Organisers of this summer's women's international tennis tournament have followed the men's lead in attracting their defending champion back to Auckland.
Popular Greek No 1 Eleni Daniilidou yesterday confirmed her intention to return to play in the January 5-10 ASB Classic.
Heineken Open defending champion Gustavo Kuerten is alreadyset to return for the January 12-17 tournament.
Seeded No 2 at this year's tournament behind then-defending champion Anna Pistolesi (nee Smashnova), 21-year-old Daniilidou beat unseeded Korean Yoon Jeon Cho in the final to kick-start her year.
She went on to add US$350,000 to the US$22,000 she collected for her win at the ASB Bank Tennis Centre and finish just outside the top 30 on the year's prizemoney list.
Now ranked 26th - she was 22nd this time last year - Daniilidou is unlikely to be the top seed as tournament director Richard Palmer is expected to confirm a player inside or close to the top 20 in the next few days.
After her win here - her second on the WTA Tour - Daniilidou went on to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open, where she lost to top seed Serena Williams.
She then reached the semifinals at the next tour stop - in Paris - where she again lost to Williams after beating fourth-seed Jelena Dokic in the quarters.
Palmer continues to be frustrated by player agents as he continues his search for competitors for the US$140,000 tournament.
Once he has his field in place he will have to consider players for the "gold and silver" exempts and six wildcards - two into the main draw and four in the qualifying tournament - he can hand out.
Unless a much-prized player emerges as a late entry, it seems likely the wildcards will go to New Zealanders.
On WTA singles rankings, Shelley Stephens (383) and Ilke Gers (398) have perhaps the best chance of taking their place in the main draw, but Palmer is likely to wait until after next month's national residential championships at North Harbour before making a decision.
Leanne Baker (444), Eden Marama (504) and Paula Marama (611) are also ranked.
Unranked Marina Erakovic is also a possibility. She was forced out of this year's tournament with a foot injury.
Erakovic will be playing the Orange Bowl in Florida next month and will miss the national 18s and residential tournaments.
