Statham and Reynolds picked for the singles in Davis Cup tie against South Korea

Thursday, 16 September 2021

Veteran Rubin Statham and rookie Finn Reynolds have been chosen by captain Christophe Lambert for the singles rubbers in the Davis Cup tie against the Republic of Korea in Newport, Rhode Island.

On choosing Reynolds to make his Davis Cup debut, Lambert says being a lefty helped.

“Finn is our secret weapon; the Koreans didn’t have a lefty to practice against this week and Finn has the game to cause a good upset.” Lambert said. WATCH >> Finn chats with Matt Brown about the tie

34-year-old Statham will open the tie at 4 am Saturday morning NZT against Korean number two Jinsung Nam who has an ATP ranking of 341.

Statham is New Zealand’s most experienced player in a Davis Cup career spanning 17 years since 2004 is playing his 32nd tie for his country.

Statham holds the record for the most singles victories at Davis Cup by a Kiwi with 26. At the 2019 ASB Classic in Auckland Statham cause a major upset by defeating Korea’s Hyeon Chung who at the time was the #6 seed and world number #25 ranked player in straight sets 7-5,6-3.

Statham who has not played on Tour for the past 18 months due to Covid-19 feels ready after an intense week playing in Florida in the buildup.

“I got six matches last week in Florida so straight into the heat from New Zealand and that was something to adjust to initially, but I had a lot of match play and got better with every match.”

The opening match shapes as must win for New Zealand with 21-year-old Reynolds up against world number 83, Korean number one Soonwoo Kwon in the second singles rubber.

Reynolds hails from Hawke’s Bay and plays US collegiate tennis at the University of Mississippi. He plans on joining the pro tour after the next semester. Reynolds has been chosen ahead of another rookie in Isaac Becroft and is relishing the chance to play a world class top 100 player in his Davis Cup debut.

“I have never played anyone inside the top 100 before so can’t draw on experience but I am just going to treat it as any other match and can’t treat it any differently really.” Reynolds said.

‘I have watched him play this week; the Koreans all play very similar, very good off the baseline. It’s going to be tough, but I truly believe we have a good chance if we play well.”

As expected, Olympic Bronze medallists Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell will play the doubles rubber on Sunday morning NZT against Nam and Minkyu Song which will be followed by Statham up against Kwon and Reynolds against Nam. 

Venus is optimistic New Zealand can cause what would be an upset.

“I think it's just one match at a time one set at a time one point at a time, The last two times we've played Korea it's gone down to the last match, and we won one of those and lost one of those. So, it’s so it's always been close, I think everyone's pretty confident in their games and feeling good about things. It’s just about going out there believing, working together as a team and leaving it all out there and seeing what we can do.”

The tie is being played on grass at the International tennis Hall of Fame LIVE on Sky Sport 2:

DAY 1 Sat 18/09 from 4:00 AM
Replay from 12:30 PM SS2
DAY 2 Sun 19/09 from 2:30 AM
Replay from 4:00PM SS8

GET UP FOR THE CUP and be in to WIN a Wilson Ultra Racquet ($400) and other prizes from Asics and Wilson.  All you need to do is keep an eye on the Tennis NZ Facebook & Instagram pages during Davis Cup coverage live on SKY add a photo into our post’s comments of you and your crew 'Getting Up for the Cup' in the early hours of Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September and cheering our team on. 

NZ PLAYER PROFILES

Rubin Statham 

Age: 34 (Born 24th April 1987) 

Height: 1.83m 

Year turned pro: 2004 

Playing Style: Right-Handed w/ two-handed backhand 

ATP Ranking History: Singles career high of #279 & Doubles #139. 

Current Rank: N/A 

Preferred Surface: Grass 

Bio: Statham is New Zealand’s longest serving Davis Cup member with 31 ties to his name. He also holds the record for the most singles victories at Davis Cup by a Kiwi with 26. At the 2019 ASB Classic in Auckland Statham cause a major upset by defeating South Korea’s Hyeon Chung who at the time was the #6 seed and world number #25 ranked player in straight sets 7-5,6-3 in the Men’s singles. 

Marcus Daniell 

Age: 31 (Born 9th November 1989) 

Height: 1.91m 

Year turned pro: 2008 

Playing Style: Right-handed w/ two-handed backhand 

ATP Ranking History: Singles career high of #500 & Doubles #34. 

Current Doubles Rank: Current doubles ranking #43 

Preferred Surface: Grass 

Bio: Daniell has reached 15 career ATP doubles finals where he has won the title 5 times, including a memorable debut victory at his home tournament in Auckland in 2010 as a wildcard. Daniell and partner Michael Venus won a bronze medal for New Zealand in men’s doubles at the recent Tokyo Summer Olympics. Daniell is a current member of the ATP Player Council, having been elected in 2020. 

Michael Venus 

Age: 33 (Born 16th October 1987) 

Height: 1.91m 

Year turned pro: 2009 

Playing Style: Right-handed w/ two-handed backhand 

ATP Ranking History: Singles career high #274 & Doubles #8 

Current Doubles Rank: Current doubles ranking #21 

Preferred Surface: Hardcourt 

Bio: Venus is one of New Zealand’s most successful tennis players in the open era with 15 ATP tour level titles to his name, one Grand Slam title and 19 appearances at the Davis Cup. Venus’ best results in Grand Slams were winning the title at the 2017 French Open and making the final at Wimbledon in 2018. Recently, Venus partnered with Marcus Daniell at the Tokyo Olympics and won a bronze medal for New Zealand. 

Finn Reynolds 

Age: 21 (Born 4th January 2000) 

Height: 1.82m 

Year turned pro: N/A 

Playing Style: Left-handed w/ two handed backhand 

ITF Ranking history: Career-high junior ranking #83 

Year-end rank 2021: N/A 

Preferred Surface: Grass 

Bio: Reynolds is one of New Zealand’s top talents rising through the ranks. In his junior career, Reynolds reached the 2017 boys Australian Open doubles final, achieved a career-high junior ranking of #83 and won the New Zealand national singles championship in 2017. Reynolds plays for NCAA Division 1 University of Mississippi. He has achieved ITA All-American 2020, 2021 and All-SEC 2021 and was nationally ranked number 1 for doubles in 2021. 

Isaac Becroft 

Age: 20 (Born 29th October 2000) 

Height: 1.77m 

Playing Style: Right-handed w/ two-handed backhand 

Preferred Surface: Grass 

Bio: Becroft won the ITF BNP Paribas Junior Open in both the singles and doubles at 16 years old. After a successful junior tennis career in Wellington, Becroft moved to the US where he represented Mississippi State in the 2019/20 season and posted a record of 11-9 in singles and 9-6 in doubles after a shortened season due to Covid-19. Recently, Becroft has transferred to Loyola Marymount University in California where he will represent the LMU Lions in NCAA Division 1. Becroft was the New Zealand National Champion in 2020. 

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