KEY POINTS:
A trickledown effect from the world's finest players taking a week off in January is causing headaches for Auckland international men's tournament organisers.
Auckland's Heineken Open runs from January 12-17, immediately before the Australian Open.
It is on at the same time as the Sydney Medibank International, which carries the same prizemoney, the cash-happy eight-man Kooyong exhibition, and an event in Adelaide comprising teams of one former leading player and a current one from the same country.
And the cumulative effect is that it's a difficult business attracting top-drawer players to Auckland.
Four of the world's top eight players - No 1 Rafael Nadal, No 3 Novak Djokovic, No 4 Andy Murray and No 8 Andy Roddick - are taking a break that week. Had they opted to play, they would most likely have been at Kooyong.
And that means Kooyong, armed with a fat wallet for its field of eight, has had to lower its sights, although world No 2 Roger Federer is topping their field.
So they have scooped up players Sydney and Auckland would ordinarily have had a real crack at attracting, like world No's 10, 11 and 12, former Auckland champion Fernando Gonzalez, American James Blake and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and entertainers Marat Safin (No 34) and Marcos Bagdatis (No 42).
Sydney have secured No 7-ranked Argentine David Nalbandian with a regular Auckland visitor, Spaniard Tommy Robredo (No 19), and eye-catching French pair Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No's 14 and 15).
Another Frenchman, Gael Monfils (No 18), is playing at Adelaide, where golden oldies like Mats Wilander, Jim Courier and Henri Leconte are turning out in a gimmicky teams format.
Once the dust has settled, the remaining pickings for Auckland and, to a degree, Sydney are slim.
"There are still some options but there is a flowdown effect," Open director Richard Palmer said last night.
"Those options are getting more limited every day, but I'm still optimistic."
Names in the top 20 still thought to be open to offers include world No 5 David Ferrer of Spain, who won the Auckland title last year, fellow Spaniards No 9 Juan Martin del Potro, No 13 Fernando Verdasco and No 17 Nicolas Almagro, and No 16 Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Appearance money is open slather on the men's ATP Tour and no matter the global financial climate, Auckland's chequebook cannot match those of Middle East and Australian exhibitions in the first two weeks of the year, not to mention Sydney.
