Auckland juniors Shona Lee, Sacha Jones and Kairangi Vano turned in promising performances in the qualifying event at the ASB Classic.  Along with Tracey O’Connor, the three juniors were given wilcards into qualifying and perfromed well against highly ranked WTA tour players.  Vano lost 6-1 4-6 6-1 to Ryoka Fuda (JPN), Jones fell to Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) and Lee went down 6-1 7-5 to Claudine Schaul (LUX).  Tracey O’Connor was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Yvonne Meusberger from Austria.  Click on the ASB Classic link for all tournament information and draws.

Andrew Allan and Kairangi Vano won the singles titles at the recently completed 18 and Under National Championships.  Allan, a losing finalist last year, defeated Marcus Daniell 7-6 7-5 to round off his junior career.  Vano was too good for fellow Aucklander Shona Lee winning the final 6-4 6-4.

New Zealand’s Leanne Baker has been granted a wildcard for the Sovereign doubles draw at the 2006 ASB Classic.  Baker, 24 has been given the main draw opportunity as a reward for her efforts in the tournament in 2005 where she and Italian partner Francesca Lubiana made the final.  Baker who is currently ranked at 150 in doubles is likely to team up with Lubiani again who is ranked at 115.   More…

Sacha Jones lost 6-4 6-0 to second seed Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM) in the third round of the Yucatan Cup in Mexico.  She is through to the quarters of the doubles with Julia Cohen (USA).

Bernard Parun beat Dan King-Turner 6-3 6-3 to win the Men’s Singles title at the Fuji Xerox Auckland Championships.  King-Turner teamed with Matt Prentice to win the doubles.  Tracey O’Connor defeated fellow Aucklander Shona Lee 6-3 6-4 to win the Women’s Singles.  Lee combined with Lucy Barlow to beat the makeshift pairing of O’Connor and Paula Marama in the Women’s Doubles final.  Full results are available in the open section of this website.

Sacha Jones defeated Christina Liles (USA) 6-1 6-4 to move into the last sixteen at the Yucatan World Cup 2005 in Mexico.  Her next match is against second seed Alexandra Dulgheru (ROM).

Sacha Jones won her opening singles at the Yucatan World Cup 2005 18 & Under ITF Junior tournament in Mexico.  After reaching the semis of the Orange Bowl 16’s in Miami last week, Sacha continued her winning form with a 6-0 6-1 whitewash over Deyanirr Solorio (MEX).  Jones, seeded thirteenth this week, plays Christine Liles (USA) in the next round.