Coco Gauff faces a potential banana skin match in the first round at the ASB Classic, drawn against last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Maria Tatjana from Germany.
Gauff is the No 1 seed for the Classic, ranked No 7 in the world, while Maria is at 68. However, Maria has the potential to be a giant killer, as was proved by her run at Wimbledon, where she defeated Maria Sakkari, Sorana Cirstea and Jelena Ostapenko on her way to a three-set loss to Ons Jabeur in the semifinal.
“We’ve never played before, but I used to hit with her when I was younger,” Gauff said of facing Tatjana shortly after the draw came out on Sunday.
“Obviously, she had a great Wimbledon run. She was one of the first players I talked to when I was 15 and going on tour, my former coach was great friends with her husband, so I know her pretty well on a personal level.
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“Game wise, she’s a tricky player and I’m sure my coaches and I will come up with a plan.”
No 3 seed Leylah Fernandez has been drawn against wildcard recipient Brenda Fruhvirtova, the 15-year-old from the Czech Republic.
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World No. 7 Coco Gauff is the top seed at the Classic.
Emma Raducanu has been drawn against the older Fruhvirtova sister, Linda, who is aged 17 and regarded as one of the brightest young stars in the sport.
“It’s probably one of the highlights of the first round,” tournament director Nicolas Lamperin said of the clash between Raducanu and Linda Fruhvirtova.
“Two different players, following a totally different trajectory at the moment.
“But I’m glad we’ve invited both sisters, because one will be playing Emma and one will be playing Leylah, which will probably be the two biggest match ups for the first round.”
For the first two days of the women’s week, there are just twilights sessions, beginning at 3pm, so there will be a number of big name players on the outside courts, which makes a ground pass ticket at $23 for an adult great value.
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The veteran Tatjana Maria made it to the semifinal at Wimbledon last year.
“For me, I would always encourage people to come to the first few days of a tennis tournament, because this is when you’re guaranteed to see all the stars,” Lamperin said.
“The action isn’t just happening on Centre, but on every single court. It’s probably more prestigious in people’s minds to come to the semifinals and final, but you never know who you’re going to be watching.
“If you’re after the big names and want to make sure you get a chance to see them, pick the first few days.”
Lamperin said ticket sales have been going exceptionally well, with availability for some days extremely limited.
“We are close to being sold out from quarterfinals onwards for the two weeks,” he said.
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US tennis star, Coco Gauff, pays a visit to Jellicoe Park tennis club in South Auckland.
“There are still a few opportunities for the first few days, apart from the Tuesday of the women’s week.
“The fact that we announced Coco for Tuesday has really increased the demand for that day.”
Meanwhile, former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who won her first round qualifying match on Saturday, was forced to pull out of the tournament through illness and was unable to play her second round match against Katie Volynets from America.
Volynets has been drawn against Venus Williams, for what will be the third match on Centre Court on Monday.
New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, who’ll play her first round doubles match on Monday, will play against Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first round of singles on Tuesday, while the tournament’s second seed, Sloane Stephens, will also play a qualifier.
Stephens, the 2016 ASB Classic champion, has been drawn against Rebeka Masarova from Spain in the first round, in a match that will also be played on Tuesday.
AT A GLANCE
Monday’s schedule
STADIUM starts at 03:00 PM
L. Zhu (CHN) vs [6] M. Brengle (USA), [WC] B. Fruhvirtova (CZE) vs [3] L. Fernandez (CAN), K Volynets (USA) vs [WC] V. Williams (USA), [4] B. Pera (USA) vs V Kuzmova (SVK)
GRANDSTAND starts at 03:00 PM
[8] R. Marino (CAN) vs D. Galfi (HUN), Y Bonaventure vs C. McNally (USA), J. Grabher (AUT) vs T. Martincova (CZE), [1] C. Dolehide (USA) / E. Routliffe (NZL) vs F. Contreras Gomez (MEX) / C. Harrison (USA)
COURT 1 starts at 03:00 PM
[3] M. Kato (JPN) / A. Sutjiadi (INA) vs M. Adamczak (AUS) / A. Osborne (AUS), I. Gamarra Martins (BRA) / I. Neel (USA) vs [4] S. Chang (USA) / A. Kulikov (USA), N. Hibino (JPN) / O. Tjandramulia (AUS) vs L. Chan (TPE) / A. Guarachi (CHI)
ASB Classic draw
- 1 Coco Gauff (USA) v Tatjana Maria (GER)
- Xinyu Wang (CHN) v WC Sofia Kenin (USA)
- Katie Volynets (USA) v WC Venus Williams (USA)
- Lin Zhu (CHN) v 6 Madison Brengle (USA)
- 4 Bernarda Pera (USA) v Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK)
- Emma Raducanu (GBR) v Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE)
- Tamara Zidansek (SLO) v Lauren Davis (USA)
- Nao Hibino (JPN) v 7 Danka Kovinic (MNE)
- 8 Rebecca Marino (CAN) v Dalma Galfi (HUN)
- Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL) v Caty McNally (USA)
- Julia Grabher (AUT) v Tereza Martincova (CZE)
- WC Brenda Fruhvirtova (CZE) v 3 Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
- 5 Xiyu Wang (CHN) v Karolina Muchova (CZE)
- WC Erin Routliffe (NZL) v Elena Gabriela Ruse (ROM)
- Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA) v Anna Blinkova (RUS)
- Rebeka Masarova (ESP) v 2 Sloane Stephens (USA)