KEY POINTS:
G D Jones was happy with his game plan, but disappointed he couldn't execute it at crucial moments today as he became the last New Zealander to exit the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland.
After the elimination of wildcards Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham in the first round yesterday, Jones fell at the same stage to Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-4 6-2.
The Aucklander had got into the main draw the hard way, via qualifying, the first New Zealander to achieve the feat at the tournament in 21 years.
He was then drawn to meet another qualifier in the first round of the event proper. It was just his luck that his opponent was someone ranked No 79, 1100 places above him.
Against Massu, Jones was hampered by a high number of unforced errors, something he could ill-afford against a former top-10 player.
He was level-pegging in the first set until dropping his serve in the penultimate game, and Massu then took early control of the second with two service breaks.
Jones said he had identified how he believed he could have success against Massu, the 2004 Olympic singles and doubles gold medallist, but was unable to carry through with his strategy.
"Late in the first set, I had a chance to put pressure on him but missed a couple of easy shots when I had control of points, and then he stepped it up in the second set and I wasn't quite able to match it," he said.
"I thought I went out there with the right attitude. I just wasn't able to execute."
Jones felt in good shape heading into the contest, feeling he had played himself into form during his three matches of qualifying, in which he didn't drop a set.
But it was a major step up for him facing an opponent who was once ranked No 9 in the world and who didn't give up easy points.
"He just doesn't make mistakes," Jones said.
"He plays at a level that I was able to match at times, but he's able to do that for two sets, for a tournament, for a whole year, for a 10-year career. I'm out here doing this for perhaps the first time."
One key lesson the 21-year-old would take away was the need to aspire to a similar level of consistency rather than be an occasional "flash in the pan".
Jones' focus is now on the doubles, in which he is partnering Statham.
He will then head to Melbourne to train and also to support sister Sasha, who is a wildcard entry in the Australian Open qualifying event.
After that, he has his sights on New Zealand's Davis Cup tie away to Oman next month.
- NZPA