Wildcards have been confirmed for the first week of the US$75,000 ASB Pro Circuit tennis Futures to be staged at North Harbour with some of New Zealand’s best talent being given an opportunity to shine in both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
The main draw men’s places go to Davis Cup player Adam Thompson(Auckland), Oliver Statham(Auckland), Finn Tearney(Wellington) and Matt Simpson(North Harbour), all of whom have ATP international rankings. Wairarapa’s Marcus Daniell who has an ATP ranking of 812 has moved directly into the main draw on his own merit.
The women’s event has wildcards being awarded to Di Hollands the winner of numerous domestic titles as well powerful Aucklander Kairangi Vano and Shona Lee all part of the New Zealand Fed Cup team which lost to Australia in the final of the Asia/Pacific competition. The fourth wildcard goes to Australian based Kiwi 16-year-old Chelsea Te Tai.
The first week of the three week circuit will be held at the Albany Tennis Centre, North Harbour 9-15 March where the men’s professional ITF (International Tennis Federation) tournament worth US$15,000 and the women’s tournament US$10,000 will take place followed the next week at Hamilton and the final week at Wellington.
In the men’s draw several Kiwis gain direct entries with Kiwi Davis Cup team members Rubin Statham at 425 in the world, Dan King-Turner (453) and GD Jones ranked at 651 all making the main draw cut.
In the qualifying draw are a number of New Zealand players such as former Canterbury rep, Logan MacKenzie, highly ranked Christchurch teen, Barrett Franks as well as American based Aucklander Jordan Cox will feature as they try to gain their first ATP ranking points.
The highest ranked player in the men’s draw is Australian Miles Armstrong with a ranking of 345 with countryman Adam Feeney the likely second seed at 380. There is a strong contingent of players from Europe with Croatian, Italians and Russians represented along with players from Korea, China and Japan as well as Canada and the United States, many of whom are the future talent of the tennis world.
In the women’s field the top ranked player is Indonesian Sandy Gumlya ranked at 294 with Taipei’s Hsuan Hwang second with a ranking of 305.
The first of the ASB Pro Circuit events will be preceded by the Davis Cup tie between New Zealand and Malaysia 6-8 March on the indoor courts at Albany Tennis Park, North Harbour.
www.asbprocircuit.co.nz
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