Tennis: The man who could beat King-Turner

Dan King-Turner. Photo / Richard Robinson

There were immediately accusations, albeit in jest, about the draw being rigged.

As the names were pulled out of the hat yesterday afternoon for this week's Heineken Open, Kiwi wildcards Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham were drawn to play each other.

Both were bracing themselves for the worst. World No 16 Tommy Robredo was at the top of the list ominously followed by former winner David Ferrer (17) and former French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero (23).

At best, it would have been a player inside the world's top 64 and that was none other than former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian.

This was a dream draw and neither King-Turner nor Statham could hide their smiles. Organisers were pretty happy about it, too, because it will guarantee a New Zealand presence in the second round for the first time since Mark Nielsen won his first-round match in 2002.

If that wasn't enough, the winner actually has a decent chance of reaching the third round as he is due to face either a qualifier or eighth seed Albert Montanes, who has won just once in four visits to the Heineken Open and that was against Statham in 2008.

It is a little premature, however, to think one could do a Marina Erakovic, who made her way through to the semfinals of the 2008 ASB Classic, given the quality of the field.

"It was pretty funny we drew each other," King-Turner said. "I didn't think it would happen, but it's great we both have the opportunity to go through to the second. And I guess the [New Zealand] tennis community will be happy someone will go through.

"It definitely feels different for me to play Rubin rather than one of those other guys. Usually you go out there with nothing to lose because of their [superior] ranking but we will both be going out there thinking we have a chance to win."

King-Turner and Statham have played each other plenty in practice, including as recently as yesterday morning (they won't be hitting with each other today), but haven't played each other in competition for a couple of years. No one was too sure who held the upper hand but Statham declared somewhat diplomatically it was about 50-50.

Regardless, it will mean the winner will enter new territory. King-Turner has played four previous Heineken Opens with his best a three-set loss to then No 20 Juan Ignacio Chela, while Statham has been ousted twice in the first round. Both, though, are confident and enter the Heineken Open after the best year of their careers.

King-Turner started the year at 463 and is now at a career-high 257. A win tomorrow, and the New Zealand No 1 can expect to jump another 30 places. Statham was ranked 414 last January and climbed to 297 in November. That has eased back to 331.

The 25-year-old King-Turner puts his improvement down to maturity. He understands his game better now and also the importance of playing consistently.

"I'm more aware of what I need to improve in my game," he said.

"I am feeling pretty good. This time last year I was ranked about 450 and now I'm 250 so it's been a pretty successful year. The goal was to get under 300. If I can be inside top 200 by the end of this year, it would be a successful year."