The top seed and world number 196 Chanel Simmonds of South Africa plays her first round match at the Wellington Challenger tennis tournament today.
Simmonds, who is widely regarded as the best female prospect to come out of South Africa in a long time, takes the court against Australian qualifier Rebecca Leahy.
New Zealanders Emily Fanning and Mia Middleton are also playing today.
The former New Zealand number one Sacha Jones, who now represents Australia, had a first round victory yesterday, while 15-year-old Aucklander Claudia Wiliams was beaten.
