EVES Open: Kiwis shine, six into singles quarters

It was another successful day on court for New Zealand at the EVES Open in Pāpāmoa.

Six Kiwis are through to the singles quarter-finals and five Kiwis will play in the doubles semi-finals.

The upset of the day came from New Zealand wildcard Anton Shepp, who took down the much higher ranked second men’s seed Keegan Smith from the United States 6-4, 6-4.

Isaac Becroft, Jack Loutit, Corban Crowther, Valentina Ivanov, and Jade Otway are also through to the singles quarters.

And Reece Falck and George Stoupe are into the doubles semi-finals, as are Marcus Daniell and Finn Reynolds, and Ivanov.

The EVES Open – ITF World Tennis Tour: Tauranga is a professional event for women (W25) and men (M15) with official WTA and ATP world ranking points and a total prize pool of US$40,000.

The event is being held from 17-23 December at Pāpāmoa Tennis Club, which is located at the Venture Developments WBOP Tennis Centre in Gordon Spratt Reserve.

In the first match on centre court on Wednesday, Becroft cruised past American Preston Brown 6-2, 6-0.

Becroft will face a tougher opponent in the men's singles quarters on Thursday, top seed Matthew Dellavedova from Australia, who has continued his winning ways after picking up the singles title in Wellington last week.

Loutit had a solid 6-4, 7-5 win against the higher ranked Emile Hudd from Great Britain.

And Tauranga local Crowther had a blockbuster match on centre court, keeping his home crowd happy with another come from behind victory 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Tai Sach from Australia.

Ivanov, after having the biggest win of her career in the opening round, kept the momentum going on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Japan's Yui Chikaraishi.

Otway is also through to the quarters after beating Nanari Katsumi from Japan 7-5, 6-4.

In the men's doubles, Falck and Stoupe beat the American pairing of Jared Thompkins and Oren Vasser in a tight three set match – 3-6, 6-4, 10-5.

They will play Australia's Cade Birrell and Moerani Bouzige in the semis.

Daniell and Reynolds beat fellow Kiwis Becroft and James Watt 6-4, 6-2 and will face Joshua Charlton from Australia and Hudd from Great Britain in the semi-final.

Ivanov is the only New Zealander left in the women's doubles. She and her Japanese partner Mao Mushika beat Yuka Hosoki and Himeno Sakatsume from Japan 6-3, 6-4 to progress to the semi-finals.

They will play Japan's Mio Mushika and Hikaru Sato on Thursday.