Tennis: Safina entry adds more spice to Classic

Former No 1 Dinara Safina is now ranked 63rd. Photo / Getty Images

The late and somewhat unexpected entry of former world No 1 Dinara Safina into next year's ASB Classic has bolstered what organisers were already calling the highest-profile line-up seen in Auckland.

Tournament officials yesterday unveiled the full line-up for the 2011 event, with Safina joining compatriots Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova and Belgian Yanina Wickmayer as the main drawcards.

Having already pulled off a big coup in signing Sharapova for the January tournament, the inclusion of Safina was considered a bonus for tournament director Richard Palmer, who had not been banking on securing another Russian starlet.

Safina's agent approached Palmer three or four weeks ago and inquired whether there was any money in the pot to pay her appearance fee. Palmer's answer to which was "no", for one very obvious reason - he'd already used up the cash to lure Sharapova to Auckland.

He heard nothing more until two weeks ago when he was asked to supply a letter of invitation for Safina's visa. When Safina's name was still on the final list yesterday morning, Palmer knew they had their girl.

Safina, now ranked 63rd in the world after an injury-plagued season, enters the tournament unseeded.

"She hadn't done quite so well this year, she had some issues with her form and she has dropped quite a bit in the rankings. Often players in that situation like to change things up a bit and try something different to get them back on track," Palmer said.

Safina is one of eight new faces appearing at next year's tournament, adding further intrigue to what Palmer describes as a "class field full of potential".

If you were to judge on current world rankings, this year's field was stronger. But in terms of big names and crowd appeal, the 2011 tournament was unlikely to be surpassed for some time.

"You can talk numbers some years and say 'oh well, we've had five players in the top 20 before', but this one here we've got two former No 1s, and you've got [Kuznetsova] a former world No 2, and she was in the top 10 for a long time.

"Five grand slam titles between them, 10 grand slam finals between them - we've never ever had those numbers before in terms of reaching the top of the sport and playing in grand slams at that level," said Palmer.

Another player making her first appearance in Auckland is Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko, who has a current ranking of 36 but has been as high as 19.

Bondarenko is seeded fourth for the tournament, with Germany's Julia Georges fifth.