By TERRY MADDAFORD
The big names keep rolling up for Auckland's summer of tennis.
With four of the top 20 men's players now confirmed, and with the last of the eight seeds inside the world's top 36, organisers of next month's Heineken Open can justifiably point to their strongest field ever.
Rounding
out the big stars is former champion Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. Novak won the open in 1996 and will be second seed behind world No 5 Guillermo Coria of Argentina.
In releasing the final direct entry for the January 12-17 open yesterday, tournament director Graham Pearce confirmed that all players are in the top 64 on current ATP rankings.
"That is our lowest cut-off ever," said Pearce. "Having Finn Jarkko Nieminen as our eighth seed is significant. He is ranked 36 in the world. Last year our last seed was David Sanguinetti at 46."
And the interest may extend to the qualifying tournament.
The 1995 winner, Thomas Enqvist, was keen to play but his ranking (95) meant he would not qualify for the main draw, said Pearce.
"But now we know he is interested, I'm sure we can do something for him as a former champion."
Enqvist has a higher ranking than Spaniard Alex Corretja (at 100) but Corretja has already been handed a wildcard, as has American Todd Martin.
The remaining wildcard has yet to be determined but is likely to go to a New Zealander.
There are also two special exempts which can be claimed at the last minute. If not, those spots are taken by "next best" on the rankings list, which could allow Martin into the field and perhaps free a wildcard for Enqvist.
Pearce is also excited in luring two of the up-and-comers to Auckland.
This time a year ago, 17-year-old Rafael Nadal was ranked 235. Today he has shot up to 47 and is seen as yet another Spanish high-flyer.
"He is exciting to watch," said Pearce.
"I saw him play a fantastic match against Younes El Aynaoui at the US Open this year. He goes for his shots and hits the ball hard."
Another big mover, Swede Robin Soderling (19) - up from 176 to 60 - made the third round at Wimbledon and will be a contender here.
The contenders
Direct entry list (in order, with ATP rankings)
Player / Ranking
Guillermo Coria / 5
Jiri Novak / 13
Gustavo Kuerten / 16
Sjeng Schalken / 18
Vince Spadea / 29
Gaston Gaudio / 34
Fernando Gonzalez / 35
Jarkko Nieminen / 36
Radek Stepanek / 46
Rafael Nadal / 47
David Sanchez / 50
Jan-Michael Gambill / 51
Stefan Koubek / 53
Alberto Martin / 54
Xavier Malisse / 55
Nicolas Lapentti / 57
Nicholas Kiefer / 58
Raemon Sluiter / 59
Robin Soderling / 60
Dominik Hrbaty / 61
Fabrice Santoro / 62
Fernando Vicente / 63
Luis Horna / 64
By TERRY MADDAFORD
The big names keep rolling up for Auckland's summer of tennis.
With four of the top 20 men's players now confirmed, and with the last of the eight seeds inside the world's top 36, organisers of next month's Heineken Open can justifiably point to their strongest field ever.
Rounding
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