Masterton tennis prodigy Marcus Daniell was granted a wildcard for the US$15,000 ASB Pro Circuit futures tennis tournament which got under way in Wellington yesterday. Daniell had a tough start in the singles, drawing fellow Kiwi, and first time opponent, Rubin Statham in a match to be played at the RenoufCentre today. The men singles field includes other big name New Zealand players GD Jones and Dan King-Turner as well a raft of strong Australian talent. "I've never played Rubin before obviously I'm the underdog he's a solid member of the Davis Cup team," Daniell said. "But it's good to play in Wellington because I've played a lot on those courts before". The magnitude of the task facing Daniell is evidenced by world rankings with Daniell being listed at 1494 compared to Statham's 562. But Daniell was not conceding defeat, saying it would all come down to whoever played the best on the day. "In any futures tournament you have to play well to win your first round game and this one is going to be no different," he said. As it happens the first round draw in Wellington also pitted King-Turner, third seed and 334th ranked player in the world, against his fellow Davis Cup player Jones, who is on the comeback after injury. He has a world ranking of 966. Other Kiwi head-to-head clashes include Ellen Barry, second seed in the women's US$10,000 draw, up against Kairango Vano who was a finalist last year, while 17-year-old Finn Tearney of Wellington will play Haydn Lewis of Barbados. Oliver Statham meets Saori Karikomi of Japan and Australian-based Kiwi wildcard Chelsea Te Tai plays Haruka Fujishiro of Japan. Another contest of note will be that between former top 60 doubles player Nathan Healey against fellow Australian David To in singles. Healey, who has three ATP doubles titles to his credit, will team up with Rapheal Durk in the doubles where the top seeds are King Turner and Australian Rameez Junaid. Daniell is also playing in the doubles where his partner is 17-year-old Cantabrian James Meredith. Their first round opponents are Australians Brydan Klein and Andrew Coelho.
