Tennis singles

Press, 16 January 1985, Page 3

Tennis singles

PA Wellington An American, Jacques Manset, a late addition to the draw, battled hard to beat the promising Willie Laban, of Auckland, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, in a first round men’s singles match at the BP national tennis championships in Lower Hutt yesterday. Manset has a world ranking of 450th, which could have made him third or fourth seed in the men’s singles. But his entry arrived after the draw was made up and he is playing unseeded. There were a number of interesting first round tussles. In the closest match Tony Edgar, of Wellington, battled for two hours before overcoming Raymond Bos, of Hamilton, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5. New Zealand’s two most promising juniors, Brett Steven and Lee Galway, both of Auckland, had contrasting fortunes. Steven, aged 15, outlasted the American, Doug de Groot, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Galway, aged 17, was on the other

end after three sets. He was beaten by the Australian, Lindsay Diefenbach, 6-4, in the third. Brett Hibbert, of Canterbury showed patches of his best form, serving with pace and playing some fine backhand slices across court as he beat a Queenslander, Geoffrey Ruston, 6-4, 6-3. Results.— Men’s singles, first round: D. Hamilton (Kapi-Mana) beat R. Smart (Australia), 6-3, 6-2; J. Manset (U.S.) beat W. Laban (Auckland), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; P. Seeman (Canterbury) beat M. Cosier (Auckland), 7-6, 7-6; A. Cotterill (Nelson) beat C. Smith (Auckland) by default; D. Anderson (Palmerston North) beat L. Tropman (Wellington), 7-6, 1-6, 6-1; T. Edgar (Wellington) beat R. Bos (Hamilton), 57, 7-5, 7-5; L. Diefenbach (Australia) beat L. Galway (Auckland), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; B. Steven (Auckland) beat D. de Groot (U.S.), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; G. Hansford (Auckland) beat G. Wilson (Marlborough), 6-4, 6-2; M. O’Donnell (Auckland) beat D. Bensemann (Hawke’s Bay), 6-4, 6-1; M. Elley (Auckland) beat A. Wicherts (Kapi-Mana), 6-2, 6-1; B. Hibbert (Canterbury) beat G. Ruston (Australia), 6-4, 6-3; T. Tohill (Hutt Valley) beat H. Bosman (Otago), 6-0, 6-2.