Tennis: Big-server Goran to play in Open

By PETER JESSUP

Big-serving Goran Ivanisevic has been confirmed as a starter for the Auckland Open tennis tournament in the New Year and joins a strong field released yesterday.

With any luck he will meet fellow racket-smashing, open-season-on-umpires, tantrum-thrower Jeff Tarango, of the United States, some time in the Heineken Open.

It is a very attractive field and although there are only two players ranked in the top-20 there are a batch of former high-flyers now hugging the 40-70 range like Ivanisevic, a three-times Wimbledon finalist and a top-10 player for five of the last 10 years.

Marc Rosset, last in New Zealand with the Swiss Davis Cup team in 1995, is also confirmed and is likely to be the fourth seed behind Tommy Haas, Magnus Norman and Michael Chang.

Also in are defending champion Sjeng Shalken and previous winners Magnus Gustafsson (1994) and Jiri Novak (1996). Jonas Bjorkman, winner in 1997, wants to play but with a world ranking of 74 and the cut-off set at 66, he may have to play qualifying.

French Open finalist Alberto Berasategui from Spain, Romanian Andrei Pavel and Frenchman Nicolas Escude are other notable names, while crowd-pleasers Byron Black, of Zimbabwe, and Australian Richard Fromberg will be among those listed to play qualifying barring late withdrawals.

Four players will come through from the qualifying rounds played the week before the Open itself, which starts on January 10.

The three wildcards are unlikely to be determined until the last days, with Mark Neilsen, ranked at 264, the only New Zealander with a serious look in.

Alistair Hunt is next, down at 554, but if organisers were looking for a player for the future they might well go lower to James Shortall, at 807, should there be no other overseas interest.

Main draw, in current ranking order: Tommy Haas (Germany, 11), Magnus Norman (Sweden,15), Nicolas Escude (France, 37), Marc Rosset (Switzerland, 39), Thomas Johansson (Sweden, 40), Jiri Novak (Czechoslovakia, 41), Andrei Pavel (Romania, 42), Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain, 43), Sjeng Shalken (Netherlands, 45), Rainer Schuttler (Germany, 48), Vicente Fernando (Spain, 49), Michael Chang (USA, 50), Chris Woodruff (USA, 50), Franco Squillari (Argentina, 52), Jeff Tarango (USA, 55), Alberto Martin (Spain, 57), Jan Michael Gambill (USA, 58), Sargie Sargelan (Armenia, 59), Magnus Gustaffson (Sweden, 60), Alberto Berasategui (Spain, 61), Goran Ivanesevic (Croatia, 62), Roger Federer (Switzerland, 64), Hernan Gumy (Argentina, 68); alternates, in order of acceptance; Byron Black (Zimbabwe, 65), Gaston Gaudio (Argentina, 69), Jon van Lottum (Netherlands, 71), Guillermo Canas (Argentina, 73), Juan Antonio Marin (Croatia, 72), Max Mirnyi (Belarussia, 75), Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden, 74), Galo Blanco (Spain, 76), Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia, 77), Antony Dupuis (France, 83), Gianluca Pozzi (Italy, 93), Justin Gimelstob (USA, 81), Richard Fromberg (Australia, 78).