Three Kiwis in qualifying draw for ASB Classic

Three New Zealanders have been given wildcards for the ASB Classic qualifying draw.

Elyse Tse, who lost to Vivian Yang, in the final of the wildcard playoff tournament, will play against the second seed Nao Hibino from Japan on Saturday. 

Hibino is ranked 146 in the world and defeated Venus Williams over three sets at Indian Wells earlier this year.

Monique Barry, the New Zealand No 2, has been drawn against the top seed in qualifying, Ena Shibahara, who is also from Japan and ranked 137.

Valentina Ivanov is the other qualifying wildcard recipient and will play against Spain’s Leyre Romero Gormaz, who has a world ranking of 141.

Qualifying begins at 11am on Saturday and all the Kiwis will play on Centre Court at Manuka Doctor Arena.

Barry’s match is on first, followed by Tse’s and Ivanov is the third match on Centre Court.

The other match on Centre Court is between 2017 ASB Classic finalist Ana Konjuh from Croatia and Androrra’s Victoria Jiminez Kasintseva. 

There are two rounds of qualifying for the ASB Classic played over the weekend, with six players advancing into the main draw.

The main draw for the ASB Classic will take place at 1pm on Saturday, which is when Yang and Lulu Sun will find out who they’ll play on either Monday or Tuesday.

Entry for Saturday is $20 for adults and $12 for kids. On Sunday it is $20 for adults and kids are free.