Tennis: Kiwi teenager Valentina Ivanov bows out in first round of ASB Classic

Kiwi teenager Valentina Ivanov, wildcard at the 2019 ASB Classic

Kiwi teenager Valentina Ivanov has bowed out of the ASB Classic, going down 6-4 6-3 to Swiss Jill Teichmann.

She wasn't expected to advance – given there was a disparity of 750 places in the rankings of the two players – but acquitted herself well, especially in the first set.

Once she got into the rallies she held her own, defended well, and came up with some clever angles in the windy conditions.

On paper, it should have been a complete mismatch.

World No 69 Teichmann won two WTA titles last year, in Prague and Palermo, while Ivanov was playing matches on the US College circuit.

But the Kiwi, who holds a WTA ranking of 819, pushed the European in the first set.

She forced three break point chances – without converting any – while Teichmann made the most of her three opportunities, grabbing a break midway through the set.

The second wasn't as close, as Ivanov seemed to run out of steam. She was forced to defend 11 break opportunities, saving eight, and was constantly under pressure on serve.

She grabbed a break back, but the precision of Teichmann was the difference, and the 22-year-old wrapped up the match in 88 minutes.

"I was a little bit nervous in the first one or two games, I made a few errors I wouldn't normally make, but then it got competitive," reflected Ivanov after the match.

"I'm so grateful for the wildcard. It shows me a lot about my tennis. There were some rallies out there where I was completely in control and there were moments in the match where I thought 'I can definitely win this, if I continue going this way."

Overall Ivanov took plenty of belief from her first main draw experience.

"I'll take a lot of confidence. Maybe another year at college then hopefully I can come out and produce good tennis on the tour."

"Tennis wise I definitely think I was there, even though it was tough because of the wind. I don't think there is much difference tennis wise, it's all just mental when we go higher."

In her first outing at WTA level the Christchurch-born, Sydney-based Ivanov showed plenty of promise, and more than justified the decision to give her a wildcard.