By TERRY MADDAFORD
Big sport, big dollars. A vicious circle. For Auckland Tennis, promoting two major tournament remains a huge gamble. This time, deservedly, it enjoyed a handsome return.
While the story of Tiger Woods and his appearance fee hogged headlines, tennis bosses, more circumspectly, also forked out to ensure marquee players turned up to play in the ASB Bank Classic and Heineken Open at Stanley St.
Such payments, nowadays, are a fact of international sport.
But when a couple of those big names - Conchita Martinez and Michael Chang (unlucky to draw top seed Marat Safin first up) spring readily to mind - were among early casualties, some jumped quickly on the knocking bandwagon.
But the impact these and other paid drawcards made was apparent long before the first ball was served in either tournament.
Pre-sales hit record levels, ensuring a handsome return.
But it needs plenty of New Zealand dollars at the gate to cover the huge payouts - in United States dollars - such tournaments demand.
Who cares how much Classic director Richard Palmer had to shell out to get Anna Kournikova? Nobody.
Was she value for money? Certainly.
Without the Russian star - and, yes, her tennis ability matched her other more obvious talents - pre-sales would have fallen well short of the record levels the Classic enjoyed.
Positioning the tournaments as the lead-in to the first of the year's Grand Slams, the Australian Open, has benefits - and some drawbacks.
For many players it is their first competitive play in a couple of months. At times, that shows.
But offering the same court surface and using the same balls as the world's best will have in Melbourne remains an obvious attraction.
These tournaments do not need a crowd-pulling New Zealand player to succeed, although a Brett Steven or one of the big New Zealand names of past years would obviously add something.
But the chance is there for players with ATP or WTA aspirations to take their first, albeit tentative, steps.
Palmer, and his Open counterpart, Graham Pearce, the Auckland Tennis chief executive, have long given New Zealand players all possible opportunities in handing out wildcards.
The tournaments are not just about the tennis played on court. They are the chance to showpiece one of the world's most popular sports in style. They are also entertainment. The on-court shop window is backed by a professional behind-the-scenes operation.
The little touches - jazz bands, floral displays, fashion shows, Heineken House, a pianist, kids' day when 300 to 400 get to hit with their heroes, and a charity auction which continues to raise big money for Starship - contribute to an atmosphere rarely seen in New Zealand.
Stanley St, once tagged the Wimbledon of the South Pacific, retains an intimate setting offering good viewing for around 3500, including a strong corporate presence.
There are big development plans - an ambitious $14 million project, including a sliding roof.
Big plans demand big money. For a stadium used for just two weeks a year at this level, many question the justification of such spending.
Officials do, however, acknowledge the need to upgrade. That will, they hope, start this year, but come next January do not expect too many changes.
Auckland Tennis might well point to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" adage.
The game in Auckland is in good heart. The 40,000 people who streamed through the gates certainly got value for money with some great tennis. They will, for sure, be back.
The mission for Pearce and Palmer is to come up with something better. That won't be easy.
ASB Bank Classic full coverage
Anna Kournikova picture gallery
