Tennis: Star has ultimate pulling power

In recent years New Zealand has provided safe harbour for a galleon-full of Spanish men headed to Australia.

Seduced by over-inflated rankings achieved behind the baseline on dirt courts, the Armada - as they are inevitably dubbed - more often than not flatters to deceive.

Despite the numbers who pass through here, only one Spaniard, David Ferrer, has won the Heineken Open.

The ASB Classic, which begins in Auckland on Monday, has looked to Siberia rather than Iberia. Four Russians have made it into the main draw, and Elena Bovina may join them through the qualifying rounds.

Not just any old Russians either. Third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova is a four-time Grand Slam finalist and has won two, the 2004 US Open and the 2009 French Open.

Her most recent Grand Slam triumph came against Dinara Safina, runner-up three times at Grand Slam events. The 24-year-old sister of Marat Safin is seeded 14th as she fights her way back into the upper echelons after injury and a loss of form plagued her 2010.

Seventh seed Elena Vesnina has the lowest profile of the Russians, but has three WTA titles to her name and has been ranked as high as 15 in the world.

Which leaves just Maria Sharapova who can play a bit.

Make no bones about it, Sharapova is the difference between a highly anticipated week at Stanley St and a fairly flat field.

Defending champion Yanina Wickmayer and Kuznetsova - seeded two and three behind Sharapova - are fine players, but they are not charismatic.

Outside the top three, there are plenty of names familiar only to dedicated followers of the WTA.

Arguably the second-highest profile player at Auckland will be attempting to battle her way through the qualifiers. Sania Mirza has ranked as high as No27 but lately has been more famous for marrying Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

If Mirza makes it through the qualifying rounds she will have an advantage over players from the main draw in that she will have competitive match play under her belt.

But it goes without saying a first-round exit or, even worse, a late injury withdrawal for Sharapova will be the stuff of nightmares for tournament director Richard Palmer.

CLASSIC SEEDINGS

1 Maria Sharapova (RUS) World ranking 18

2 Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 23

3 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 27

4 Julia Goerges (GER) 40

5 Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 45

6 Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) 46

7 Elena Vesnina (RUS) 52

8 Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 53

9 Elena Baltacha (GBR) 55

10 Anne Keothavong (GBR) 55 (Special ranking)

11 Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 57

12 Dinara Safina (RUS) 63

13 Romina Oprandi (ITA) 66

14 Johanna Larsson (SWE) 68

15 Shuai Peng (CHN) 71

16 Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 72

17 Edina Gallovits (ROU) 76

18 Ayumi Morita (JPN) 77

19 Alize Cornet (FRA) 79

20 Simona Halep (ROU) 81

21 Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) 83

22 Renata Voracova (CZE) 84

23 Lourdes Dinguez Lino (ESP) 85

24 Greta Arn (HUN) 88