Tennis: Pierce remains hope for ASB Classic organiser

Richard Palmer has mixed feelings about Mary Pierce's return to her old form.

On the one hand he is delighted the 30-year-old has regained her touch. On the other, as director of the ASB Classic, he knows her bold showings at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows could end any hopes he had of getting her to Auckland this summer.

"I had a long chat with her at the US Open," Palmer said. "She said she would love to come back down here again. She says she is enjoying her tennis at the moment and we would love to have her back.

"Despite her good run lately, I'm certainly not putting a line through her at this stage especially as she tends to make her decisions rather than working with an agent."

But he has been able to eliminate some names after his trip to New York and discussions with various player agents.

One of the Williams sisters will be in Hong Kong for the annual exhibition tournament, the other will play Hopman Cup in Perth.

Rising Indian star Sania Mirza is heading to Hong Kong as is Lindsay Davenport, and Maria Sharapova and young Czech Nicole Vaidisova have already committed to the tier-three Gold Coast tournament which is being played at the same time as Auckland.

"I would have to say Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters are unlikely as is regular visitor Elena Likhovtseva who seems to be winding her career down," Palmer said.

But he holds greater hopes of luring American Jennifer Capriati to Auckland.

"She is not playing again this year as she comes back from injury. But she wants to play next year," he said.

"I spoke to her agents and they certainly did not discount the chances of her playing here. She would be a definite wildcard possibility."

As are some young Russian players.

"Anna Chakvetadze is only 17 but she is already No 24 in the world. But, as she is still a junior she can only play a certain number of WTA tournaments a year.

"For that reason, she is likely to opt for a higher tier event."

And that fact has not been lost on Palmer who feels it is time to seriously look at raising the status of the tournament to tier three.

But is does not come cheap.

A tier-three franchise, if there is one available (and that seems likely), costs US$500,000 ($709,000) and must offer a minimum US$175,000 prizemoney - US$30,000 more than the Classic pays as tier four.

"There is the possibility of leasing a tournament but we would also have to get the WTA to agree to playing two tier-three tournaments in the same week," said Palmer.

"The other option would be to pay less for the franchise and offer tier-three points and prize money but not get the player guarantees."

That is all in the future with the 2007 tournament the earliest possible opportunity for the upgrade.

In the meantime, Palmer will continue playing telephone tag with agents in the hope of signing players for his January 2-7 Classic.

"It seems very likely Katarina Srebotnik will be back to defend her title. Eleni Daniilidou is another possibility. She has had a rough year with injury and has met a number of good players early in her tournaments including Sharapova in the first round at the US Open."