Day 2 Preview - ASB Classic 2023

Today’s ASB Classic Watch

By Matt Brown, Newstalk ZB

It’s Super Tuesday wherever you look on day two at Auckland’s ASB tennis Classic.

A case could be made for anyone of the centre court matches to be the match of the day. 18-year-old top seed and world number seven Coco Gauff rightly has prime billing, second on centre court in a tricky opening round encounter with last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Germany’s Tatjana Maria.

Second seed Sloane Stephens won the title here on her only previous visit in 2016 and went on to win the US Open the following year. Stephens is on the comeback trail after a career blighted by injuries and meets Spaniard Rebeka Masarova before another Grand Slam champion on the comeback from injury American Sofia Kenin meets China’s Xinyu Wang in the final match on centre court.

Be sure to arrive early for the opening match on centre court pitting 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu against Czech up and comer Linda Fruhvirtova. The Brits victory in New York is arguably the greatest Grand Slam singles triumph of all time.  Unheard of before her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon that year, the 18-year-old won 10 matches in a row, three in qualifying to claim a maiden Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu endured a difficult first full season on the WTA Tour in 2022 but with that experience behind her is looking to rediscover the sort of form that captivated the tennis world in 2021, here in Auckland.

Fruhvirtova is one of the best youngsters in the top 100 having already captured a WTA title at the age of 17. Mark down the opening match as one not to miss.

And fans on site can pack the Grandstand court to support New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe in her first round singles match against Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse.