Tennis: Kiwi hopes extinguished on first day

New British hope Andy Murray swept into the second round with a commanding 7-5, 6-2 victory over Dane Kenneth Carlsen yesterday. Picture / Richard Robinson

New Zealand's presence in singles at the international tournament was again short-lived as Mark Nielsen bowed out 6-1, 6-2 to fifth seed Mario Ancic.

It was not quite as easy as the world No 21 might have expected, however, as the Heineken Open wildcard and New Zealand No 1 Nielsen won some big points and had Ancic on court for 49 minutes in the first set.

But too often he handed the initiative straight back to the big-serving, never-give-in Croatian with some impetuous shots at crucial times in last night's feature match at the ASB Tennis Centre.

The second set was more of the same, this time with Nielsen winning two games but without ever threatening to topple the powerful visitor.

New Zealand's other wildcard, Dan King-Turner, had earlier begun encouragingly enough in his first ATP outing but again, pressure and inexperience soon told.

Playing German Florian Mayer, the last ranked player to make the main draw, King-Turner dropped his first two points - the second with a double fault - before getting back to 30-30 and then 40-30 with an ace.

Mayer took it to deuce to signal the start of the real battle, which ended 12 points later with King-Turner surviving the drawn out (10-minute) opening game.

That die was cast.

While Mayer held serve comfortably - dropping only four points in taking the first set 6-2 - King-Turner had to work hard for almost every point.

He was taken to deuce in three of his four service games in that first set but hit back to take the first game of the second set to love.

It was but a brief rally however as Meyer remained firmly in control cruising through the second set, winning 6-2, in just 28 minutes and the match in 63.

"I was not too nervous at the start. I definitely enjoyed it," said King-Turner, 21. But, he soon admitted, "I need to be a bit more consistent from the baseline".

"He [Mayer] took the ball very early and hit it very flat. He has some unusual shots. I definitely did not make him work enough for points on his serve."

The stadium court tournament opener was followed by the much-anticipated clash between veteran Dane Kenneth Carlsen who lost a delayed Monday final here in 1997 and rising Briton Andy Murray.

The Scot hit the court running.

Despite three double faults he won the first game, broke Carlsen twice and quickly had a 4-0 advantage but his 32-year-old opponent dug deep and closed to 3-4 and later 5-5 before Murray, aided by two of his five aces, edged ahead.

He then broke Carlsen for the set at 7-5 after almost an hour.

The fight went from the Dane in the fourth game of the second set when, stretched to 18 points, he dropped his serve, fell 1-3 behind and never recovered to lose 2-6 in a match which lasted 1h 45m.

The first upset followed when eighth seed, hard-hitting Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, bowed to world No 57 Robin Vik in straight sets.

Czech Vik, 25, and yet to win a tournament, took the first game with an ace, then broke Lopez to love in the second.

Lopez upped his game to lead 5-3 before again losing his way and eventually the set in a tie-breaker.

The Spaniard did not fire a shot in the second set, winning only one game as Vik raced home in 23 minutes.

Today, third seed Robby Ginepri (US) faces a tester against unseeded Spaniard Alberto Martin and top seed Fernando Gonzalez is third on court to play lucky loser (qualifier) Luis Horna.

Today's schedule

* Stadium court (from 11am), 7 Jarkko Nieminen v Marcos Baghdatis followed by 3 Robby Ginepri v Albert Martin, 1 Fernando Gonzalez v LL Luis Horna, Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka v WC Dan King-Turner/Mark Nielsen followed by (not before 7pm) Nicolas Massu v 4 Dominik Hrbaty, WC Rubin Statham/Adam Thompson v 2 Mahesh Bhupathi/Wesley Moodie.

* Court four (from 11am), 6 Olivier Rochus v Albert Montanes, Q Raemon Sluiter v Daniele Bracciali, Q Federico Luzzi v 2 David Ferrer, Christophe Rochus v Jose Acasuso.

* Court six (from noon), Q Jan Hernych v Andrei Pavel followed by Filippo Volandri v Paul Goldstein, Q Ivo Minar v Wesley Moodie.