Tennis: NZ breeze past Philippines in Federation Cup

10.00am

New Zealand beat the Philippines 3-0 in their opening match at the Asia/Oceania group one Federation Cup tennis tournament in New Delhi.

New Zealand are seeded fourth for the event and second seed in their group behind top seeds Thailand.

Shelley Stephens scored an easy victory over Anna Patricia Santos while Eden Marama started slowly against Czarina-Mae Arevalo but eventually wound up the match 6-0 in the third set.

In the dead doubles match both Paula Marama, 20, and Marina Erakovic, 16, made their debuts scoring a win over Santos and Arevalo in three sets.

"I'm very happy with everyone but we are all exhausted. Eden was a little nervous in her match as she wasn't sure what to expect from her opponent," non-playing captain Pavlina Nola said.

Temperatures during the matches were around 35 degrees with some players in other ties suffering from cramp. Newcomer Erakovic was pleased to get on the court and to gain a win in her first match.

"Paula and I had never played together before. We were going for too much in the first set. We were a bit unsure of our opponents but in the second set we really got going," she said.

New Zealand face China late today.

Results:

Shelley Stephens beat Anna-Patricia Santos 6-1 6-0, Eden Marama beat Czarina-Mae Arevalo 3-6 7-5 6-0, Paula Marama/Marina Erakovic beat Santos/Arevalo 3-6 6-0 6-1

- NZPA