KEY POINTS:
Okay, so it'd be stretching it to describe the Heineken Open as "the tournament that launched 1000 careers", but it has launched its fair share of seasons.
Once again, a tournament with a rich and storied history has attracted a top-quality field of international stars who are looking
to use it as a springboard to a successful 2008.
Some of them will undoubtedly succeed.
Last year David Ferrer came into the tournament ranked 14. This year he is at 5, having started last season with his first career hardcourt title in Auckland and ended it by knocking over everyone in sight in the Shanghai Masters. Everyone except, of course, Roger Federer.
Even the great Federer is part of the Auckland tournament's history, more for what he didn't do in 2000 (win a game, play on centre court etc).
This year's tournament has been blighted by withdrawals: likely second seed Guilermo Canas is injured; former champ Jonas Bjorkman's wife had a baby; and Italian Potito Starace was suspended for admitting to a couple of 10-buck bets.
But the field is still strong and if the sun continues to shine it is sure to be a cracking week.
Unless Dan King Turner has his body invaded by aliens - sort of like the opposite of what has happened to Michael Campbell - local interest in the tournament is likely to be short-lived.
The less said about the state of the men's game in this country the better.
But whoever wins the title will likely become an adopted son of many for the seasons ahead.
If the Auckland champion goes on to win the Australian Open, there'll be no shortage of Kiwi tennis fans saying: "that's our boy".
And, in a way, he really will be.
Heineken Open
Place: Auckland.
Date: January 7-12.
Draw Size: 32.
Surface: Hard - Rebound Ace.
Prize Money: US$464,000.
Director: Graham Pearce.
HOURS OF PLAY
Monday to Thursday - day
11am, evening 7pm.
Friday - noon start.
Saturday - finals, 1pm start.
FIVE WHO WON IT
Rod Laver (1960/61): Rated the greatest player of all time by many, Laver is the only player to have won all four Grand Slams in the same calendar year. He actually held all four titles twice; first as an amateur in 1962 and then as a pro in 1969. In all he won 184 singles titles, including 11 majors.
Bjorn Borg (1973/74): Three straight Wimbledons, three-straight French titles and, er, one straight NZ Open. Another whose name would come up in a discussion of the all-time greats, Borg matched Laver's 11 Slams and chalked up 97 titles.
Onny Parun (1972/73,1974/75, 1975/76): A regular quarter-finalist at Grand Slam level, New Zealand's last truly world class tennis player came closest to winning a major when he was beaten in the final of the Aussie Open in four sets by John Newcombe in 1973. He did, however, win three NZ titles in four years.
Chris Lewis (1984/85): The unseeded, mullet-headed Lewis' 1983 Wimbledon semifinal victory over Kevin Curren was one of the few times tennis has truly captured the nation's imagination. A thrilling five-setter, the match encapsulated all the great things about the game. But, just when tennis was on the verge of becoming the new black, Lewis went out and got trousered by John McEnroe in record time in the final. Oh well, at least he won the NZ Open two years later.
Gustavo Keurten (2003): Already with three French Open titles to his name when he rocked up to Auckland in 2003, Guga didn't disappoint local fans, dispatching Dominik Hrbaty in straight sets in the final. It was the third-last of the popular Brazilian and former world no1's 22 singles titles.
FIVE WHO DIDN'T
Roger Federer (2000): Rated recently by John McEnroe as the best there ever was and ever will be, the Fed Express has one gaping hole in his CV. In 2000, he was bounced out of Auckland in the first round on an outside court by Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Rafael Nadal (2004, 2005): The world's second-best player and Federer's lone nemesis on clay, Nadal almost took out the Auckland title at his first attempt. After being stopped in three sets in the 2004 final by Dominik Hrbaty, he came back the next year only to be dumped out by Hrbaty in the first round. Rumour has it he won't return until Hrbaty retires.
Goran Ivanisevic (2000, 2002): Probably the only 1.9m (6ft 4in) Croatian ever to achieve "darling" status in England when he won the 2001 Wimbledon title, the enigmatic people's champ once famously said there were "two Gorans". The one that could play a bit never really turned up at Auckland, going out in the first and third rounds.
Marat Safin (1999, 2002): Safin may have won the US and Australian Opens and been ranked No 1 in the world but he never got past the second round in Auckland. In 1999, he was knocked out in straight sets by none other than Brett Steven. A year later, he won the US Open. Steven didn't.
Juan Carlos Ferrero (2000, 2005, 2007): The former world No 1 and Grand Slam finalist has played five matches in Auckland for just two wins, although one of those wins was against Federer. Last year, he went out in the first round to Chilean Nicolas Massu and in 05 he suffered the same fate at the hands of some nameless Czech bloke who hopefully isn't back and doesn't read the Herald. JC is back, but I won't be putting any of my hard-earned on him.
DAVID FERRER
Country: Spain
Birth date: April 2, 1982
Birthplace: Javea (resides Valencia)
Plays: Right-handed
Tournament Entry Ranking: 5
Highest Singles Ranking: 5
The defending champion had an excellent 2007, starting with his success at the Heineken Open, his first hardcourt title.
Last year's success didn't come easy to Ferrer, who had to survive three-setters in the first round, quarters and semis.
In the final, Ferrer beat countryman Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-2, becoming the first Spaniard to win the title.
But it was Ferrer's efforts at the Masters Series events and Grand Slams which confirmed his place in the elite top-10 rankings.
At the Australian Open, he progressed to the fourth round and the US Open sealed him as a challenger to the big names. He beat David Nalbandian in the third round in five sets, Rafael Nadal in the fourth round and Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarters before being stopped by Novak Djokovic in the semis.
At Shanghai in the year-ending Masters, Ferrer had a remarkable run, beating world No 3, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal (2), Richard Gasquet (8) and Andy Roddick (5) in succession. Eventually he fell to Roger Federer in the final but he had already cemented his place among the big names in world tennis.
DAN KING-TURNER
Country: New Zealand
Birth date: May 15, 1984
Birthplace: Nelson, New Zealand (resides: Auckland)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Tournament Entry Ranking: 336
Highest Singles Ranking: 307 - April 2007
The only local player deemed worthy of a wildcard into the main draw, King-Turner will be massively up against it no matter who he draws in the first round.
Although he enjoyed some success in 2007, stepping up from Futures to Challenger events and boosting his ranking by more than 100 places, his achievements are modest in comparison to the rest of the field.
Marina Erakovic may have flown the Kiwi flag proudly at this week's ASB Classic but King Turner faces a vastly more difficult task.
The quality of the field at the Heineken is considerably superior to that of the women's tournament and the Kiwi No 1's ranking is much lower than his female counterpart.
If King Turner wins a set it will be a fine achievement.
If he wins a match it will be closer to a miracle.
Still, where there's life there's hope and all that.
MARIO ANCIC
Country: Croatia
Birth date: March 30, 1984
Birthplace: Split, Croatia (resides Monte Carlo)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Tournament Entry Ranking: 83
Highest Singles Ranking: 7
A genuine wildcard, Ancic is on the comeback trail after a run of injury problems.
A finalist in Auckland two years ago, Ancic's world ranking peaked later in 2006 at 7. Since then it has been all downhill, to his entry ranking of 86, which was not high enough to gain direct entry in to the tournament.
The Croat missed nearly six months of 2007 because of illness. It was in Marseille against Andreas Seppi that things started to go wrong for Ancic as he retired with mononucleosis (glandular fever), which kept him inactive until August.
JUAN IGNACIO CHELA
Country: Argentina
Birthdate: August 30, 1979
Birthplace: Buenos Aires
Plays: Right-handed
Tournament Entry Ranking: 20
Highest Singles Ranking: 15
One of an ever-growing band of top class Argentinians, Chela's no stranger to Auckland. A regular entrant to the event, he was a semifinalist in 2005 and a quarter-finalist last year. That was a result which heralded an extremely consistent 2007, culminating with his first season finish inside the world's top 20.
He won his fourth ATP title in Acapulco and, as well as being a quarter-finalist in Auckland, Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Stuttgart, Vienna and at the US Open, he also advanced to a semifinal in Costa do Sauipe. His top-eight run in New York was ended by this year's Heineken Open defending champion, David Ferrer. As Argentina's number three behind David Nalbandian and Guilermo Canas, he's also been involved in eight Davis Cup ties since 2000, and has a singles record of 6-5.
He returned at the Masters Series at Montreal but withdrew from tournament play at the US Open a few weeks later with a shoulder injury.
He still has the record as the last man to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon - in the first round in 2002.
XAVIER MALISSE
Country: Belgium
Birthdate: July 19, 1980
Birthplace: Kortrijk, Belgium (lives in Sarasota, Florida)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Tournament Entry Ranking: 31* protected injury ranking
Highest Singles Ranking: 28
His injury-protected ranking meant Malisse didn't need a wildcard to get into the tournament but he justifies the tag in every other sense.
A former Wimbledon semifinalist (2002) who has massive playing talent but a highly questionable temperament, Malisse had a 2007 blighted by injury. A right wrist injury kept him off the circuit for several months and he played only five tournaments last year, winning two of them - Delray Beach and Chennai - to give him a total of three career titles. His first was in 2005, again at Delray Beach, close to where he is based at Sarasota, Florida.
He has been a career semifinalist on eight occasions.
Has a major to his name, albeit in doubles, having won at Roland Garros in 2004.
Could just as easily win it as explode in the first round.
