12 Jan 2015

Mannarino wins first up in Auckland

8:47 pm on 12 January 2015

The French tennis player Adrian Mannarino has scored an emphatic win in the opening first round singles match at the Heineken Open in Auckland.

French tennis player Adrian Mannarino

French tennis player Adrian Mannarino Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Mannarino beat Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-1, 6-1 and will meet third seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the second round.

The rising Austrian player Dominic Thiem was then upset 6-7 6-4 6-3 in the first evening match by the German Jan-Lennard Struff, who goes on to face big-serving fourth seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa next.

Jan-Lennard Struff in action at the Heineken Open

Jan-Lennard Struff in action at the Heineken Open Photo: Photosport

Earlier, the New Zealand wildcard doubles combination of Finn Tearney and Wesley Whitehouse were beaten in their first round match.

They took the first set off the experienced pair of Marcelo Melo of Brazil and Max Mirnyi of Belarus in a tiebreak, before losing the second 5-7, then also going down in the third set super tiebreak, 10-7.

Tearney and Whitehouse were given a wildcard entry after winning the national title.

And the two New Zealanders in the singles main draw have now found their opponents after qualifying.

Michael Venus will play the Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez and fellow wildcard Rubin Statham plays another Colombian, Alejandro Falla.