Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten will be back in Auckland to defend his Heineken Open tennis title in January along with this year's beaten finalist, Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.
Also confirmed for the tournament is American veteran Todd Martin.
Kuerten, ranked 15th in the world, won his 19th career singles title two weeks ago at St Petersburg, Russia, beating Sargis Sargsian in the final of the St Petersburg Open.
Hrbaty, who won the Heineken title in 2001, will be making his sixth appearance in Auckland.
Martin, who has never played in New Zealand, is regarded as one of the toughest competitors to beat on the circuit.
Although at age 33 he is the second oldest player in the world's top 100 , he is still a force to be reckoned with after this year beating Kuerten in the second round at Wimbledon and rising American star Andy Roddick on the way to a quarterfinals spot at the Tennis Masters series in Miami.
Martin has been a finalist in two grand slams - the Australian Open in 1994, where he was beaten by Pete Sampras and the US Open in 1999 where he lost to Andre Agassi.
"It's great for the 2004 Heineken Open that both finalists are returning," tournament director Graham Pearce said today.
Prize money for the January 12-17 event has been raised to $US404,000 ($NZ668,099).
- NZPA
Tennis: Champion and runner-up back for Heineken open
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