Tennis: Top seed biggest scalp as underdogs triumph

After cruising through the initial rounds of the Auckland championship, the seeded players in the men's section struck a judder bar as the first, fourth and sixth seeds crashed out of the tournament yesterday.

Adam McNeil caused the biggest upset by defeating the top seed, James Greenhalgh, in three tough sets. Until his quarter-final match, Greenhalgh had not dropped a game in his two matches.

McNeil, a semi-professional who plays at No 1 for Pakuranga in the Caro Bowl, was forced to struggle in his third-round match to overcome Paul Ravkin.

It seemed the hard match benefited the 20-year-old. Serving well in the first set, McNeil started well, but Greenhalgh, 26, fought back to take the second. The third set was a tie-break and the 7-5 scoreline went the way of the younger player.

"The three-set match against Ravkin gave me a bit of a chance to play my way in," McNeil said. "I had never beaten James. I had lost to him comfortably a couple of times before. So it was a good win."

The result puts an interesting spin on next week's residential championships at North Harbour. No player can be sure of easy victories.

McNeil, who has been trying to earn his first ATP singles ranking point in the past two years, now plays 15-year-old G. D. Jones, who continued his giant-killing act by dispatching sixth seed Matt Dewar in straight sets. Jones has rapidly improved his game in the past season, claiming the scalps of some top players.

In round two, he beat third-seed Nick Turner in straight sets and could trouble McNeil.

Fifth seed Andrew Turner had to work hard to beat New Zealand junior champion and fourth seed Jacob Olsen in three sets. He now takes on second seed and Davis Cup player Alistair Hunt, who scored an easy straight-sets victory over Nick Lane.

In the women's section, top seed Ilke Gers progressed to the semis after her opponent, Anglea Strachan, withdrew with a twisted ankle. Gers now faces Diane Hollands, the national under-18 champion, who has improved remarkably and qualified for the semifinals with a win over Ashley Siddall.

Tracey O'Connor, the second seed, did not drop a game when beating 14-year-old Melissa O'Keefe, but now faces fourth seed and former professional, Rewa Hudson, who also had an easy win, over Julia Erakovic.

The semifinals will be played from 5 pm today at the ASB Tennis Centre.