New Zealand No 1 Dan Willman has drawn a tough competitor in the first round of the North Harbour US$10,000 men's Futures tournament today.
Willman is the top seed in the indoor tournament at the North Harbour Tennis Park and faces German Bernhard Parun, whose father Tony Parun was in the New Zealand Davis Cup squad during the 1970s and whose uncle is Onny Parun.
Willman has a present career-high ranking of 348 while Parun stands at 598.
Joining Willman as the second North Harbour player in the seedings is Mark Nielsen, who in the previous two Futures events has reached a final and a quarter-finals.
Nielsen, who is seeded fourth, meets Canadian qualifier Cris James in the first round.
If Nielsen wins he will play a New Zealander in the second round - one of two wildcards, Nick Lane and James Shortall.
Lane is looking for his first ATP singles ranking point and will have to beat Davis Cup team member Shortall if he is to gain the point.,
Two other New Zealanders in the main draw are wildcards Robbie Cheyne, from Wellington, who plays Korean Davis Cup squad member Seung-Hun Lee, and Alistair Hunt, who has an early clash with Finland's Lauri Kiiski. Hunt is especially difficult to beat on an indoor surface.
Plays begins at 10 am today, with the finals on Saturday afternoon.
Tennis: Remember Onny, Tony? Now Bernhard's here
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