Tennis: Erratic Spaniard's chance to prove world ranking

Nicolas Almagro will be second seed. Photo / Greg Bowker

He might be the world No 15 but Nicolas Almagro has plenty to prove to New Zealand tennis fans.

The hard-hitting but erratic Spaniard - who was yesterday confirmed as a wildcard for January's Heineken Open and will be the tournament's second seed - has not exactly covered himself in glory in previous visits to Auckland.

This year he came in as the fourth seed but appeared to suffer a wrist injury in a first-round doubles defeat and was quickly bundled out of the singles draw 0-6, 3-6 by Frenchman Marc Giquel.

Almagro barely raised a sweat in that match and did not appear overly perturbed by his exit. He then followed up his exertions in Auckland by making the round of 16 at the Australian Open - a run that included three five-set matches.

In four visits to Auckland he has never won consecutive matches and has a singles record of 3-4. His best effort was a quarter-final appearance in 2009 that came courtesy of a first-round bye and a second-round victory over Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei, but he was then easily accounted for by eventual finalist Sam Querrey.

"Almagro is an undeniable talent who is one of the hardest hitters in the world," tournament director Richard Palmer said.

"His results in 2010 speak for themselves. Winning two tournaments and making the quarters at Roland Garros is pretty impressive. The fact he is No 15 in the world shows that he is a top player. He adds even more depth to an already classy player list for 2011."

That may be so but Almagro, whose ranking peaked at 11 in 2008, will certainly need to up his effort if he is to add any real value to the tournament.

Almagro's presence means four of the eight seeds are Spanish. David Ferrer, the 2007 champion world No 7, is the top seed, while Albert Montanes (4th) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (7th) are also seeded.

Defending champion John Isner, the world No 19, is seeded third.

Qualifying begins on January 8-9 at the Albany Tennis Park, with the main tournament starting at the ASB Tennis Centre on January 10.