By Suzanne McFadden
A string of phone calls from a fishing boat on Lake Taupo has landed the biggest star to play in Auckland's women's international tennis tournament.
Mary Joe Fernandez, once ranked fourth in the world, is a late call-up for next week's ASB Bank Classic women's tournament in Auckland.
Tournament director Richard Palmer was trout fishing with his sons on Lake Taupo when he made the arrangements to hook Fernandez.
He cannot remember a brighter star coming to Auckland for the women's tournament in modern times.
"She's one of the icons of modern tennis," he said.
"And the exciting thing is, she could pair up with Chanda Rubin in the doubles - they'd be the ones to watch."
Rubin has scaled as high as sixth on the WTA tour.
Miami-based Fernandez could unreservedly be called a doubles expert. She has won doubles gold medals at the last two Olympic games and won two Grand Slam doubles titles.
She is no slouch solo either - she has reached the singles finals at the French and Australian Opens (twice) and has collected more than $US5 million ($9.6 million) prize money in her 13-year career.
Fernandez, who is superstitious about stepping on the lines on court, was to have played in a demonstration match in Wellington next month against former world No 1 Monica Seles on their way to the Australian Open.
But promoters pulled the plug through a lack of money and Fernandez became available for the "next-in" list in Auckland.
For the last 10 years, Fernandez has consistently sat in the world's top 20. But her ranking has now plummeted to 77.
Arthroscopic surgery on her right wrist meant she had to miss the early part of the 1998 season, including the Australian Open, and then a wrist strain forced her out of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Now 27, Fernandez was considered a child prodigy - the youngest player to win a United States Open match, at 14 years and eight days.
The next youngest in the record books, Jennifer Capriati, has now missed the cut for the Classic and does not want a wildcard entry.
These days ranked 101, she is a casualty of the lowest cut-off in the tournament's history.
The cut this summer is 82, the ranking belonging to former winner Sandra Cacic.
Fernandez was joined by three other latecomers yesterday, German Andrea Glass (76), Argentine Paola Suarez (80) and Marlene Weingartner, a former German junior champion who earned entry through finishing runner-up at the Bad Gogging tournament in Germany.
Weingartner was given a wildcard for the ASB Bank Classic two years ago.
But this time the wildcard entries look certain to go to New Zealanders Rewa Hudson and Leanne Baker later this week.
Tennis: Auckland Classic hooks a big one
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