New Zealand will have a representative in the second round of the Heineken Open tennis tournament for the first time in eight years after Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham were paired together when the draw was made today.
King-Turner and Statham, both wildcard entries, will meet on the opening day of the ATP Tour event in Auckland on Monday.
King-Turner, whose present world ranking is 257, will be making his fifth appearance in the Open's main draw.
Statham, ranked 331, will be making his third.
The winner will face either a qualifier or No 8 seed Albert Montanes, of Spain, in the second round.
The last New Zealander to progress past the first round was Mark Nielsen, who beat Swede Andreas Vinciguearra in 2002.
Meanwhile, three New Zealanders remain in contention for one of the four qualifying spots -- Statham's brother Oliver, Marcus Daniell and Logan MacKenzie.
- NZPA
Tennis: Kiwis drawn to meet in first round
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