bai(Australia) 3-6 6-2 6-4, Ana-Clara Duarte(Brazil) bt Nicole Clerico(Italy) 7-6(5) 6-1, (1)Sandy Gumulya(Indonesia0 bt Alenka Hubacek(Australia) 7-5 3-6 7-6(4).
Men’s doubles first round:
(3)GD Jones/Dan King-Turner(New Zealand) bt Yuichi Ito(Japan)/Hyun-Woo Nam(Korea) 6-3 6-1, Adam Jaya/Yew-Ming Si(Malaysia) bt Carsten Ball(Australia)/Rubin Statham(New Zealand) 3-6 6-3 11-9, Dayne Kelly(Australia)/Adam Thompson(New Zealand) bt Marcus Daniell/Matt Simpson(New Zealand) 4-6 6-2 10-5, Oliver Statham(New Zealand)/Jun-Chao Xu(China) bt James Lemke/Joel Lindner(Australia) 6-1 7-6(5), Haydn Lewis(Barbados)/Nima Roshan(Australia) bt Finn Tearney/Logan MacKenzie(New Zealand) 3-6 6-3 10-6
Women’s doubles first round:
Alison Bai/Renee Binnie(Australia) bt Luci Barlow/Di Hollands(New Zealand) 7-5 6-2, Montinee Tangphong/Nungadda Wannasuck(Thailand) bt Chelsea Te Tai/Brittany Teei(New Zealand0 6-0 6-3.