Tennis: Classic nets Venus (and her tennis wardrobe) as star attractions

This is where you would normally read about how excited Venus Williams is to be coming to Auckland in the New Year as the star attraction for the women's tennis Classic.

But in a demonstration that Auckland Tennis is far better at recruiting than communications technology, yesterday's Skype hook-up with Williams failed.

Instead, ubiquitous ASB Classic tournament director Richard Palmer was forced to serve up the platitudes about the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion.

With an already limited schedule that has been further affected by a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that can cause fatigue and joint pain, Williams' world ranking has plummeted to 104.

"She'll require a wild card, which I'd say it's pretty safe to say I'll give her," Palmer joked. "I think I can stick my neck out on that one."

Issuing wildcards has been an annual sore point among the New Zealand tennis fraternity, with many believing New Zealanders should have first dibs.

With Marina Erakovic having climbed the rankings this year to No 62, she should have direct entry into the main draw, removing at least one worry line from Palmer's forehead.

Sacha Jones, ranked 214, will be the frontrunner for the other guaranteed wildcard.

Palmer approached Williams' agent some time ago, but heard nothing until recently when he said the 31-year-old would like to come.

"We had to stick within our budget obviously and it had to be reasonable for her," Palmer said.

The figure, which will not be made public, was arrived at without fuss, but it is unlikely to be as high as the US$100,000 it reportedly took to secure Maria Sharapova last year. It is not the first time the tournament has tried to lure Williams, but a previous attempt never got to the formal negotiating stage.

Despite Williams, older sister of 13-time Grand Slam singles winner Serena, occupying a rung on the rankings ladder more usually associated with scufflers than superstars, she will be a drawcard of a similar stature to Sharapova.

"Everybody knows her. Even if you're not a tennis person you know her name. There's a curiosity," Palmer said. "Quite often a player of that calibre brings people into your stadium and into your sport.

"She's very athletic, she hits the ball very hard. She's flamboyant, too. She tends to dress in different clothing, which is a curiosity piece for the odd person."

Williams' fashion sense - she has her own line of clothing called EleVen - sometimes goes beyond the cutting edge. At the 2010 US Open she wore a short, short hot-pink outfit, while the same year she gave Parisians an eyeful by wearing flesh-coloured undergarments beneath a black lacy corset dress.

Palmer said he had money left in reserve to add some depth to the tournament, which is used by players in their build-up to the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam.

Former world No 1 and current No 14 Jelena Jankovic's name has been bandied around, as have Andrea Petkovic (No 10), Francesca Schiavone (No 11) and Victoria Azarenka (No 4). Even one or two of that group would add some real punch to the line-up.

The defending champion is Hungary's Greta Arn, ranked 65 in the world.