KEY POINTS:
Dan King-Turner came within three points of pulling off an astounding victory over Juan Ignacio Chela as the big guns escaped unscathed on the first day of the Heineken Open yesterday.
As far as battling defeats go, King-Turner's effort was right out of the top drawer. He took the first set 7-5 as Chela, the world No 20, struggled to deal with his booming serve.
Chela turned things around to take the second set 6-2 but King-Turner again gained the ascendancy in third, breaking the increasingly erratic Chela to lead 3-1.
But the Kiwi No 1 failed to hold and, once back on serve, Chela always looked the more likely winner.
It would be cruel to use the word choke to describe such a meritorious effort from the Kiwi, but there was no doubting his A-game deserted him at crucial moments.
Having sent down nine aces in the match and won 71 per cent of the points when his first serve found its mark, his biggest weapon deserted him when serving at 5-5. A double fault handed Chela the break and the Argentine coolly closed out the match on serve.
Chela will now meet German Florian Mayer, who beat fellow non-seed Sam Querrey, of the United States, 7-5 6-3.
"I think I played reasonably well the whole match but it was definitely a different level from what I'm used to," King-Turner said.
"I was getting a bit mentally and physically tired but I think that is not playing these guys regularly. It was humid out there and a tough match, that's all I can put it down to."
He did his bit in continuing the mini-renaissance of New Zealand tennis over the past week but it was impossible to escape the feeling King-Turner had let a massive chance slip by. He, however, was not too downcast.
"I can definitely take positives out of it. He is 20th in the world, second seed here and a pretty decent player. If I can take him to 7-5 in the third and have chances, then there are definitely positives.
"It's 15 'ranking' points and a little extra money and a chance to play another decent match tomorrow. But there's also positives to take out of it. It's a pretty good kick-start to 2008."
He was most pleased with his serving, which he had been working on after it had let him down in a first-round exit in a Challenger event in New Caledonia last week.
King-Turner's attention turns now to the doubles, where he and American partner David Martin have a wildcard.
He will then head to some small money events in Christchurch and then on to the Challenger Tour in a bid to lift his ranking from 344.
New Zealand wildcard Rubin Statham battled bravely against eighth seed Albert Montanes in the night match before bowing out 6-4 6-4 in 71 minutes.
Nicolas Almagro had little trouble disposing of Jose Acasuso 6-3 6-4, while there were also straight sets victories for Jurgen Melzer and Julien Benneteau.
The feature match today is the scheduled first round clash between fourth seed and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, of Spain, and Croatian wildcard Mario Ancic, a top-10 player two years ago before being hit by injury and bad luck. However, the encounter with Ancic is in doubt, as he has been suffering from flu.
* TODAY'S SCHEDULE
SOVEREIGN SINGLES
Centre court, from 11am: (Q) Nicolas Massu (CHI) v (Q) GD Jones (NZL) followed by (1) David Ferrer (ESP) v Oscar Hernadez (ESP), (4) Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) v (WC) Mario Ancic (CRO), Xavier Malisse (BEL) v (5) Jarkko Nieminen (FIN). Not before 7pm, Thomas Johansson (SWE) v (8) Juan Monaco (ARG).
Court 4, from 11am: (7) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) v Michael Russell (USA), (Q) Tomas Cakl (CZE) v Marin Cilic (CRO), Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) v Michael Llodra (FRA).
Court 6: Sergio Roitman (ARG) v (Q) Lukas Rosol (CZE).
SOVEREIGN DOUBLES
Centre court (night match, follows singles): Leos Friedl (CZE)/David Skoch (CZE) v (WC) Dan King-Turner (NZL)/David Martin (USA).
Court 4 (follows singles): Oscar Hernandez (ESP)/Albert Montanes (ESP) v Yves Allegro (SUI)/Jim Thomas (USA).
Court 6 (follows singles): (4) Christopher Kas (GER)/Rogier Wassen (NED) v Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/Jaroslav Levinsky; Jose Acasuso (ARG)/Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) v Martin Garcia (ARG)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE).
