Michael Brown: Winning isn't everything

The Heineken Open's greatest asset is also its greatest weakness.

The timing and proximity to the Australian Open is attractive to players but it is also a concern, especially for those who go deep into the tournament.

Tournament director Richard Palmer is in a difficult position. He routinely attracts a quality field and this year's line-up saw the top eight seeds ranked inside the world's top 31. The original cut-off was an impressive 63. Few tournaments can boast a draw that good.

The tournament's timing, one week before the Australian Open, is one of the big attractions. Players need a hit-out before heading to Melbourne, and Auckland provides it in a low-key and enjoyable environment.

The problem is that, for some, it is just a hit-out. It seems some have little intention of actually winning the tournament. That would mean arriving in Melbourne only one day before the start of the first grand slam of the year and there's a line of thought that's not enough time to acclimatise. It would mean up to five matches inside six days - more than most want.

It's a blight of the ATP Tour but players are known to 'tank' matches. They don't give their all. If they win, fine. If they don't, that's fine also.

But it is disrespectful to fans who fork out their hard-earned money every January to see the best tennis this country has to offer and does little for a sport battling recent accusations of match fixing.

Trying your best at all times and to win and lose with dignity are at the very heart of sport.

A handful of performances at last week's Heineken Open, however, fell short of that. It seemed some were happy with a second-round exit, collect their winnings and, in some cases, appearance fee and jump on the first plane to Melbourne. It's easier to do that in an individual sport like tennis in which no one else relies on you.

There's little Palmer or the ATP Tour can do about it. A player inside the world's top 63 won't go hungry if they don't collect the US$64,250 winner's cheque and there are bigger riches to be earned at the Australian Open.

A second-round exit in Melbourne earns US$31,000 - comparable to the US$33,780 handed out to the losing finalist at the Heineken Open - while the winner collects a staggering US$2 million.

Tennis has enjoyed a great couple of weeks in Auckland. The ASB Classic, a tournament players genuinely want to win, was poor largely because players were out of form and only three of the 31 matches went to three sets.

The Heineken Open had some tighter contests and enjoyed a good finals day with a Kiwi winning the doubles and the men's final going to three, tight sets. But it lost four seeds as early as the second round and two more in the quarter-finals. Yesterday's final was contested by two unseeded players.

Fans like to see the big names, recognisable players, but many had departed before spectators had settled into their seats.

It would be preposterous to suggest all players approached the tournament in a cavalier fashion, of course, and those at the end really want it. But knowledgeable fans can tell if a player's heart isn't in it.

The Heineken Open will undoubtedly attract another good field in 2011.

It would be nice to think all of the players actually want to win it.