New Zealand's Statham brothers had a tough day at the Blenheim Futures tournament yesterday, both going out in their first-round matches.
Wildcard Oliver Statham had a difficult draw against second seed Simon Stadler of Germany, ranked at 305 in the world, who cruised into the second round with a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Davis Cup team member Rubin Statham won the first three games of his match against Australian Sadik Kadir, before Kadir fought back to win the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Kadir was too solid on the big points to win 6-4 while 629th-ranked Statham made too many errors.
New Zealand's big hopes play their first-round matches today, with Davis Cup No 1 Mark Nielsen facing a tough match against 422nd-ranked Raphael Durek of Australia and Bay of Plenty teenager Austen Childs facing 395th-ranked Andrew Anderson of South Africa.
Tennis: Kiwis struggle at tournament
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