Kenin sends Classic fourth seed packing
With the retirement of Marina Erakovic, it could be argued that New Zealand tennis has hit rock bottom.
The country doesn’t have any players in the top 550 of men’s and women’s singles rankings, while the top-ranked female junior is Valentina Ivanov at 159 and the highest-ranked boy is George Stoupe at 441.
While there is the success of Michael Venus, Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell in doubles, the focus is on getting another top 100 singles player from New Zealand.
The depressing picture the current rankings paint didn’t occur overnight, but was the result of a number of factors, including more than a decade of poor decisions by Tennis New Zealand.
Changes were made this year, under the guidance of high performance director Simon Rea and hopefully the sport is on the rise, but the big question is, how long will it be before New Zealand has another top 100 singles player?
‘‘We haven’t set a date,’’ Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson said. ‘‘I think that would be making a rod for our own back, because in my view the outcome of getting a player in the top 100 will come from having a really good system build.
‘‘If we get the system and the support around the players right, then the outcome will be a winner. I would say in 12 months’ time we might have a better idea, because we’ve had to change things so significantly in the last 18 months since Simon started and we’ve got to let that change bed in.
‘‘I’m confident that Simon, Christophe (Lambert, NZ national coach), and the wider tennis group are doing the right things, but I’m not confident of setting a stake in the ground, saying when we’re going to see that next singles player.’’
Tennis NZ recently put out information on how many American Sofia Kenin caused the first upset of the ASB Classic, knocking out the fourth seed Petra Martic, from Croatia.
Kenin, 20, won on Grandstand Court 7-5 2-6 6-2 in just over two hours to advance to the second round.
The Russia-born Kenin last year lost an epic quarterfinal to Caroline Wozniacki 4-6 6-2 6-4.
At that time she was ranked outside the top 100, but this year Kenin is at 52 and showed she’s a steadily maturing player.
She beat Daria Kasatkina, Julia Goerges and Caroline Garcia last year so showed she’s a player with potential to win titles and said afterwards that she was delighted to get the win over Martic.
‘‘She’s a tough player and I knew I had to play my best,’’ Kenin told Stuff. there’s another player with a twodigit world ranking.
‘‘There are some promising signs, but there is equally cause for concern,’’ Rea said.
‘‘Marina has sailed off into the sunset and what a wonderful career, what a fantastic person and how proud she deserves to feel of everything she’s accomplished.
‘‘What Ajeet (Rai, ranked 695 at the age of 19) has been able to produce over the second half of 2018 has been promising, it’s been progress and I’m sure there is
‘‘I was a bit nervous before the match, it’s the first match of the year and I want to get into a rhythm from the preseason.
‘‘I’ve played a lot of matches, but it’s different playing practice matches to tournaments, so I’m happy to get through more to come.
‘‘Similarly, Paige Hourigan’s stint through the European summer, when she was on summer break from Georgia Tech, she showed there’s some upside there.
‘‘But there is a lot of work to be done and I’m sure Paige and Ajeet would be the first to say they’ve got a lot more work to do, in different areas, before they considered themselves as contenders for the top 100, but I know that’s where they want to head. In terms of underneath it.’’
At times in the second set Kenin looked like she had lost her rhythm as the shots that fell just inside the line in the tight first set, began to miss their mark.
However, she was able to regather her composure for the deciding set and deserved this win over the world No 32.
Kenin, who has twice reached the third round of the US Open, believes she’s come to Auckland an improved player from where she was 12 months ago.
‘‘I’ve definitely progressed. I’m happy with the rankings but obviously my goal is to be No 1. For this year hopefully I’ll be top 20, but right now I want to get back into the top 50.
‘‘I was 48, but I dropped a few spots. But I’ll play my game and it’s important to be healthy, because I don’t want to have any injuries.’’
While Martic was the fourth seed, the 27-year-old doesn’t have the same profile as that, someone like George Stoupe, who won the under 18s nationals, he’s capable.
‘‘He’s got areas of his game he needs to improve and I think he’d acknowledge that, but he also brings a high level tennis IQ and a well rounded skill set to the table.
‘‘He’s probably the most skilful player I’ve seen in tennis since I’ve been back in New Zealand. ‘‘It’s great to have Valentina back and playing in New Zealand and that relationship with the national some of the other names at this tournament and was never really expected to be still alive in the tournament come Sunday.
However, it goes down as another impressive win in the career of Kenin and she’ll go on to play Viktoria Kuzmova, from Slovakia, in the next round.
‘‘You can beat anyone on any given day and I know I have the will to do that,’’ Kenin said.
‘‘My confidence has gone up and I know I can compete where I am right now.’’
Martic wasn’t the only seed to go out early yesterday, with the eighth seeded Alison van Uytvanck having to retire with an ankle injury when up 4-3 in the opening set against Bibiane Schoofs, from the Netherlands.
For the seventh seed Kirsten Flipkens, from Belgium, there were no such problems though, as she defeated America’s Sachia Vickery 6-2 6-2 in 63 minutes.