The best line up of tennis in New Zealand

The best line up of tennis in New Zealand set for the ASB Classic

It may well be the best day of tennis New Zealand has seen in the modern era. Three world number one’s, three Grand Slam Champions and New Zealand’s best are all set to take the court on what will be a bumperTuesday at the ASB Tennis Arena.

To open up the ASB Classic proceedings on centre-court is 2010 Rolland Garros Champion Francesca Schiavone who is taking on Tamira Paszek of Austria. The aggressive Italian, who received the final wildcard in to the ASB Classic, will bring an all court game to counter the heavy hitting Paszek.

Glamour girl Caroline Wozniacki will meet Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic. The 2015 runner-up will be looking to get her 2016 campaign off in style against the up and coming Russian.

Top seed and world number seven Venus Williams will round out the day session with her match against Daria Kasatkina. Williams has enjoyed an illustrious career spanning two decades, which includes seven Grand Slam titles and four Olympics gold medals. At 35 years of age Williams is showing no signs of letting up ending her 2015 season in the top 10 for the 14th time in her career and is keen to defend her title.

The evening session provides star power to go along with our kiwi hope. Kicking off the night’s matches will be Ana Ivanovic who is unbeaten in Auckland. The second seed will take on qualifier Naomi Broady of Great Britain.

Marina Erakovic will make her return from injury for the second evening match. The leading Kiwi who has been a semi-finalist previously in Auckland will take on the tricky Russian Yulia Putintseva.

Tournament director Karl Budge said it was exciting to provide such an impressive line-up on day two of the ASB Classic, "I think it’s the best day of tennis we have had in this country in the modern era. There will be nine singles Grand Slam titles on court tomorrow and three world number ones. Let alone our own Marina Erakovic. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

ASB Classic organisers urge fans to purchase tickets early to avoid disappointment as it is likely Tuesday will sell out fast.

Tickets for Tuesday 5 January are available at Ticketek
http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=TENNIS2016

ASB Classic Schedule - Tuesday, Jan 5

CENTRE COURT start 12:15 pm
[WC] F. Schiavone (ITA) vs [Q] T. Paszek (AUT)
D. Kovinic (MNE) vs [3] C. Wozniacki (DEN)
[1] V. Williams (USA) vs D. Kasatkina (RUS)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[Q] N. Broady (GBR) vs [2] A. Ivanovic (SRB)
Y. Putintseva (KAZ) vs [WC] M. Erakovic (NZL)

GRANDSTAND start 12:15 pm
L. Hradecka (CZE) vs J. Goerges (GER)
[Q] K. Bertens (NED) vs [7] B. Strycova (CZE)
[Q] K. Flipkens (BEL) vs B. Mattek-Sands (USA)
After suitable rest - D. Kovinic (MNE) / B. Strycova (CZE) vs T. Maria (GER) / L. Siegemund (GER)

COURT 2 start 12:15 pm
M. Doi (JPN) vs C. Mchale (USA)
J. Rae (GBR) / A. Smith (GBR) vs L. Kichenok (UKR) / N. Kichenok (UKR)
J. Larsson (SWE) / A. Van Uytvanck (BEL) vs [3] A. Groenefeld (GER) / C. Vandeweghe (USA)

ENDS

© Scoop Media