Kiwi tennis player Finn Tearney has been dumped out of the ASB Classic in the first round, going down to Robin Haase 6-4, 7-5.
The match was certainly no walkover for the 29-year-old Haase despite his straight-sets victory, twice rallying from a break down to secure the set.
Tearney, meanwhile, will be encouraged by some impressive baseline play and tenacity but simply made too many unforced errors while in front.
"In the end, I was a bit better experienced today," Haase said.
"To play this kind of match, for him it was tough."
Holding serve in his first game, the 26-year-old Wellingtonian subsequently broke Haase and edged a break ahead via several thumping forehands.
But it quickly fell apart at 3-0, with Haase breaking twice to take a commanding 5-3 first-set lead and smashing four aces to win the first set 6-4.
The start of the second set was a carbon copy of the first, with Tearney again holding serve before going on to break the Dutchman and establish a 3-0 lead.
Haase didn't break back immediately this time, going 4-1 down, but eventually got the better of Tearney's serve to leave the set on a knife edge at 5-5.
And with everything on the line, Haase's experience made the match secure, breaking Tearney before serving out the match 6-4, 7-5.
The world No.58 Haase hit an impressive 13 aces in the display, while Tearney could only win a quarter of his break points throughout the match.
He had previously defeated Pakistani player Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and British player Cameron Norrie to qualify for the Classic.
Newshub.