In the strongest event of the New Zealand junior tournament calendar, with a large international field, Aucklands Cameron Norrie (below )won the Grade 3 ITF Boys Singles title this week beating Ku Keon Kang of Korea 6-3, 7-6(1) in the final. Natsuho Arakawa of Japan won the girls title beating Danielle Wagland of Australia 6-3,6-2.

Thanks to Tennis New Zealand for thier support of Tennis Auckland in the staging of this event.

Click here for full results

ASB Classic – www.asbclassic.co.nz

Heineken Open – www.heinekenopen.co.nz

Nicholson Park – Poronui St Mt Eden

18's and 10's Start Sunday 18th December

12's Start Wednesday 21st December

CLICK HERE FOR 18's 10's and 12's DRAWS AND SCHEDULE (available from Friday Evening)

Scarbro Tennis Centre – 69 Merton Rd, St Johns

14's Start Sunday 18th December

16's Start Wednesday 12st September

CLICK HERE FOR 14's and 16's DRAWS AND SCHEDULE (available from Friday evening)

Monday 5th to Thursday 8th December 2011 at the Scarboro Tennis Centre

Click here for mens and womens draws and schedule

Defending champion and No. 1 seed David Ferrer is in some of the best form of his career after last week making the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals upsetting world No.1 Novak Djokovic and world No.4 Andy Murray on the way.

The world No.5 is joined by fellow Spaniard and world No. 10 Nicolas Almagro as the highest ranked players in Auckland when they take to the courts in the Panasonic Singles from 9-14 January 2012.

The two regular visitors to Auckland will line up against a crop of new faces at the Heineken Open led by former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco and promising young American Donald Young.

The four-time junior Grand Slam champion is starting to fulfil the promise he showed as a junior finishing the season ranked 39 after reaching the fourth round of this year’s US Open. Young rose to No.73 in the world as an 18-year-old and was the youngest player in the top 100.

Heineken Open Tournament Director Richard Palmer is thrilled with the current form of Ferrer and excited about the new faces coming to Auckland.

“Ferrer was one of the only players to beat Djokovic this year so he’s in some pretty impressive form as he heads to Auckland. And I’m sure both Verdasco and Young will be crowd pleasers with their emotive styles.”

Palmer is also keen to clap his eyes on the next top junior coming out of America in Ryan Harrison. He is one of only two teenagers in the top 100 and Palmer is happy to part with a much sought after wildcard for him.

Another player of note is former world No.5 Fernando Gonzalez who is using his protected ranking of 55 after returning from injury.

The Heineken Open’s eight seeds are all in the top 39 in the world and the cut off point for the 19 direct acceptances is a world ranking of 67.

The other five seeds after Ferrer, Almagro and Verdasco are Argentinian Juan Monaco (4), who will be returning for his seventh appearance in Auckland, his countryman Juan Ignacio Chela (5), the lofty South African Kevin Anderson (6), Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci (7) and Young (8).

Heineken Marketing Manager Luke Rive can’t wait for the action to get underway.

“With two in the top 10 and some great depth we will again have a fantastic main draw. We are really looking forward to kicking off the new year with another high energy Heineken Open.”

The full field is as follows:

5. DAVID FERRER (ESP)
10. NICOLAS ALMAGRO (ESP)
24. FERNANDO VERDASCO (ESP)
26. JUAN MONACO (ARG)
29. JUAN IGNACIO CHELA (ARG)
32. KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA)
37. THOMAZ BELLUCCI (BRA)
39. DONALD YOUNG (USA)
43. PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
50. JUAN CARLOS FERRERO (ESP)
51. TOMMY ROBREDO (ESP)
53. ALBERT MONTANES (ESP)
55. SANTIAGO GIRALDO (COL)
*55. FERNANDO GONZALEZ (CHI)
58. POTITO STARACE (ITA)
60. CARLOS BERLOCQ (ARG)
65. GUILLERMO GARCIA-LOPEZ (ESP)
66. ALBERT RAMOS (ESP)
67. OLIVIER ROCHUS (BEL)

W/C RYAN HARRISON (USA)

* Protected Entry

Tickets for the tournament, and the Heineken Baseline After Party, are now on sale through Ticketek.

Performing at the Heineken Baseline After Party on Saturday 14 January will be acclaimed Kiwi band The Phoenix Foundation alongside musician Barnaby Weir, formerly of the Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties. Tickets cost just $30 which includes viewing of the Heineken Open final on a big screen on the back courts ahead of the party kicking off.

All centre court games for the Heineken Open will be screened live on SKY Sport. The action will run uninterrupted from the start of play at 1pm each day through until the last game of the day.

Heineken encourages responsible consumption at the 2012 Heineken Open through its ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’ campaign. This global initiative aims to inform and educate consumers about the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol. As well as ‘Enjoy Responsibly’ messaging on all Heineken promotional material, the brand also operates www.enjoyheinekenresponsibly.com which is full of practical information, advice and useful guidelines about enjoying Heineken responsibly.

Click here to view the draw

The Canterbury versus Auckland playofff games for the New Zealand places at the Kia Amateur Australian open were held this weekend at the Scarbro Tennis Centre. Both the Auckland representatives were victorious this time reversing the result from last year. Andrew Allan (Auckland) defeated Tim Meredith (Canterbury) 6-4. 6-1 and Davina Meza (Auckland) beat Michelle North (Canterbury) 6-2, 6-3. The winners are pictured below. They  will receive box tickets to the ABS Classic and tickets to the mens final of the Australian Open as well as the trip to compete in the Australian Amateur Open.

 

  Auckland looks set for a Spanish invasion with a second top 10 player – world No. 10 Nicolas Almagro – confirmed to play at next year’s Heineken Open.

  The 26-year-old joins fellow Spaniards, current world No. 5 and defending champion David Ferrer and former world No. 7 Fernando Verdasco, as three of the top ranking players for the 2012 Heineken Open.

  Almagro will make his sixth appearance in Auckland when he takes to the courts in the Panasonic Singles from 9-14 January 2012.  

This year the hard-hitting Spaniard made a superb start to the season with back to back ATP titles in Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires. He reached his third successive final a week later in Acapulco where his 13 match winning streak came to an end with a loss to countryman Ferrer.

Almagro collected his third title of the year in Nice before reaching his fifth final in 2011 in Hamburg.

Heineken Open Tournament Director Richard Palmer says Almagro hinted at a stronger showing for the 2011 season with his semifinal effort in Auckland.

“Nicolas has unlimited potential but I’m not sure we’ve always seen the best of him here in Auckland. After the outstanding year he’s had he’ll certainly be keeping the other Spaniards honest in next year’s Heineken Open.”

Almagro has 10 singles titles to his name – all on his favoured clay surface. His best showings at Grand Slams are two quarterfinals at the French Open in 2008 and last year. He has nearly $US5.6 million in career earning

The full field for the 2012 Heineken Open will be announced on 30 November. Tickets for the tournament, and the Heineken Baseline After Party, are now on sale through Ticketek.

Performing at the Heineken Baseline After Party on Saturday 14 January will be acclaimed Kiwi band The Phoenix Foundation alongside musician Barnaby Weir, formerly of the Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties. Tickets cost just $30 which includes viewing of the Heineken Open final on a big screen on the back courts ahead of the party kicking off.

All centre court games for the Heineken Open will be screened live on SKY Sport. The action will run uninterrupted from the start of play at 1pm each day through until the last game of the day.

Check out the Heineken Open website www.heinekenopen.co.nz

Ends

For more information contact:

Joanne Perry

Heineken Open Media Manager

Mobile: 021 382 306

Email: media@tennisauckland.co.nz

Players may enter 2 age groups

1 from pool 1: 18's 10's 14's 

1 from pool 2: 16's 12's

Part of the Tennis New Zealand Masters Points Race

click here for an entry form or for online entry option

Wimbledon semifinalist and current world No.18 Sabine Lisicki has confirmed she will be bringing her killer serve back to Auckland for next year’s ASB Classic.

The 22-year-old German amazed fans at the home of tennis by consistently serving at speeds around 200 km per hour as she made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal. 

Lisicki broke into the world top 20 in August after her Wimbledon efforts and winning WTA titles in Birmingham and Dallas. She also made the fourth round of the US Open and has beaten top 10 players this year including US Open champion Sam Stosur, Li Na and Marion Bartoli.

Today’s announcement comes just over a week after another of the world’s big servers –former world No.1 and seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams – confirmed she was heading to Auckland.

The big serving pair will be the star attractions at the ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors Singles and Doubles from 2-7 January 2012 at Auckland’s ASB Tennis Centre.

Lisicki came through qualifying at the ASB Classic this year and went through to the second round where she was knocked out by defending champion Yanina Wickmeyer.

ASB Classic Tournament Director Richard Palmer said Lisicki was an upcoming force to be reckoned with.

“Sabine is a very likable young woman and was a delight to have here. She has always shown exceptional promise and has been one of the biggest movers on the WTA circuit this year as she begins to fulfil her promise. Hopefully fans will get to see her at her best and witness her big serve.”

Lisicki, who is coached by her father Richard, also had a successful doubles year with Australian Stosur. The pair made the doubles final at Wimbledon beating Kiwi Marina Erakovic in the semifinal, and also collected the Stuttgart title.

Lisicki’s powerful serve combined with her impressive groundstrokes make her an impressive talent on her favorite surfaces of hard court and grass.

Based in Florida where she trains at the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, the German youngster is being compared with her countrywoman – the legendary Steffi Graf – due to her speed around the court and her attacking cross-court shots.

Tickets for the ASB Classic are now on sale from Ticketek.

All centre court games for the ASB Classic will be screened live on SKY TV. The action will run uninterrupted from the start of play at 1pm each day through until the last game of the day.

Check out the ASB Classic website www.asbclassic.co.nz