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Classic director Richard Palmer reckons there is room for cautious optimism about the health of the country's women's tennis after handing New Zealanders all eight available wildcard spots in next month's Auckland international event.
Most of the decisions were no-brainers. The three wildcards into the main singles draw have gone to the country's top-ranked player, world No 160 Marina Erakovic, the brightest up-and-comer, fellow Aucklander Sacha Jones, and Te Awamutu lefthander Leanne Baker.
The four free passes into the singles qualifying have gone to obvious contenders - Shona Lee and Kairangi Vano of Auckland, Canterbury's Ellen Barry and Otago's North Harbour-based Diane Hollands.
And in deciding the one wildcard into the ASB Classic doubles draw, Palmer has plumped for Erakovic, who is ranked No 275, over Baker, who is No 161. Palmer's logic is simple: Baker, who won three US$50,000 doubles titles this year, has had opportunities to get to a position where she could command an automatic entry. Erakovic, who this year won three singles titles, is on the rise in both singles and doubles.
"To give your No 2 player two cards and only one to your No 1 would have been a big call," Palmer said last night. He had spoken to Baker at her US base and said her reaction was impressive.
Palmer likes what he's seen of the New Zealand women this year. "They have all proved themselves in the past 12 months at various levels with some encouraging results. It's great to be able to give the wildcards to the Kiwis and know that we are starting to develop some depth."
It will be the first time since 1991 that three New Zealanders have been in the singles main draw of the Classic. Qualifying starts on December 30, with the first round on New Year's Day.
