KEY POINTS:
The begging, pleading and outright bribery may have gone to new levels but the Heineken Open finally landed the star drawcards it was after, with world No 8 Juan Martin Del Potro and former champ David Ferrer to headline the January tournament.
Having battled without success for several
months to land a top 10 player, tournament director Richard Palmer was a happy and relieved man after Del Potro confirmed his attendance late on Monday.
The tournament was forced to shell out record appearance fees to land the fast-rising Argentinian and secure the return of popular 2007 champion Ferrer, ranked 12.
Palmer would not reveal the exact figures but they were considerably less than the vast sums some top 10 players were demanding.
"I can't divulge the exact figures but it is going up," Palmer said.
"We've had to stretch the boundaries a bit this time. We are not paying six figures or anything near that. We don't have that and it would be irresponsible to tennis people in New Zealand if we did [pay it]."
With big money exhibition tournaments now cluttering up the calendar, it was getting harder and harder every year to attract top players to New Zealand. Many players were also deciding to take a break in the week preceding the Australian Open, ruling them out of contention for the Auckland tournament.
"The week before us, you have got an exhibition up in Abu Dhabi and they are paying these guys telephone-book figures," Palmer said.
"We can't afford that. These players are [saying], 'I've got money in the pocket there and I'll go straight to Melbourne and train.'
"To get what we've got, eight and 12, I'm very happy with it. It is remarkable, really."
The lanky, big-serving Del Potro made a first-round exit on an outside court as an 18-year-old in his first visit to the Open in 2007 but has been on an upward trajectory since. This year he strung together a run of 23 successive victories, claiming four tournaments in the process.
"He really is the big mover on the tour," Palmer said.
"He won four tournaments in a row - how many people do that? Even your Nadals and Federers didn't do that as a teenager. It's a pretty phenomenal effort."
Ferrer won the title in 2007 and looked good for a repeat in January before surprisingly being bundled out by Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarter-finals. His ranking climbed as high as four shortly after the Australian Open but has since slipped outside the top 10 after a mixed season.
This year's draw has been reduced from 32 to 28 players, with the top four seeds to receive byes into the second round.
The change was made after top players indicated they did not want to play five matches in the build-up to Melbourne and to allow more flexibility with their travel schedules.
The full list of direct entries will be unveiled on December 3, with Palmer hoping to land two more top 20 players.
NEW STANLEY ST READY TO ROLL
The long-awaited redevelopment of the ASB Tennis Centre will finally go ahead next year, Auckland Tennis says.
An agreement with Auckland City and developer NGC is expected to be signed next month, with tenders to be called for in January.
Development would take 18 months and would probably begin in May or June 2009, Auckland Tennis chief executive Graham Pearce said.
Over five years in the planning, it will be a multipurpose structure built on the existing Stanley St footprint.
As well as stadium seating, it will have private club facilities such as indoor and outdoor pools, cafes, a gym and a 200-vehicle carpark at ground level.
The stadium court will be above the carpark, with the outside courts raised to the same level.
All the courts will be made of the plexicushion surface used at the Australian Open. The floodlighting on the outside courts will be upgraded to international standard, allowing more flexibility in tournament schedules.
A second phase will see upgraded seating and cover for the Yock Stand.
