
Young Kiwi ace deals to the Aussies
Briar Preston (above) is making a great impact at the ITF Juior Tournament in Kawana, Queensland, Australia, having reached the singles final and doubles semi-finals.
In the 64-player singles main draw, Preston is the top seed. She defeated 12th seed Anaeve Pain of New Caledonia 3-6 6-2 7-6 in the quarter-finals, and will now take on her doubles partner Storm Sanders of Australia. We've just heard that Briar brushed Sanders aside, with a score of 6-2 6-1. The singles final will be tomorrow.
In the doubles semi, Preston and Sanders will play Steffi Carruthers of Samoa and Pain, who are the second seeds.
Emily Fanning fell at quarter-final stage of the tournament, to fifth seed Molly Polak of Australia.
Kiwi boys are represented in the doubles semis as well, with Harry James and Artem Vassiliev to face third seeds Alexander Babanine and James Fawley, two Aussies.
In the quarter-final, James and Vassiliev defeated with a scoreline of 7-5 7-6 another Aussie pair, Lorenzo Alforque and David Guccione, who had previously taken out the tournament top seeds. A top team of ballkids
 Last week we reported on the great Davis Cup win for New Zealand, when we defeated Pakistan in Hawera. Now's the time to celebrate all the people who helped to make the event such a success, including the ballkids (above). Thanks for all your sterling work!
Proper attire for the player function
Top players from the WTA graciously donned 'Imperial style' dress for the official player party at the Bad Garstein Tournament in Austria. Arriving by coach at the glittering function (our Issue Image top right) are Sandra Reichel, Patricia Mayr, Sandra Klemenschits, Alize Cornet and Iona Raluca Olaru. And (below) here's Cornet and Nikola Hofmanova trying on their frocks the afternoon before. 
New Zealand's Chelsea Te Tai played in the qualifying rounds for this tournament.
|