11.45am
Eden Marama, the first New Zealander to reach the second round of the ASB Classic since 1999, takes centre court today in the most important match of her budding tennis career.
Paris-based Marama, 17 and a big server with a strong forehand, beat New Zealand No 1 Shelley Stephens 6-4 6-3
in the first round on Monday to advance to today's second round duel with Anca Barna.
Barna, born in Romania but living in Germany, comes into the match with a world ranking of 48.
She'll be a formidable challenge for Marama who, according to her coach Nicolas Copin is still two years from having a solid allround game.
Barna reached the top 50 last year after making the semifinals at Pattaya, the quarterfinal at Bali and the third round of the Australian Open.
Defending champion Eleni Daniilidou from Greece, ranked 26th in the world, also makes her second round appearance today against Emmanuelle Gagliardi from Switzerland.
Gagliardi is ranked 56th. She lost to Daniilidou in the semifinals of last year's tournament.
It was the first of three semis for her in 2003. She is still hunting for her first WTA title.
One of her best singles performances came in the 2001 Australian Open when she upset fifth seed Conchita Martinez.
Another great match-up today features American Ashley Harkleroad and Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi (from Israel but born in Minsk, Belarus).
Harkleroad, 18 and ranked 51st in the world, drew plenty of attention last year when she fought through the qualifying rounds then upset defending champion Anne Kremer in the first round.
She had her best result in 2003 at Charleston, reaching the semifinals only to lose to Justine Henin-Hardenne, but now seems to be heading for the top 50.
"I'm really looking forward to this match because she's young and an up-and-comer and she's a good player so it will be a good one." Smashnova-Pistolesi said of today's game.
In last night's singles match top seed Paola Suarez of Argentina beat American qualifier Tara Snyder 6-4 6-3 to go into the second round where she will play another American Lindsay Lee-Waters.
Among others advancing to the second round yesterday was Emmanuelle Gagliardi.
Gagliardi advanced with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Klara Koukalova from the Czech Republic and will meet Eleni Daniilidou in the second round.
Smashnova-Pistolesi fought back from a 1-6 loss in the first set to beat Julia Vakulenko 1-6 6-4 6-3.
"I expected it to be a tough match because it's always hard after a break, this is the first tournament of the year and she has a strong serve," Smashnova-Pistolesi said.
"She hit the ball very hard and hit a high percentage in that first set. Maybe it was in the back of my mind that I could lose, but I was always fighting."
After playing her way through the tough qualifying rounds, Californian Meilen Tu advanced to the second round with a 6-3 6-4 win over Akiko Morigami from Japan.
Tu, with a world ranking of 143 coming into this tournament, never really looked threatened.
She will meet Marlene Weingartner from Germany for a place in the quarterfinals.
Weingartner beat Spaniard Arantxa Parra 6-2 7-5.
In the doubles sisters Eden and Paula Marama lost 6-3 6-4 to American Jennifer Hopkins and Taiwan's Janet Lee.
Eleni Daniilidou and Rita Grande (Italy) beta Ansley Cargill and Ashley Harkleroad from the US 6-7(2) 6-2 6-4.
- NZPA
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11.45am
Eden Marama, the first New Zealander to reach the second round of the ASB Classic since 1999, takes centre court today in the most important match of her budding tennis career.
Paris-based Marama, 17 and a big server with a strong forehand, beat New Zealand No 1 Shelley Stephens 6-4 6-3
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