Tennis: No regrets, says Statham after defeat

Rubin Statham of New Zealand at full stretch during his second round match against Albert Montanes of Spain. Photo / Getty Images

Despite failing to make the most of his opportunities in his maiden second-round appearance at the Heineken Open, New Zealand's Rubin Statham said he has no regrets about his performance.

Statham, who beat compatriot Dan King-Turner in the opening round, was felled by Spain's Albert Montanes 7-6, 6-2, a man more than 300 places above him in the world rankings.

For the first 45 minutes yesterday, Statham belied his lowly ranking, looking every bit an equal of Montanes. He had a break point in the first set, led 5-2 in the tiebreak and went on to have a set point.

But he was unable to take advantage of any of these chances, double-faulting to hand Montanes the first set 8-6 in the tiebreak.

Statham seemed to leave it all out there in the first set and was never able to bounce back after a heart-breaking end to the first-set tiebreak.

Despite coming so agonisingly close to stealing the first set off Montanes, Statham believes there was little he could do to avoid his 5-2 capitulation in the tiebreak.

"I definitely had my chances, but [Montanes] played the big points well. He's one of the best in the world from the baseline - he's not going to give me anything, he's not going to make unforced errors," said Statham.

"I maybe could have stepped in a bit more on that set point at 6-5, I believe; but apart from that there was nothing much more I could do.

"Maybe I could have played a bit more aggressive, but you never know. I did my best and I don't have any regrets."

His second-round appearance at the Heineken Open, an ATP World Tour 250 event, should boost the young Kiwi's ranking to around 290. But more importantly, Statham said his performance against Montanes has given him confidence he can compete at the highest level in the sport.

"I believe that I can play at that level if I put myself in the environment consistently, then over time I should be able to raise my game. It's just a matter of getting into those type of events," the 22-year-old said.

After forgoing the Australian Open qualifiers to play in yesterday's second round, Statham's next big focus is the French Open in May.