By DAVE WORSLEY
Simon Rea and Adam Thompson may be seeded first and second at the New Zealand Residentials, but their unseeded opponents thought nothing of taking them on in the third round of the singles yesterday.
Rea found himself down 4-5 in the first set and 2-5 in the second of
his match with North Harbour teenager Kevin Jay.
But his experience helped Rae to win 7-6, 7-5 and move into the quarter-finals.
Rea said there were a few jitters in his game, but he was pleased just to make the next round.
"Kevin played well. I didn't play my best, but I didn't play poorly.
"In situations like that you just want to make them play their best to beat you," he said.
"My [service] throw was a little bit all over the place. I've got to work on that."
Rea will now play seventh seed Nick Lane, who beat former Davis Cup team member Mark Thompson in straight sets at the North Shore Tennis Centre.
Thompson's younger brother Adam had one of the games of the day, but not necessarily for the tennis.
Adam, who will probably follow in brother into the Davis Cup squad to be named next month, beat Auckland teenager Rade Radinovich 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, with both players having discussions with the tournament referee.
Another match which also had plenty of drama saw Canterbury's eighth seed Dan King-Turner beating 18s finalist Kiril Tcherveniachki in a third-set tiebreak.
King-Turner will now play Adam Thompson in the last eight.
Meanwhile, GD Jones cruised past Wellington's Warwick Foy for the loss of just two games and faces Lee Radovanovich in the quarters.
In the remaining quarter-final, fourth seed James Shortall plays unseeded Matt Simpson.
Compared to the men's draw, the women's singles was positively ho-hum, with every match going in straight sets, including top seed Shelley Stephens beating Julia Erakovic easily.
Stephens will get a harder workout against Wellington's top player Nicola Kaiwai.
"I've played her a million times and only lost once, a couple of years ago straight after an exam," said Kaiwai, who overcame fellow Wellingtonian Makere Bradnam in straight sets.
Leanne Baker returned to New Zealand courts to defeat another Wellington player, Lisa Wilkinson, 6-2, 6-1, while sixth seed Dianne Hollands overcame Sacha Jones 6-0, 7-5.
By DAVE WORSLEY
Simon Rea and Adam Thompson may be seeded first and second at the New Zealand Residentials, but their unseeded opponents thought nothing of taking them on in the third round of the singles yesterday.
Rea found himself down 4-5 in the first set and 2-5 in the second of
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