Southern interest in the main draw of the national championships in Albany is now centred on the fate of Queenstown brothers Riki and Ben McLachlan, who remain alive in both singles and doubles.
Both moved easily into the quarterfinals yesterday when Riki beat Otago indoor title winner Alex Hunt 6-3, 6-0 and Ben put out Trent Massam 6-0, 6-2.
Riki plays top seed Finn Tearney today while Ben plays giantkiller Zach Whaanga, who eliminated Davis Cup player Marcus Daniell 7-6, 6-4. Whaanga, who is at college in the United States, impressed greatly when playing against Otago earlier in the year.
Riki McLachlan, partnered by rising junior Finn Reynolds, moved into the semifinals of the doubles after winning 6-1, 6-3 over Filippo Cava and Chris Zheng, while Ben McLachlan, playing with Tearney, overwhelmed Liam Stoica and Connor Williamson 6-0, 6-0.
Riki McLachlan and Reynolds now meet top seeds Daniell and Artem Sitak after the latter pair were pushed at times by Otago's Carlos Reid and Mitchell Sizemore before winning 6-2, 6-3.
Tearney and Ben McLachlan will play national junior champion Ajeet Rai and former Wimbledon junior champion Wesley Whitehouse, representing South Africa at that time, in the other semifinal.
Emilia Price from Winton, but training in Queenstown, lost to second seed Jo Carswell 6-4, 6-1 after earlier beating Brooke Kenny (North Harbour) 6-3, 6-3.
In the consolation events, wins were recorded by Sizemore and Aaron Hicks. Hicks won twice, beating Josh McDermott and James Hunt to make the semifinal. However, Reid, Paddy Ou and Ryan Eggers all lost. Sizemore plays a semifinal today. after beating Sam Heslin in straight sets.
