By TERRY MADDAFORD
French tennis star Sandrine Testud, the world No 11, will line up at the international women's classic at Stanley St in January.
Testud is one of the highest-ranked players to have turned out in Auckland and her placing on the WTA Tour will almost certainly ensure her top seeding
for the ASB Bank Classic, starting on New Year's Day.
A resident of Lyon, Testud is no stranger to Auckland, having first played in the tournament back in 1996.
She returned two years later when she reached the singles semifinals.
In WTA events this year, she reached the final in Linz, Austria, and with Chanda Rubin, won the doubles crown in Filderstadt, Germany.
"Sandrine is one of the best players in the world," tournament director Richard Palmer said yesterday. "She has consistently been ranked in the world's top 20 and in the past year alone has beaten many big names, including Serena Williams, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Amilie Mauresmo."
She has amassed more than $US2 million since turning professional, but is again insisting she will bypass the offer of hotel accommodation, preferring instead the home-stays so popular with many visiting players.
Palmer hopes to announce another top-20 player within the next few days.
American Jan-Michael Gambill, ranked No 33 in the world, is the latest leading player to confirm he will be playing in the Heineken Open tournament at Stanley St in January.
Gambill joins Argentine Franco Squillari, Croat Goran Ivanisevic and Chilean Marcelo Rios as the big overseas names in the field.
