Tennis: New Zealand aces to face off

Dan King-Turner could be the first Kiwi to win a first-round match at the Heineken Open since 2002. Photo / Greg Bowker

Four days ago, Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham were on court six pounding balls at each other in preparation for a shot at the big time at the Auckland men's tennis open.

Today, having been drawn together in the Heineken Open first round, they'll be doing so again. But this time it will be in anger, in front of about 3500 people on centre court.

On Thursday, Statham, New Zealand's No 2, had a few hours earlier completed a marathon match against Marcus Daniell in the final of a domestic money tournament.

"He must be knackered," a massage-room-bound Daniell said as he watched from the sidelines.

Statham, though, wasn't about to pass up the chance of some more vital court time with his regular hitting partner.

With no local having won a first-round match at the Heineken Open since Mark Nielsen in 2002, the top-ranked Kiwis are always under pressure to justify their wildcards.

King-Turner, who went close to pulling off a win against then world No 20 Juan Ignacio Chela in 2008 - but ultimately blew a glorious chance - has a 0-4 record in his home event. Statham is 0-2.

A New Zealand victory at 1Tennis Lane is long overdue.

Now both Kiwis have a glorious chance to be the one who breaks the unwanted streak.

The fact that the winner's victory will be against a fellow Kiwi wildcard instead of a genuine world heavyweight might diminish the amount of kudos dished out, but the extra US$2515 ($3415) and the 20 vital ranking points on offer are the same regardless of the opponent.

And with either Spaniard Albert Montanes - who has a shocking record in Auckland despite being the eighth seed - or a qualifier awaited in the second round, it is the chance of a lifetime for King-Turner or Statham.

Both Kiwis produced a subdued reaction on hearing they would go head-to-head today, with King-Turner describing the draw as "pretty funny".

"But, yeah, it is a great opportunity for one of us to go through, and it is going to extend the tournament for New Zealand viewers," he added.

With the pair not having met in two years and all of their meetings having occurred at well below ATP level, no accurate head-to-head record is available. Statham's best guess was that it was "pretty even".

King-Turner said he was happy with his preparation despite losing in the first round of a Challenger tournament in Noumea last week and also bombing out of the New Zealand Residential Championships in his first outing.

"In all aspect it is going to be a great start to the year if you win the match - the money, the points and the confidence.

"So we are both looking forward to it. It is definitely mentally a bit different.

"Against one of those other guys you are probably going out there with nothing to lose. But now we are both going to go there thinking we have a chance to win.

"Confidence-wise it will be great being in the second round. We both have some experience on centre court so whoever wins will look to take that into the second round."

Statham is also coming off a loss, having gone down to Daniell 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 on Thursday.

"We've both had our best years on tour last year and both shot up quite a bit."

Getting just the one shot at ATP level each year made it a big step up to face more experienced players, Statham said.

"These guys are out there doing it every week, and we are doing it once a year at that level. So just exposing yourself consistently at that level helps. It is a process. We are both going up the rankings and both improving, so it is looking positive. We just have to keep doing what we are doing.

"We'd hope that this will be a stepping-stone to allow us to play at a higher level and in the bigger tournaments."

After solid seasons at Futures and Challenger level, both have career-high rankings, with King-Turner 257 and Statham 331.

With no Kiwis progressing beyond yesterday's second qualifying round, additional local interest will be confined to the doubles, where Statham and brother Oliver have received a wildcard and will play fellow Kiwi Marcus Daniell and his Romanian partner, Horia Tecau.

King-Turner will not play doubles as it conflicts with Australian Open qualifying.