Auckland looks set for a Spanish invasion with a second top 10 player - world No 10 Nicolas Almagro - confirmed to play at next year's Heineken Open.
The 26-year-old joins fellow Spaniards, current world No 5 and defending champion David Ferrer and former world No 7 Fernando Verdasco, as
three of the top ranking players for the Heineken Open.
Almagro will make his sixth appearance in Auckland from January 9-14.
This year the hard-hitting Spaniard made a superb start to the season with back-to-back ATP titles in Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires. He reached his third successive final a week later in Acapulco where his 13-match winning streak came to an end with a loss to countryman Ferrer.
Almagro collected his third title of the year in Nice before reaching his fifth final in 2011 in Hamburg.
