infonews.co.nz New Zealand Tennis news

Davis Cup New Zealand Versus Pakistan Appeal Update

Dave Worsley — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:27:37 GMT

After media reports from Pakistan speculating about an appeal into the result of the Asia/Oceania Group II Davis Cup clash between New Zealand and Pakistan in Myanmar the ITF(International Tennis Federation) has contacted Tennis New Zealand to inform it of progress and to prevent further speculation.

The tie between the nations at the neutral venue selected by Pakistan, the Pun Hlaing Golf and Country Club in Yangon was awarded to New Zealand by Sri Lankan referee Asitha Attygalla after the grass courts were deemed to be unplayable.

Media reports from Pakistan had celebrated the fact the ITF had agreed to hear their appeal against the result. However the ITF has informed Tennis New Zealand that they are required to hear all appeals, unless totally unreasonable. And that the Davis Cup Committee were always going to hear the appeal from Pakistan if they officially lodged an appeal against the result being defaulted against them.

Pakistan has now officially lodged an appeal with the ITF which will be heard by the Davis Cup Committee.

If Pakistan is not happy with the Davis Cup Committee decision they have the right to appeal to the board of the ITF.

Tennis New Zealand CEO, Steve Johns said that the ITF had spoken to him and told him the process, but until he hears any more information from them it’s business as usual.

“We are looking towards our Group II finals tie with the Philippines in September. That’s how we are planning things,” said Johns. “We have no plans for anything else until we hear the result of the appeal from the ITF. We have been told the Davis Cup committee will meet by phone next week to consider the Pakistan appeal. If it goes to the ITF board then that may be another month longer.”

(Source)

New Zealand Fed Cup Tennis Team Named

Dave Worsley — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 02:59:23 GMT

TENNIS

The New Zealand Configure Express Fed Cup tennis team has been confirmed with some new faces to the side which will compete in Asia/Oceania Group II in Kazakhstan in early February.

World No67 Marina Erakovic returns to the side and is joined by new players, top 100 ranked junior Emily Fanning as well as Abigail Guthrie and Emma Hayman.

New Zealand will be aiming to gain the one promotion spot from a round-robin of two pools of six teams in Group II and return to Asia/Oceania Group I for 2014.

“It’s great to have Marina in the team. She brings such a wealth of experience to the side and obviously she’s ranked in the top 100 players in the world so she is a standout player,” said New Zealand Fed Cup captain, Pavlina Nola who is pleased Fanning is over some niggling injuries and rates her players as a good team. “Abi and Emma are a good doubles combination and a great team players. I think it’s a good solid team all round.”

Fanning, 17 from Timaru has been ranked as high 38 in the world in juniors, but has also has experience on the ITF professional circuit, winning a doubles title in Mexico earlier this year.

Auckland’s Guthrie, 22 is currently attending the University of Mississippi while Hayman who is from Wanganui has finished her scholarship in the United States and has played some professional events, winning a doubles title in Germany. As a combination Guthrie and Hayman won the doubles at the recent New Zealand Tennis Championship

A team for the ATL (Australian Tennis League) has also been confirmed. This is a competition being held during the Australian Open at Melbourne Park between the best state sides in Australia and New Zealand. The team is Guthrie, Hayman, Paige Hourigan, the 15-year-old finalist at the NZ Tennis Championships, 16-year-old Claudia Williams from Auckland and Fanning(who will also be playing in the Australian Open juniors). The team have been practicing together and competing in the ASB Classic qualifying as well as main draw doubles.

In 2012, 90 nations entered Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, making it the world’s largest annual international team competition in women’s sport. Fed Cup is structured with an eight-nation World Group and eight-nation World Group II, contested over three weekends during the year. The remaining countries are then divided into three regional ones depending on their location and play a week-long competition which will feature New Zealand in the Asia/Oceania zone.

(Source)

Kiwi Wins Third Tournament Title In A Row

Dave Worsley — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:46:08 GMT

TENNIS

Kiwi tennis pro Marcus Daniell has won his third Futures doubles title in a row. Daniell and British doubles partner Richard Grabb have won all three Futures title at the US$10,000 events held in the past three weeks at Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

In the latest tournament Daniell and Grabb defeated the Chinese pair of Peng Gao and Wan Gao 7-5 6-2 to take the title.

It is the seventh Futures doubles title of the year for Daniell and eleventh of his career, plus the 2010 ATP title at the Heineken Open.

(Source)

Three Titles For Kiwi Players

Dave Worsley — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:43:24 GMT

TENNIS

It’s been a good weekend for New Zealand men’s tennis with three titles in Asian ITF Futures events.

Davis Cup player Artem Sitak won the singles title at the US$10,000 Futures at Phnom Penh, Cambodia beating British fourth seed Alexander Ward 6-4 6-7(3) 7-6(4) for the title. It is Sitak’s first ITF singles title of the year and his fifth of his career.

Earlier Marcus Daniell and British doubles partner, Richard Grabb won their second consecutive tournament in as many weeks as they defeated Wan Gao(China) and Nedunchezhiyan 6-1 7-6(5) for the title at the same event.

In Indonesia at the US$15,000 Jakarta Futures Michael Venus and German partner, Tim Puetz have won the doubles title . They beat the top seeded Australians Brydan Klein and Dane Propoggia 7-5 6-3 in the final.

(Source)

Kiwi Wins Doubles Title

Tennis NZ — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:42:53 GMT

TENNIS

Kiwi tennis professional Marcus Daniell has won the doubles title at the US$10,000 Futures at Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Daniell and British doubles partner, Richard Grabb beat current New Zealand Davis Cup player Artem Sitak and his Austrian partner Max Neuchrist in the semifinals 6-1 6-0. They then defeated the Chinese pair of Peng and Wan Gao 6-0 6-0 for the title, the fifth of the year for Daniell.

Earlier in singles, Sitak had reached the semifinals while Daniell lost in the first round.

Daniell and Sitak play another Futures in the same city this week.

(Source)

Kiwi Davis Cup Player Artem Sitak Makes Singles And Doubles Semifinals

Dave Worsley — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 05:39:47 GMT

TENNIS

New Zealand Davis Cup player Artem Sitak has reached the semifinals of singles and doubles at the US$10,000 Futures at Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Sitak defeated French eighth seed Sebastiem Boltz in the quarterfinals 6-1 6-1 and will now play third seed Axel Michon(France) for a spot in the final.

In doubles Sitak and Austrian Max Neuchrist face fellow Kiwi Marcus Daniell and Brit, Richard Grabb in the semifinals.

Meanwhile in the US$10,000 Mexico Futures at Mazatlan, Matt Simpson is in the second round of singles where he will play Mexican Miguel Gallardo-Valles. In doubles Simpson and Canadian doubles partner, Andrew Ochotta were beaten in the quarterfinals.

Another New Zealand player, Marvin Barker has had to withdraw from the same event after he damaged his ankle badly in an off-court accident which will keep him off the court for an extended period of time.

(Source)

Fifth Round Scarbro Caro Bowl Tennis

Tennis Auckland — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 03:00:40 GMT

TENNIS

Blockhouse Bay and Parnell have opened up a gap on the rest of the teams after five rounds of men’s competition in the Scarbro Caro Bowl tennis played on Friday nights. Blockhouse Bay defeated Cockle Bay 6-0 although Adam Thompson was taken to a third set tiebreak before ousting Andrew Batie in the number two singles. Connor Heap posted a good singles win against Luke Donovan in the bottom singles match to complete the clean sweep for his club. Parnell are not far off the pace set by Blockhouse Bay and both Anton Bettink and Mark Neilsen fired warning shots to the other teams when they won their respective singles matches 6-0, 6-0 against winless Pompallier who will now be fighting hard to stave off relegation. Herne Bay is the only other side to have lost all of its games to date and they kept this losing streak alive with a 5-1 loss to Kohimarama last Friday.

Three women’s teams have cleared out from the bunch and now look almost certain to move through to the semi finals. Kohi defeated Pompallier 4-2 and is now 5 points clear at the top of the table. Parnell and Sunnyhills are even in 2nd equal place on points but faced off against each other in Round Five. Parnell took the honours and once again Pavlina Nola led the way with a tough three set win against the previously unbeaten Paige Hourigan in a battle of senior experience versus youthful exuberance. Royal Oak and Remuera both stayed in contention for a semi final berth winning their contests easily against bottom of the table teams Campbell Park and Glendowie.

Round Six matches will be played this Friday night as teams continue to jostle for semi final places later this month.

(Source)

Scarbro Caro Bowl Tennis served up a series of one sided results

Tennis Auckland — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 22:13:34 GMT

TENNIS

The fourth round of pool play in the Scarbro Caro Bowl tennis competition in Auckland on Friday evening served up a series of one sided results in both the men’s and women’s matches. Top of the table Blockhouse Bay men’s side swamped bottom team Herne Bay 6-0 while Parnell stayed close behind the leaders with a clear cut win over Royal Oak by the same score. In both of these contests the older and more experienced players on the winning teams were simply too good for their younger opponents.

Kohimarama stay top of the table in the Women’s Scarbro Caro Bowl competition after chalking up a 6-0 victory over Remuera. Kohi is the defending champion and even though they have a new look team this season they are shaping up as one of the title contenders. Parnell thumped Royal Oak 5-1 with Kairangi Vano losing the only point to up and coming junior Claudia Williams. Pompallier recorded a 6-0 win over Glendowie and find themselves in fourth position on the table and well on track for a place in the semi-finals. Newcomers Sunnyhills also won 6-0 against the winless Campbell Park team to stay in second spot just one point behind the leading team. The competition continues this Friday and with only three more rounds of pool play remaining the race for the semi-final spots is beginning to heat up.

(Source)

King-Turner To Start Davis Cup Tie For New Zealand

Tennis NZ — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:52:56 GMT

TENNIS

The draw and order of play for New Zealand’s Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff Davis Cup tie against Taiwan has been confirmed with Kiwi No2 ranked player Dan King-Turner to start the clash against Tsung-Hua Yang tomorrow(Friday) at 4pm (NZ time).

King-Turner ranked at 357 has faced the 236th ranked Yang on three previous occasions and has a 2-1 lead, although all of their matches were in 2009 and 2010. Earlier in 2012 King-Turner qualified for a US$125,000 Challenger at the same venue as the Davis Cup tie and eventually reached the quarterfinals with the speed of the courts suiting his game.

Michael Venus is set to face Ti Chen in the second singles match. Chen is at a career-high ranking of 201. Venus is ranked at 652, but has been as high as 274 and is on the comeback back from hip surgery earlier in the year. Last week he won at Futures singles title in Australia.

The doubles on Saturday has New Zealand non-playing captain, Marcel Vos naming Rubin Statham and Artem Sitak as his combination against Liang-Chi Huang and doubles specialist Cheng-Peng Hsieh, although players can be changed up to an hour prior to the scheduled start time.

The reverse singles is set to be played on Sunday.

New Zealand has a 3-0 overall record against Taiwan in Davis Cup. The loser of this tie will play Lebanon in the first round of Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2013. The winner will await the outcome of the draw for next year's Asia/Oceania Zone Group I.

Details:
2XU Compression NZ Davis Cup team v Chinese Taipei Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation Playoff
Kaohsiung City, Taipei, Kaohsiung Yangming Tennis Courts, hardcourt, outdoors.
19-21 October
2XU Compression New Zealand team:
Rubin Statham, Dan King-Turner, Michael Venus, Artem Sitak, Marcel Vos (non-playing captain).

(Source)

Davis Cup Team Ready For Taiwan This Weekend

Dave Worsley — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 04:04:55 GMT

TENNIS

The 2XU Compression New Zealand Davis Cup tennis team is ready and waiting for their Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation Playoff clash against Taiwan this weekend.

With so much riding on the result of the tie to be played in the city of Kaohsiung, Taipei the New Zealand non-playing captain, Marcel Vos knows the significance of preparation and has had his players at the venue since Monday set for the task which lies ahead.

"Obviously it’s a very important relegation tie for us. We are very keen to stay in Group I after getting promoted two years ago,” says Vos.

“On paper we are probably underdog as they are at home and have slightly higher ranked players, but we like the fast courts here and I expect all matches to be closely contested ones again, just as they were last month versus India. We are ready for another big effort and are preparing as well as possible so we can play our best tennis on the day. All the players in the team are fit and we are confident we can handle the hot and humid conditions this weekend.”

The New Zealand team is the same side which played India last month with Rubin Statham ranked at 323 in singles and 216 in doubles. Dan King-Turner has an ATP singles rank of 357 and 311 in doubles. Michael Venus is 652 and 368, while Artem Sitak sits at 751 and 376.

"Dan has been successful at this venue earlier in the year, beating a few highly ranked players, so that will give us some confidence going in as well. However there’s always lots of variables in Davis Cup, but hopefully things will go our way this time and we can come out on top at the end of the weekend. Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan, and India will all be in a full Group I draw again next year and the guys will give it everything to pull off the win this weekend so we can join them 2013,” says Vos.

The Taipei team is missing it’s top 100 ranked player Yen-Hsun Lu and their top 200 ranked Jimmy Wang as well. Their team is top 300 ranked players Ti Chen and Tsung-Hua Yang along with Liang-Chi Huang and doubles specialist Cheng-Peng Hsieh.

New Zealand has a 3-0 overall record against Taiwan in Davis Cup. The loser of this tie will play Lebanon in the first round of Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2013. The winner will await the outcome of the draw for next year's Asia/Oceania Zone Group I.

Details:

NZ v Chinese Taipei Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation Playoff
Kaohsiung City, Taipei, Kaohsiung Yangming Tennis Courts, hardcourt, outdoors.
19-21 October

2XU Compression New Zealand team:
Rubin Statham, Dan King-Turner, Michael Venus, Artem Sitak, Marcel Vos (non-playing captain).

(Source)

Kiwi Takes Australian Futures Singles Title

Dave Worsley — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 22:31:04 GMT

TENNIS

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus has hit good form as he builds up to the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie against Chinese Taipei in Taipei this week. Venus, 24 has won the singles title at the US$15,000 Margaret River Futures in Australia.

Venus, who had hip surgery earlier in the year beat sixth-seeded Australian, Adam Feeney 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the final to win his third career singles ITF title.

He will now join Rubin Statham, Dan King-Turner, Artem Sitak and non-playing captain Marcel Vos in Taipei for the Davis Cup tie 19-21 October.

(Source)

Scarbro Caro Bowl Tennis First Round Action

Tennis Auckland — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 03:07:55 GMT

TENNIS

Last years men’s finalists played each other first up this season with Blockhouse Bay defeating current champions Remuera on a sets countback. Remuera claimed both of the doubles matches but Davis Cup player Dan King Turner scored the only singles victory for the defending champs.

Cockle Bay secured an opening 4-2 win against Pompallier led by Auckland junior Cameron Norrie who posted a straight sets win over Kevin Doh. Cameron went on to win the junior ITF tournament in Auckland over the weekend. Singles matches were even in this contest but Cockle Bay secured the win by taking both doubles matches.

Royal Oak trounced Herne Bay 6-0 without losing a set while Parnell edged past Kohimarama 4-2 despite singles losses by former Davis Cup players Mark Nielsen and Steve Downs.

In the women’s section, defending champions Kohimarama made a winning start by defeating Parnell 5-1. Kairangi Vano and Luci Barlow both lost their singles matches for their new club after switching from Kohi at the end of last season. Sunnyhills Tennis Club made Scarbro Caro Bowl history by playing in the competition for the first time and hosting its opening match at St Kentigerns College. Many club members enjoyed the tennis and the hospitality on opening night and were able to celebrate a well deserved victory against Pompallier. Paige Hourigan scored a good win over the experienced Tracey O’Connor to lead this young team to a 5-1 result.

A new look Remuera side got off to a flying start with a 6-0 clean sweep against Campbell Park with Ella Hassall putting in a dominant singles performance at number one. The experience of the Royal Oak team proved to be way too strong for the young Glendowie side although Leela Beattie dropped a set in her singles match. Nicola Kaiwai and Angela Swinkels comfortably won their singles matches barely losing a game against much younger opponents.

(Source)