Tennis: Radovanovich withdrawn from wildcard event

Tennis New Zealand is adamant it has done the right thing by withdrawing Residentials champion Lee Radovanovich from next week's Heineken Open wildcard tournament.

Radovanovich was withdrawn after he confirmed he is to take up a professional coaching position next year.

The wildcard tournament is only for players who will be playing fulltime or in US colleges next year.

The Davis Cup player has claimed only two of the remaining seven players in the tournament are full time pros, and others should also be withdrawn because they do not meet the criteria.

However, High Performance Manager Paul Smith disagrees.

Smith said the other players are going to play tournaments next year and deserve the chance to play at the Heineken Open.

He said the purpose of the tournament is to give the players an opportunity to get some ATP points.

The Heineken Open wildcard tournament starts on December 27.

- NEWSTALK ZB