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Tough Encounters Set For Seeds At Wellington Open

Thursday 21 December 2017, 7:40AM

By dave worsley

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WELLINGTON

The big names are ready to take the court as the Maxim Financial Wellington Tennis Open is set for its quarter-finals stages at the Renouf Tennis Centre in the Capital.

Two-time champ and top seed Finn Tearney who is in good form after winning the NZ Champs title recently will play  Lower Hutt teenager George Stoupe in his last eight contest after Stoupe, 16 won against a cramping Zach Whaanga by the bizarre scoreline of 0-6 6-4 7-5 in his third round match.

Fourth seed Ajeet Rai from Taranaki who has been playing on the ITF Junior circuit this year will play Anton Bettink from Auckland who was semifinalist at the NZ Champs, while Artem Sitak who is 55 in the world in doubles, but playing singles in Wellington could have a tough clash against KP Pannu the former Wellington player who is at Columbus State University and scoring good results.

Second seed Rhett Purcell from Auckland who has an ATP pro ranking  faces Wellington teen Issac Becroft the finalist at the national 18’s tournament in Auckland last week.

In the women’s draw it will be the first opportunity for Wellington to see Brit, Suzy Larkin who is ranked around 650 in the world and plays Auckland’s Holly Stewart who was part of the pairing which won the doubles title at the NZ Tennis Champs in Auckland.

Showing plenty of potential and determination to win her third round encounter was Marlborough 14-year-old Jade Otway who scored a marathon victory over Lower Hutt’s Tamara Anderson 7-6 in the third set. The reward for Otaway is a clash with Auckland pro and second seed Jo Carswell.

Paige Hourigan the Wanganui player who is at Georgia Tech in Atlanta in the United States is the second seed and will play Wellington’s Ivy McLean in the quarters after Mclean accounted for Taranaki’s Louise Waite.

The other women’s quarter has Elys Ventura the national junior champ from last week up against fourth seed Nina Paripovich who she beat for her junior title.

World No.37 doubles player Marcus Daniell is also in the tournament, but playing doubles only with Rai.

Quarter-finals start from 930am with semifinals in the afternoon. A full day of finals will be held indoors from 11am.

Results:

Men’s singles third round:

George Stoupe (Lower Hutt)bt (7) Zach Whaanga (Kapiti) 0-6 6-4 7-5, Anton Bettink (Auckland) bt Dominic Miller (Wellington) 6-3 6-2, KP Pannu (Wellington) bt Jin Dassanayake (Wellington) 6-1 6-0, Issac Becroft (Wellington) bt Macsem Sisam (Auckland) walkover, injury.

Women’s singles third round:

(7) Holly Stewart (Auckland)  bt Deshma Weerapperuma (North Harbour) 6-1 6-1, Ivy McLean (Wellington) bt (6) Louise Waite (Taranaki) 6-0 6-1, Jade Otway (Marlborough)  bt Tamara Anderson (Lower Hutt) 6-4 4-6 7-6(5), Elys Ventura (Nth Harbour) bt Amelia Lawson (Kapiti)  6-3 6-2 ,