Hopes are high a Kiwi will make the second round of the ASB Classic after local favourite Marina Erakovich was drawn to play a qualifier.
Erakovich, a wild card invite to this year's tournament, has avoided all the big guns and could earn herself a plumb second round
tie in which she will face either Jelena Kostanic or former two-times winner, Eleni Danilidou of Greece.
The clash between Croatian Kostanic, ranked 46 in the world and Danilidou, ranked 36, is arguably the tie of the first round.
The other Kiwi wildcard, Leanne Baker, will face China's Tiantian Sun who is ranked 80.
Number one seed Jelena Jankovic will start against Germany's Julia Schruff while the No 2 seed, Russia's Anastasia Myskina faces a tricky tie against Argentina's Gisela Dulko.
The ASB Classic draw
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) vs Julia Schruff (Ger)
Qualifier vs Emma Laine (Fin)
Marina Erakovic (NZ) vs Qualifier
Jelena Kostanic (Cro) vs Eleni Daniilidou (Gre)
Marion Bartoli (Fra) vs Ayumi Morita (Jpn)
Eva Birnerova (Cze) vs Emilie Loit (Fra)
Nathalie Dechy (Fra) vs Ekaterina Bychkova (Rus)
Camille Pin (Fra) vs Shenay Perry (USA)
Vera Zvonareva (Rus) vs Qualifier
Romina Oprandi (Ita) vs Laura Granville (USA)
Qualifier vs Kaia Kanepi (Est)
Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) vs Daniela Hantuchova (Svk)
Martina Muller (Ger) vs Paola Suarez (Arg)
Leanne Baker (NZ) vs Tiantian Sun (Chn)
Jill Craybas (USA) vs Aiko Nakamura (Jpn)
Gisela Dulko (Arg) vs Anastasia Myskina (Rus)
