Tennis: Spanish stars headline Auckland Open

World No 5 David Ferrer has made good on his promise to return to Auckland next year. Photo / Richard Robinson

Organisers of Auckland's international men's tournament played a strong opening game yesterday, revealing a top 10 player and a gifted lefthander as their first drawcards for January's event.

Defending champion and world No 5 David Ferrer of Spain has honoured a promise made early this year to return, and he is backed up by countryman Fernando Verdasco, world No 23, an exciting lefthander.

Heineken Open tournament director Richard Palmer had his sights on at least one player, possibly two, ranked between Nos 10 and 20. He's optimistic, and if he pulls that off he's got a top-class event.

To those who quibble at a field featuring players ranked between 50 and 70, Palmer has a vigorous riposte.

"You get the odd cynic [who'll say] you've only got one in the top 20, two from 20-30 and the rest at 60-70, but it's not even an argument as far as I'm concerned," Palmer said yesterday.

"The biggest sport is football globally. After that tennis is right up there. There are people from a huge number of countries playing, and you could have a field from 16 or 17 different nationalities.

"So a player ranked between 60 and 70 in the world? That's pretty darned good."

Spanish players like the Auckland event. The likes of former Grand Slam winner Juan Carlos Ferrero have been coming for years, and Palmer suspects Ferrer and Verdasco might be the vanguard of another cluster coming in January.

"They're comfortable here, they don't get hassled and the Spaniards are pretty tight," Palmer said.

Ferrer, 29, has won the Auckland event twice among his 11 ATP singles crowns, in 2007 and this year, when he cleaned out Argentine David Nalbandian in straight sets. This will be his eighth visit.

Only the longtime Big Four cabal - Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer - sit above him on the rankings. His terrier-like running has helped him pocket US$11 million ($13.9 million) in prizemoney, and he's in the ATP World Tour finals in London from November 20.

Verdasco, formerly world No 7, has won two ATP singles titles, has a booming forehand and is on his first visit to New Zealand.

The Spaniards played each other yesterday in the Valencia Open, top seed Ferrer winning in straight sets.

"He's a totally new face and I've chased him for some years because he is so popular," Palmer said of Verdasco. "He's quite excitable. You know what he's thinking on court, whether it's up or down, which is great."

About 35 of the world's top 50 have played in Auckland at least once, so attracting new names in the top echelon is difficult.

Players, Palmer pointed out, can be creatures of habit or a touch superstitious. If they've done well at an event, which has prefaced a strong year, they'll fancy returning.

In Ferrer's case, he gave his word to return and took little persuading.

"You get a lot of the 'same old, same old' comments - 'oh it's Ferrer again'. That's pretty nit-picky when you're No 5 in the world.

"We're delighted he's coming back. He's a class player and a lovely guy," Palmer said.

The full field for the Open, which starts on January 9, will be announced on November 30.