Day Five Recap: Ajeet Rai Last Kiwi Standing in Wellington

New Zealand’s Ajeet Rai has advanced to the semi-finals of the World Tennis Tour in Wellington.

Rai defeated Japanese player Jay Dylan Hara Friend 6-2, 7-5. He will face Australia’s Moerani Bouzige in the semi-finals. Bouzige is ranked just inside the world’s top 600. 

Rai is the only Kiwi player left in the singles draw after NZ’s Jack Loutit suffered a narrow loss to Australian qualifier Tai Sach, 7-6(6), 0-6, 7-5, in a three-hour battle.

Rai is also into the doubles final, alongside his teammate and countrymen Isaac Becroft. They prevailed in an all-Kiwi tie against 4th seeds Reece Falck and George Stoupe 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. They'll take on the unseeded Kiwi Anton Shepp, and Australian Tai Sach, who successfully navigated a super tie-break against the top seeds for their spot in the final.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Kiwi Monique Barry lost to French player Maelys Bougrat, 6-3, 6-4. However, not all is lost for Barry, as she and Dutch partner Merel Hoedt won their doubles semi-final immediately afterward. They will face the second seeds, Shiho Akita and Nanari Katsumi, in the final.

The tournament, held at the Renouf Tennis Centre in Wellington, is a professional tennis event at the ITF 15 level, offering $15,000 in prize money for both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The week started strong, with an impressive 21 Kiwis making it into the singles main draws across the men’s and women’s competitions.

Highlights from the early rounds included a remarkable win for top Kiwi junior Aishi Das, who, despite not yet having a WTA ranking, showed great promise by defeating South Korea’s Eunji Oh, ranked 1325 in the world.

Additionally, NZ’s Elyse Tse, ranked around 1200 in the world, defeated third seed Ying Zhang, who is ranked nearly 700 places higher.

Other Kiwis who recorded early-round wins include Vivian Yang, Jade Otway, Maria Galatescu, KP Pannu, Anton Shepp, James Watt, Reece Falck, and Harry Pugh.

The semi-finals and finals will be played this weekend, before many of the competitors will make their way north to Tauranga to compete in the EVES Open, beginning on Monday.

This event is a part of the Tennis NZ Summer Series, and is free to attend.