KEY POINTS:
It's not like Sergei Bubka has vaulted into contention for this year's Heineken Open.
The Ukrainian is not the famous pole vaulter who broke 35 world records and won six consecutive world championships but the son of the same name - making a career for himself in a
different sport and who will enter qualifying for the January 12-17 event in the hope of joining 27 others in the main draw.
With a world ranking of 277, the 21-year-old has a tough challenge ahead but he is at least going in a direction his famous father mastered with a 6.4m-long pole in his hands - upwards.
Sergei Bubka jnr started the year ranked 477 and dipped to as low as 641 but a series of decent results on the Challenger and Futures tours has seen him in more respectable territory. He might still have to rely on dad for some spare change, given he won a meagre US$34,490 on tour in 2008.
He rarely manages to slip into a tournament unnoticed, despite his lowly ranking, although he did just that four years ago when playing an ITF juniors event in Auckland.
"I just didn't click at the time," Heineken Open tournament director Richard Palmer says. It won't happen this time.
Bubka jnr is accustomed to people taking an interest in him. "It's a little bit strange but I'm used to it," he said after making his debut at the 2003 Australian Open juniors.
"People have been coming up to me for years and saying, 'you're the son of a famous father'. I just wish one day it will be about me."
There will also be interest in another qualifier - two-time Heineken Open champion and former world No 12 Dominik Hrbaty. Now ranked 255, it will be his 10th visit to the tournament but the first time he has had to qualify. His career has been on the wane for the past two years as age and injury catch up with him.
Palmer will announce the bulk of his players on Wednesday but it is shaping as one of the strongest fields at the top end.
Three top-20 players have already been
confirmed - Juan Martin Del Potro (9), David Ferrer (12) and Nicolas Almagro (18) and Palmer is confident of delivering at least one more.
"We are chasing Robin Solderling and Igor Andreev," he said. "I'm very confident we will get Solderling - it's pretty likely he will come - and we are still talking to Andreev.
"Four top-20 players would be fantastic and, who knows, we might get five and we've never had that many before. To get what we have at this point, I am very pleased."
Last year, the Heineken Open attracted only two players in the world's top 20 at the time - Ferrer and Juan Ignacio Chela.
Sweden's Solderling is ranked a career-high 17 after an impressive year on tour highlighted by the winning of his second ATP title. His coach is fellow Swede Magnus Norman, who won in Auckland in 2000, when he beat Michael Chang in the final. Russian Andreev has had most success on clay and was a quarter-finalist at the 2007 French Open.
Radek Stepanik (27) is expected to play in Auckland, especially as girlfriend and former world No 7 Nicole Vaidisova is playing the ASB Classic the preceding week, while 47th ranked Igor Kunitsyn, who beat countryman Marat
Safin in the Moscow Open final two months ago, is also a likely starter.
Two of the three wildcards are likely to go to New Zealand's top two players, Rubin Statham (415) and Dan King-Turner (463).
