Tennis: Statham falls to qualifier

Rubin Statham. Photo / Steven McNicholl.

Rubin Statham made a valiant attempt to qualify for this week's Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland today but ultimately couldn't match the top 100-ranked Pere Riba.

The New Zealander took the first set against the Spaniard in a final round qualifying match today but could not maintain the intensity in the second half of the match, going down 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Statham, who has a current ranking of 453, was playing against a man ranked 382 places ahead of him but there was little between them for the first two sets.

Statham got off to a fast start, breaking Riba in the first game to 15, and was rarely in trouble on his serve during the set, serving well and working a defensive Riba around with some well-placed ground shots.

He failed to convert his first set point on Riba's serve at 5-3 but he took his next opportunity when serving for the set at 5-4.

The second set was a tight affair, games going with serve until the 10th game when Riba broke Statham as he was serving to stay in the set.

Statham could not respond when Riba stepped up his game in the third set. The Spaniard broke Statham in the sixth game of the set and had a match point when 5-2 ahead on Statham's serve but the New Zealander put in a succession of good first serves to hold.

However, Riba earned two further match points on his serve in the ninth game and wrapped up the match with an ace.

Riba now enters the main tournament draw, while Statham now joins his brother Oliver for a doubles match tomorrow.

New Zealand number one Michael Venus, given a wildcard into the main draw, plays former top 10 player Tommy Robredo later today.

- NZPA