Tennis: Open field only second-best, but it's still worth watching

By Foster Niumata

Every year Auckland's ATP Open organisers laud the quality of their field and tell everyone it's "the best ever."

Listen up: the best tennis Open field ever assembled at Stanley St was in 1969 and it will never be excelled.

There were Wimbledon champion Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Tony Roche, Pancho Gonzales, Ray Moore, women's No 1 Billie-Jean King, Ann Jones and locals Brian Fairlie, Onny Parun and Ruia Morrison-Davy.

Not to worry, the Heineken Open starting today is the best since, with two former No 1s, Marcelo Rios and Jim Courier, two former top-10ers, Felix Mantilla and Wayne Ferreira, hometown hero Brett Steven, and names to note, Marat Safin, Tommy Haas and Mariano Zabaleta.

World No 2 Rios, the classiest player to appear here since Laver, said the hamstring strain, which almost saw him withdraw, was improving.

"It's hurting a little bit but I think I'm pretty fit right now," said the relaxed defending champion, who declined a wildcard into the doubles with his new coach Luis Lobo to safeguard the hamstring.

Rios was bothered by injuries late last year, notably to his back, which affected his ambitions of ending Pete Sampras' long, year-end hold on No 1.

"I was a little bit unlucky. Every time I have a chance [at No 1] I get injured and I couldn't do it. But if you play good, you're always going to have a chance again."

He is the only past No 1 not to have won a grand slam, and though the 23-year-old Chilean made the Australian Open final a year ago, he was candid in admitting he still had mindwork to do.

"Maybe I'm not strong enough yet to concentrate for two weeks. For me, there are so many matches, five sets, and two weeks in the same hotel, same court. I think I get a little bit bored. I've got to work through that, got to be tough."

Did he sympathise with Sampras for withdrawing from the Australian, citing mental and physical fatigue? "A month's break [at year-end] is not enough. Maybe I'm too young to say, and I haven't travelled as much as Pete."
Rios likes his draw. He has beaten Romanian Andrei Pavel twice before, and has a likely second-round rematch with American Jeff Tarango, who Rios has beaten in their last four contests, including the 1997 Open.

Steven today faces third seed Wayne Ferreira. They have met every year since 1994 and so far only '95 was Steven's. He lost in Adelaide qualifying last week while Ferreira was beating Mark Philippoussis in the mixed team's Hopman Cup.

Tonight, Alistair Hunt plays Brazilian Fernando Meligeni, who lost to Mark Nielsen last summer. Steven, Hunt, Nielsen and James Greenhalgh have been named to the Davis Cup team to play China next month.

Nielsen, stripped of a wildcard by the Auckland Tennis board, who peferred Courier, lost a dramatic ualifying match to eventual qualifier, rangy Brazilian Andre Sa Nielsen.

Pictured: Brett Steven puts in some practice before facing a familiar opponent, Wayne Ferreira, today. It will be the sixth year in a row the two have met, with Steven's only victory coming in 1995. HERALD PICTURE / RUSSELL SMITH