Tennis: Gonzalez joins strong American line-up in Auckland

Big-hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez has been confirmed for the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland in January.

The world No 35 joins fellow South Americans Guillermo Coria and Gustavo Kuerten for the January 12-17 tournament.

Gonzalez, 23, failed to make it past the first round in Auckland last summer as the third seed.

"He wants to make his stay longer this time as a start to improving his ranking to back inside the top 20," said tournament director Graham Pearce.

"He has a stated personal goal of reaching the top 10 by the end of 2004."