KEY POINTS:
Life was pretty good for Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003. He had just won the French Open, his first (and only) Grand Slam title, and soon after was world No 1.
He also won three other titles, made the US Open final, where he was beaten by Andy Roddick, led his country to the Davis Cup final, received Spain's Sportsman of the Year award from King Juan Carlos and finished the year ranked a highly respectable No 3.
Everything was wonderful, much happiness, Ferrero recalled yesterday after a practice session with compatriot and world No 14 David Ferrer soon after arriving in the country for this week's Heineken Open.
"Everything seemed very easy and even when you play bad, you still have a chance to win. The other guys have more respect when they play against you.
"Everyone wants to be your friend, for sure, but now I don't think too much about it."
That's the thing about tennis. Tournaments roll around so quickly and players come and go more regularly than a No 22 bus that it's all about next week and the next tournament.
But it's one thing reaching the top of the world, it's another to stay there - unless, of course, your name is Roger Federer.
A series of injuries and poor form saw Ferrero drop outside the world's top 30 only 12 months later and after a difficult couple of years on tour, he did what a lot of athletes do - he contemplated his future.
At 26, he still has plenty of time left in the game but having won 11 singles titles, including a Grand Slam, and more than US$10 million in prize money, he had achieved more than most could ever dream of.
"I didn't play my best tennis last year and I had to rest for one month with injury," he explained. "I had to think about what I am going to do. I decided to come with a lot of goals. One of the important ones for me is to get into the top 10 again."
That quest starts tomorrow at the Heineken Open. Now ranked 23rd in the world, Ferrero is the tournament's sixth seed and will meet Chilean Nicolas Massu in a tricky first round encounter.
This is Ferrero's third visit to Auckland. He beat Federer in the first round in 2000 before losing in the quarter-finals and was a first round casualty in 2005.
But he was a notable absentee last year when his agent failed to lodge his entry form in time, despite having registered his intention to play.
He was instead handed a wildcard to the Sydney tournament because all the Heineken Open wildcards had been handed out.
He didn't feel like he owed the tournament one after last year's mix-up but his presence has helped ensure one of the strongest fields in Open history.
The Mosquito, as he is known because of his speed around the court and wiry, strong physique, would love to become a pest once more on the ATP tour.
He knows, however, just how hard it will be to break into the top 10 again, given the evenness of players below Federer and Rafael Nadal.
"I have a lot of experience in tennis so I know what I have to do to make it," he said.
"It's very difficult. You can see with Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, they went from No 1 in the world into the 100s and got up the rankings again. We are not like machines, we are humans.
"Sometimes we don't play our best tennis but this year I want to come back with power."
If he does, life is likely to be full of happiness for Ferrero once more.
Five to watch
Tommy Robredo (World ranking 7)
The top seed comes into the Heineken Open in good form after helping Spain to the Hopman Cup final. He then lost the crucial tie to Russia's Dmitry Tursunov in Perth but looked jaded after Spain's final pool match had ended in the early hours of the previous morning.
He also picked up two singles titles in 2006, including a Masters Series event in Hamburg, but his four career singles titles have all been on clay. It's Robredo's second visit to Auckland - his first ended with an opening round loss to Dutchman Raemon Sluiter in 2005.
Gael Monfils (46)
The tournament was robbed of a major drawcard when Mark Philippoussis pulled out (for the second year in a row) with a knee injury. But his replacement is arguably a bigger attraction. Gael Monfils is a rising star who climbed to 23 in the world after reaching the fourth round of last year's French Open only to slip down the rankings because of injury. The former world's best junior (he won the junior Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon in 2004) has that joie de vivre and was rated by James Blake as "the fastest man on tour". He's also likely to be the only one to have won a major paddle tennis tournament (defeating the world No 1 in the first round) after he received a wildcard into the singles draw.
Gaston Gaudio (34)
In April 2005, Gaston Gaudio was the fifth-ranked player in the world. The Argentinian picked up five singles titles that year, on top of the French Open he won in 2004, and looked set for a lengthy spell among the world's elite. The fact he is now among the 30s is a reflection of how he plays - unpredictably. One minute he is running an opponent ragged with his single-handed backhand and clever dropshots, the next he is imploding. "I think that always myself is my worst opponent," he once said, admitting he works with a psychologist. The fact he married Argentinian actress Marcela Kloosterboer last month should put him in the right frame of mind and he's capable of at least matching his best run in four visits to Auckland, when he reached the semifinals in 2000.
Mario Ancic (9)
The big-serving Croat enjoyed his best year on the circuit in 2006, breaking into the top 10 for the first time and winning two ATP titles. The run started in Auckland, where he was beaten in the final by Jarkko Nieminen. Much has been expected of Ancic ever since he practised with his idol Goran Ivanisevic as a 10-year-old (he's often referred to as Baby Goran) and then defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2001 (the first teenager to win on centre court since Bjorn Bjorg and the last man to beat Federer there). He arrived in Auckland yesterday after teaming up with his younger sister in the Hopman Cup.
Dan King-Turner (458)
Dan King-Turner won't win the Heineken Open. He's unlikely to go all that far. But he's this country's No 1 men's player and it's only right a place goes to a Kiwi at New Zealand's only ATP Tour event. The 22-year-old was a first-round casualty last year but won his first Futures singles title in July and made the final of another in what was his first full year as a professional. King-Turner has his eyes on breaking into the world's top 100 - a good showing in Auckland might convince people he's capable of doing just that.
