Tennis: Second seed Julia Goerges wins at ASB Classic - at 1.21am

Germany's Julia Goerges. Photo / Photosport

After nearly 16 hours of tennis filled with rain delays, exquisite strokeplay and marathon battles, the opening day of the ASB Classic is finally over.

At 1.21am, German second seed Julia Goerges pumped her fist in fatigued triumph, having eventually dispatched of the fiesty Monica Puig, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

It was a gutsy performance at a ridiculous hour, with Goerges continuing to bang down aces and hit powerful winners as most of the fans (and linesman, and ballkids, and media) fought off the clutches of sleep.

Puig put up a mammoth effort too, giving Goerges everything in a match which had several lengthy rallies, and plenty of back-and-forths as break points were saved on masse.

Goerges will play the winner of the final match on day two, between Kiwi Jade Lewis and Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova.

Those two clash tomorrow night - no, tonight - in what promises to be another mammoth day of tennis at Stanley Street.

Hopefully for the players, it won't go past midnight.

12.40am: Will the opening day of the ASB Classic ever end?

Day one has turned into day two at the Auckland tennis tournament, after Monica Puig won the second set 6-4 to take it to a deciding set in the final game of the night.

As it gets closer to 1.00am, the fans will have to stick around for one more set as Puig finally won a marathon final game, converting a third set point to break Julia Goerges' serve.

Goerges had earlier fought off several break points to stay in touch, but as fate would have it, the game continues into the night.

12.03am: Second seed Julia Goerges has fought back from 3-0 down to take the first set against Monica Puig in the final game of the night at the ASB Classic.

In a set with some exquisite points, Goerges eventually found her serve following a slew of breaks. There were five, to be exact, before Goerges started to boom down some aces, doing enough to win the set 6-4.

Goerges has never beaten Puig in their four matches to date, but is now in a good position to do that in the early hours.

10.49pm: Kirsten Flipkens' dominance over Donna Vekic has continued.

Flipkens is now 5-0 against the promising Croat, and this was one of their closest contests yet, with Flipkens prevailing 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 in a well-played clash.

The experienced Belgian had to overcome a shoulder injury which saw her take a five minute injury break, as well as a fighting showing from Vekic.

After several breaks of serve in the final set, Flipkens eventually hit the front for good, with Vekic's unforced errors seeing Flipkens serving for the set.

There, she saw off two break points to eventually hold on, and see the tournament's eighth seed eliminated.

Second seed Julia Goerges will take on Monica Puig in the final game of the night, with the clash between Christina McHale and Taylor Townsend postponed until tomorrow.

9.40pm: The first three-setter of the ASB Classic main draw is taking place, after Donna Vekic took the second set against Kirsten Flipkens.

Vekic broke Flipkens' serve early with some excellent play at the net to go up 2-1, and immediately broke again, causing Flipkens to flip her racket in frustration.

Flipkens managed to break back, but the eighth seed returned the favour to take out the set 6-3, and the contrasting styles of the pair will make for an interesting decider.

Amazing evening at @ASB_Classic . Hard to believe after events of today. @nzheraldsport pic.twitter.com/3zKrDbWqC8

— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) January 1, 2018

9.10pm: Kirsten Flipkens has taken the first set of her clash against eighth seed Donna Vekic, taking it in a tight tiebreak.

Flipkens had the edge thanks to an early break of serve, but after the long rain delay, Vekic broke back. However, breaks of serve was en vogue during the first set, with the pair sharing two further breaks to head into a tiebreak.

While Vekic's powerful groundstrokes produced several superb winners to keep her in the contest, she couldn't produce the same success in the tiebreaker, where Flipkens' all-around game took it out.

Flipkens has won all four of the meetings between the pair, and a fifth victory could soon be on the cards.

8.15pm: Play has resumed at the ASB Classic, where they hope to get three singles matches completed in the night session.

The match between Donna Vekic and Kirsten Flipkens is the first to resume, with Flipkens having a 3-1 lead in the first set. Then, if weather holds and time allows, we could see second seed Julia Goerges take on Monica Puig, and the all-American battle between Christina McHale and Taylor Townsend.

5.25pm: Rain has returned at the ASB Classic. The first round clash between Kirsten Flipkens and eighth seed Donna Vekic had just begun on centre court, with Flipkens earning an early break of serve to take a 3-1 lead in the first set before weather intervened.

4.00pm: Petra Martic is through to the second round at the ASB Classic.

After her progression to the second round was halted by a 90-minute rain delay when just two points away from victory, Martic took just 41 seconds when play returned to finish off a first-round 7-6, 6-3 win over Marketa Vondrousova.

Martic was pleased with her performance, though slightly aggrieved by the untimely rain delay.

"That was something different - not something I wanted. I tried to stay focused and luckily it ended up well.

"I tried to use those patterns that worked for me before the rain delay and managed to finish without any complications."

Martic will face either first seed Caroline Wozniacki or American Madison Brengle in the next round.

2.45pm: Rain has struck at the most inopportune time for Petra Martic.

The 26-year-old Croat was just two points away from progressing to the second round of the ASB Classic when a sudden shower came down, ushering her and Czech opponent Marketa Vondrousova off the court.

Martic led 7-6, 5-3, and was up 30-0 on serve, but will now have to wait to see the rain clear before clinching a spot in the next round. A resumption looked plausible when the rain briefly stopped and the court was dried, but just as thoughts turned to the players returning, further showers fell, delaying proceedings for the foreseeable future.

2.00pm: The first match at the ASB Classic has been completed in quick time, with Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh trouncing Japan's Nao Hibino 6-0 6-3.

Making her first appearance in Auckland since participating in qualifying in 2007, Hsieh had no trouble finding her early-season form on the outer court as Stanley Street.

Largely known for her doubles prowess, Hsieh was in control against Hibino, progressing through to the second round after just over an hour on court.

Hsieh will play either sixth seed Yulia Putintseva or qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure in the second round.

1.35pm: Petra Martic has ground out an early advantage on centre court at the ASB Classic, taking the first set over Marketa Vondrousova in a tiebreaker.

Martic, who had earlier battled to hold her serve under pressure from Vondrousova, won the tiebreaker 7-2 after the young Czech left-hander committed several unforced errors.

This is Martic's first appearance in the main draw at the Classic, having appeared in qualifying four times without taking centre stage.

1.20pm: The first completed set in the ASB Classic main draw has been as lop-sided as you can get.

Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh has trounced Japan's Nao Hibino 6-0 on the outside court to kick off proceedings in the 2018 women's draw.

12.15pm: The threat of rain has subsided in Auckland has subsided, which should allow the day session matches to proceed as planned at the ASB Classic.

Unlike last year – when the opening day of the female tournament was ruined by rain delays and only two main draw matches were completed – Monday should be a relatively delay-free day.

The first match on centre court sees Croatian world No 90 Petra Martic taking on Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

Vondrousova has been tipped as one to watch in 2018. The 18-year-old is one of only two teenagers in the top 100, and was the youngest player on tour to win a tournament last year.

The biggest match of today sees second seed Julia Goerges versus Rio Olympic champion Monica Puig.

The world No14 Goerges has a strong record in Auckland - reaching the final in 2016 and the last four on two other occasions, but the German will face a tough test against Puig, who she has yet to beat in four previous attempts.

Croatian eighth seed Donna Vekic is also in action, against popular Belgian Kirsten Flipkens while the all-American match up between Christina McHale and Taylor Townsend should be an entertaining clash.

New Zealanders Jade Lewis, Paige Hourigan and Erin Routliffe will also feature in the first round doubles.