Sitak notches up first ATP win of the year for Kiwis

Artem Sitak is the first New Zealander to get a win in the opening week of the ATP and WTA tennis season in Australia. Playing at the first ATP 250 tournament of the year in Adelaide, the 35-year-old New Zealander and his Korean partner Soonwoo Kwon have beaten Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena and Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-4, 1-6, 10-8 in 1 hour 09. Sitak and Kwon will face the third seeds Uruguay’s Ariel Behar and Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar in the round of 16.

Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell are playing at the ATP tournament in Melbourne. With Tim Puetz playing the ATP Cup for Germany, Venus has teamed with India’s Yuki Bhambri, and they face Dutchman Talon Griekspoor and Italian Andrea Vavassori in the first round.

Marcus Daniell was supposed to play the Australian swing with Marcelo Demoliner, but the Brazilian is side-lined with a knee injury, so the Kiwi has instead teamed up with American Denis Kudla and they have been drawn against American’s Reilly Opelka and MacKenzie McDonald in the first round in Melbourne.

Erin Routliffe has teamed with Canadian US Open singles runner up Leylah Fernandez for the WTA tournament in Adelaide this week and they have been drawn against Chinese players Xu Yfan and Yang Zhaoxuan in the first round.

That match will start at 1-30pm Wednesday NZT.