Tennis: Tough draw for Kiwis in men's ASB Classic qualifying

Rubin Statham. Photo / Photosport

The ASB Classic men's qualifying draw has thrown out tough first round encounters for the three New Zealanders in the field.

Rubin Statham, Ajeet Rai and Finn Reynolds have all drawn players ranked inside the world's top 130 - as expected in what is a strong qualifying field.

Statham will have the best chance to progress, with the veteran world number 292 having far more experience than the untested wildcards Rai and Reynolds.

However, Statham has to play second seed and world number 92 Lukas Lacko, who has reached the third round of a grand slam on four occasions.

Rai, one of New Zealand's most promising juniors, will have his first taste of ATP Tour tennis against world number 99 Taro Daniel, while Reynolds takes on world number 130 Tim Smyczek.

New Zealand number two Finn Tearney - who progressed through qualifying last year and recently won the New Zealand national champs - was a late withdrawal from qualifying with a back injury.

Tournament director Karl Budge has yet to decide on his final wildcard for the men's main draw, with the most likely candidates being promising Greek talent Stefanos Tsitsipas, or veteran crowd-favourite Marcos Baghdatis.