Jelena Dokic's no-show has not hurt the Classic as much as tournament director Richard Palmer had feared.
Organisers were worried that Dokic's late withdrawal would mean smaller crowds, but the loss of their marquee player has had no noticeable effect on the first two days of the tournament.
"If yougo back three years - the year before we had Anna Kournikova as the drawcard - the crowds this year have been every bit as good," Palmer said.
"In the past two years we gave away free tickets through the clubs for Monday and Tuesday which boosted those crowds.
"This year there were no free tickets and the crowds have stood up well.
"The test will be [today] but given the players who are still in, I'm confident we will again have a decent crowd."
Much interest today will be in 17-year-old New Zealander Eden Marama, who plays eighth-seed Anca Barna (Germany) in the second match on centre court.
Marama, who improved her WTA ranking around 75 places after her first-round win over Shelley Stephens, would become the highest-ranked New Zealander if successful today.
"It would be great for Eden and the tournament if she got through, but that might be expecting too much," Palmer said.
"There were those who said we would not get the crowds this time because of the later start [a week later than last year], and without a Kournikova or Mary Pierce as the star attraction.
"But that hasn't been the case and as long as the weather holds there is no reason why we shouldn't have good crowds for the rest of the week."
The singles and doubles finals will be played on Saturday.
