Even more star power could be added to the men's field at the ASB Classic, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga framing as a possibility to take up a wildcard into the Auckland tournament.
The event already boasts former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, as well as world No8 Jack Sockand three other top-20 players, alongside with several promising next generation names.
But the 32-year-old Tsonga would be the cherry on a multi-layered cake.
The Frenchman pulled out of next week's Qatar Open citing a wrist injury, but still hopes to enter the Australian Open in a fortnight.
That leaves Auckland or Sydney as possible options for match practice - should he recover sufficiently in the next few days - and ASB Classic tournament director Karl Budge is in talks with his camp, as well as Milos Raonic and Marcos Baghdatis.
"Jo, Milos, Marcos, there's a number of options in that space at the moment," said Budge. "But until we've got one where it's worth us committing now, we'll hold it as long as we need to.
"The fact that the phone vibrated yesterday from Jo's agent says why we hold. You wait for that opportunity and there's no reason at the moment for us to commit early."
"[Jo] knows we've got a wildcard up our sleeve, and he knows we'll hold one," added Budge. "[But] I've said I won't necessarily commit it if he turned around and said 'Yup, I want to play'."
