By TERRY MADDAFORD
The house-full signs are going up for some sessions as fans snap up tickets for Auckland's two international summer tournaments.
Yesterday's confirmation that world No 21 Jan-Michael Gambill (United States) will be at Stanley St for the Heineken Open has ensured the highest-class field ever for the Vodafone singles.
Gambill will be third seed behind Russian Marat Safin and Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, of Croatia.
His scalps this year have included world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt, of Australia, Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten and exciting young American Andy Roddick.
Gambill reached the finals of the Masters Series in Miami.
The 24-year-old will be making his fourth appearance in Auckland. He reached the quarter-finals this year and in his first outing four years earlier.
Such is the standard for the tournament from January 5 to 12 that the defending champion and world No 36, Dominik Hrbaty, of Slovakia, will be the eighth and final seed.
The player Hrbaty beat in this year's final, Spaniard Francisco Clavet, will not be seeded, even though he remains in the world's top 50.
At 32, Clavet is the oldest player on the ATP Tour.
He was among the most popular players at Stanley St this year.
Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) and Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) - the 1999 and 1996 winners respectively - will be the fourth and sixth seeds, separated by Britain's Greg Rusedski.
The seventh seed is Swede Andreas Vinciquerra.
Organisers expect Frenchman Jerome Golmard - ranked one place higher than Clavet - to be in the field, which is likely to have a cutoff of around 80 on latest rankings. Players certain to need wildcards to make the main event include two former French Open champions - Michael Chang (US) and Sergi Bruguera (Spain), the winners of many millions of dollars on the ATP Tour.
It is no surprise that in attracting big names for the men's tournament and the ASB Bank women's classic, pre-tournament ticket sales have reached unprecedented levels.
The Tuesday-Wednesday package for the December 31 to January 5 women's tournament, which guarantees the appearance of Russian Anna Kournikova, is close to a sellout.
Interest in the first day is also heavy. Conchita Martinez is scheduled to play on the opening day.
Ticket sales for later in the week have traditionally been slow but tournament organiser Richard Palmer said yesterday that at least 60 per cent of tickets had been snapped up.
"Normally we would have pre-sold about 20 per cent," Palmer said.
"The pre-sales for the classic are huge. We are already warning people not to wait for gate sales."
The demand is just as strong for corporate boxes.
Few of the 100 available for both tournaments are unsold.
"The interest in the women's tournament has definitely spilled over to the men," Palmer said.
"It promises to be the greatest fortnight of tennis seen in Auckland."
ASB Bank Classic full coverage
