Tennis: Classic match-ups disappoint director

As the draw was being finalised yesterday for this week's ASB Classic, tournament director Richard Palmer could been seen in the background, his head briefly in his hands.

He had just heard tournament second seed and defending champion Yanina Wickmayer would play former world No 1 and three-time grand slam finalist Dinara Safina in the first round. Not ideal, you could say. One of his major drawcards would be eliminated before the tournament had really got going.

It didn't help that Kiwi hopefuls Sacha Jones had just been drawn to play two-time grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and Marina Erakovic will face the tournament's seventh seed and 2009 finalist Elena Vesnina. All this on top of the fact two matches will involve all four qualifiers.

Wickmayer had no such concerns. She wants to win the ASB Classic again but she also wants tough matches as she prepares for the much more important, and lucrative, Australian Open.

As the world's No 23 and a player who announced herself by advancing to the semifinals of the 2009 US Open as a little-known 20-year-old, she can compete with anyone. A former world No 1 holds no fear for her.

"It's tough," she says. "Safina is a great champion and had a couple of great years. I think it's the toughest one in the draw but I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a really good and exciting match.

"It's the first match of the year, so it will be new for both of us. It will be really important to find a rhythm and make it a good match."

Wickmayer has slipped into Auckland largely unnoticed. All attention has been on the Queen of Scream Maria Sharapova as well as Safina and Kuznetsova.

It's something Wickmayer is used to. As the No 3 ranked player in Belgium, behind multiple grand slam winners Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, she is sometimes an afterthought.

"I have no problems with that," she says. "I'm just here to play my matches, not to be in front of the others. Maria, Kuze [Kuznetsova] and Safina are here and all are former No 1s (Kuznetsova rose to No 2).

"I had all the attention [in Belgium] for one-and-a-half years when they [Clijsters and Henin] quit, which was quite tough. But it was good for me because I learned a lot. I learned how to deal with pressure.

"Now that I know how to do it, I have no problem with it. They are two great champions and I think everyone in Belgium are happy they are back and are really proud of them."

Last year was a decent one for Wickmayer. On top of her win in Auckland, she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open after being forced to enter qualifying because of her ban (later lifted) for failing to inform drug testers of her whereabouts and the fourth round of the US Open. She climbed to a career-high 12 in April but was plagued by an elbow injury in the latter part of the year.

"Last year was completely different to 2009," she says. "In 2009 I was the underdog everywhere and still the young girl who went somewhere for the first time. I showed everyone I can do it.

"Last year was the year I had to defend [the points from] my first year, which was quite difficult. It was a lot of pressure but I think I handled it well.

"I ended the year almost in the top 20, so I'm really happy how the year went.

"My great goal is top 10. If that's this year or next, I don't really focus on that. That's why I work every day and put all my energies into it."

For Jones, it was another difficult draw in only her second visit to the ASB Classic. In 2008 she was beaten in the first round by top seed Vera Zvonareva and is now contemplating meeting one of the world's best players.

"I'm actually really looking forward to this match," she says. "I don't see it as a disappointment at all. It will be a great opportunity.

"I have never played a player of her calibre before, a two-time grand slam winner, and she's someone I really admire. It will be fun to get out there."

Kuznetsova knows the crowd will be against her.

"It's not for the first time," she says with a rueful smile that looked a lot like the one on Palmer's face.

Four to watch:

DINARA SAFINA
(Russia)
Ranking: 63
Safina is probably best known for the fact she is a former world No 1 who has failed to win a grand slam title. She came close on a number of occasions, playing in three finals, but has been known to freeze at the big occasion. Safina is also the younger sister of two-time grand slam winner and former world No 1 Marat Safin, meaning they are the first brother and sister to reach No 1. She has slipped to No 63 (the first time she's been out of the top 20 in six years) after struggling with a back injury and form, and her hopes of making an immediate ascension will be put to the test with a first-round match against defending champion Yanina Wickmayer.

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
(Russia)
Ranking: 27
The two-time grand slam champion (2004 US Open, 2009 French Open) probably hasn't received the acclaim she deserves. She was a fixture in the world's top five for most of the past five years, peaking at No 2 in 2007, and has won 13 singles and 14 doubles championships. As well as her two grand slam titles, she's also played in two other finals (2006 French Open, 2007 US Open) and has accumulated a fortune in excess of $15 million. But she has also been erratic. She plays a high-octane game, refusing to pull back in even the tightest of situations, which has seen her described as reckless and stubborn. She had a difficult 2010, succumbing to injury and tiredness, but arrives in Auckland fit and hungry for success.

SACHA JONES
(New Zealand)
Ranking: 253
The Kiwi No 1 seems to have been on the verge of making a big move up the rankings for some time, only for injury and illness to interrupt her charge. It has meant she's missed the last two ASB Classics, although she controversially turned down a wildcard in 2009, opting to train in the US instead. The 20-year-old played only three tournaments in the first eight months of 2010 before a good run towards the end of the year. She won two ITF singles titles so will take some reasonable form into the ASB Classic but has a tough first-round match against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

MARINA ERAKOVIC
(New Zealand)
Ranking: 333
It was at this tournament two years ago that Marina Erakovic began her incredible surge up the rankings that took her to No 49 in the world. For a Kiwi, that was pretty good and long overdue for tennis fans here. Erakovic, however, can look only longingly up the rankings table now. The 21-year-old has had a wretched last 18 months, beset by injury and illness that has seen her ranking plummet to 333. Erakovic hopes 2011 brings better results, starting at the ASB Classic. It will be her sixth appearance at the tournament and only once has she failed to progress from the first round.