Davis Cup squad member and tournament fifth-seed William Ward has pulled out of the New Zealand Residential tournament to "re-work his game".
His withdrawal means that the quarter of the draw in which he would have played has now opened up for third-seed Lee Radovanovich and 10th-seed Jacob Olsen.
Only some matches were played at North Harbour yesterday as rain sent play indoors.
The minor surprise in the men's singles was the defeat of 14th-seed Oliver Statham by Wellington's Robert Foy 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
Statham's twin brother Rubin is the tournament's second seed.
Auckland champion Teo Susnjak, seeded No 9, beat Waikato's Kane Olsen 6-1, 6-2 and seventh-seed Justin Megraw was too strong for Otago's Jackson Kerr, winning 6-1, 6-0.
In the only second-round match played last night, Susnjak continued his good form in beating Jackson Bodle (Northland) 6-3, 6-2. Earlier, Bodle defeated Austin Childs (Western Bay of Plenty) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Eighth-seed Kiril Tcherveniachki, of Auckland, returned to the country from the University of Tennessee to beat Marlborough's Robert Forrest 6-1, 6-1.
Tcherveniachki will now play North Harbour's Brock Mustard in the second round.
In the women's singles, top-seed and Auckland champion Shelley Stephens was given a good run in her first match on court.
Stephens won the first set against Auckland teenager Joanna Carswell 6-2, but was forced to work hard in the second before winning 6-4.
The men's second and third-round matches will be played today at the North Harbour Tennis Park.
Tennis: Davis Cup squad player pulls out of tournament
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