Tennis: Rob Reynolds scores European stint

Rob Reynolds was unbeaten for the Tennis Eastern rep team at the weekend. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay tennis fans are unlikely to see the province's No 1 man Rob Reynolds in his provincial colours for a while.

However, the contribution from Reynolds, who heads off to Europe for an interclub stint in Germany in April, during the weekend's triangular tournament with Manawatu and Taranaki in Napier will probably be talked about for as long as he is away. Hawke's Bay Lawn's Reynolds, 20, won both of his singles matches as well as his doubles with Greendale 17-year-old Hamish Lee in straight sets.

His victories helped Tennis Eastern beat Taranaki by two points in the fixture. Points were accumulated in four junior age groups - 10s, 12s, 14s and 16s and three senior age groups - 17-24, 25-50 and 51 and above - to determine the overall winners.

Tennis Eastern scored 51 points, Taranaki 49 and Manawatu 20. Reynolds beat his Taranaki opponent 6-1, 6-2 and his Manawatu opponent 6-0, 6-2.

"It was good to be home for the holiday weekend so I was able to play," Reynolds said.

He has been Auckland-based since July last year coaching at the Cockle Bay club. When Reynolds travels to Germany he will be based in Brenen.

"It's a good time of the year to go as our summer will be finishing. While the team I will play for will be second or third tier it will be a good opportunity to make some money. There's a lot of ATP ranked players in the competition and our No 1 player is ranked 200 on the ATP world rankings.

"I will aim to work my way into the top-tier interclub comp and after interclub play I intend to tackle some Futures tournaments on the men's professional circuit," Reynolds explained.

It will be his second overseas stint. In 2016 he had a three-month stint with the Ragin' Cajuns men's team at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Recent results suggest Reynolds is more than ready for his next overseas trip. He reached the quarterfinals of the singles at the New Zealand championships where he and brother Finn, who is now on a tennis scholarship in the United States, were beaten finalists.

"That doubles placing has to be the highlight of my career to date," Reynolds said.

He finished sixth at the Te Anau Open which was an invitation-only event for the country's top eight players. Reynolds also reached the last qualifying round of an ATP tournament in Australia, helped his Cockle Bay team record a top-five finish in Auckland's Caro Bowl interclub competition and he won the under-23 title at the Hawke's Bay Junior Open.