KEY POINTS:
World No 9 Juan Martin Del Potro and former No 4 David Ferrer should be the headline acts but the quest for the Heineken Open title looks as wide open as ever.
Del Potro and Ferrer, along with Swede Robin Soderling and Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, will have a considerable advantage with byes into the second round but there is no shortage of genuine title contenders in the 28-man field.
The change from a 32 to 28-player draw was designed to help the tournament attract top players and, to a degree, that has worked with Del Potro heading to Auckland for the second time. Tennis fans will, however, be disappointed nothing came of negotiations with world No 3 and Maria Sharapova impersonator Novac Djokovic. The reigning Australian Open champion was approached by organisers after being knocked out of the season-opening tournament in Brisbane in the first round by Ernests Gulbis.
That defeat will leave Djokovic short of match practice ahead of the Melbourne Grand Slam but he is said to have baulked at travelling to New Zealand.
However, there are plenty of other drawcards. Having improved his ranking from 218 to 63 in the space of a year, Japanese wildcard Kei Nishikori is the fastest-rising player in the game. Other challengers to Del Potro and Ferrer - the 2007 champion - could come from defending champion Philipp Kolschreiber, Juan Monaco, Gulbis and last year's beaten finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Only a diehard optimist would suggest there will be a sustained Kiwi challenge at this year's Heineken Open.
The nation's No 1-ranked player, Rubin Statham, will be in the main draw courtesy of a wildcard. But, with a world ranking of 414, Staham is well short of the level needed to make a run in an ATP event. The cut-off for direct entry into the tournament was 60, with Argentinian Augustin Callieri the last man in as of right.
Statham has been making progress in his career, improving his ranking from 557 this time last year to take over as the country's No 1 from Dan King-Turner.
Having slipped to 463 from 307, King-Turner's career has been going in the opposite direction.
The big-serving redhead should have caused an upset at last year's event when he took the first set off world No 20 Juan Ignacia Chela, but his game deserted him in the deciding set when the match was there for the taking.
King-Turner was in the mix for the tournament's final wildcard but, having failed to win a match in three previous chances at the tournament, it would be no surprise if he was overlooked for a foreigner with more star quality.
Two-time champion Dominik Hrbaty is in the mix, as is former Olympic champion Nicolas Massu.
Perhaps the most encouraging performance last year came from G.D. Jones, who won through three rounds of qualifying before falling to Massu in the first round. The odds of that happening again are long indeed.
Juan Martin del Potro
Ranking: 9
Nationality: Argentinian
Age: 20
Height: 1.98m
Weight: 88kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 4
Prize money (US$): $1,926,786
The youngest player in the top 10, the Argentinian compiled a remarkable 23-match winning streak in 2008, taking out tournaments in Stuttgart, Kitzhbuhel, Los Angeles and Washington in the process. That streak ended in the quarterfinals of the US Open with a defeat by eventual finalist Andy Murray.
He came to Auckland last year ranked 74th but lost 6-1 6-3 in the first round to countryman Agustin Calleri. With the top four seeds granted byes into the second round, he is at least guaranteed to go further this year. The tournament's top drawcard should be on centre court on Wednesday.
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David Ferrer
Ranking: 12
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 26
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 72kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 7
Prize money (US$): 5,899,691
The 2007 champion is making his fifth trip to Auckland. Last year's top seed when he was defending his title, the relentless baseliner was surprisingly knocked out in the quarter-finals by Frenchman Julien Benneteau, losing the second set 6-0. One of the most consistent players in the game, Ferrer has never failed to reach the quarters in Auckland and has reached the third round or better in 11 of his past 12 Grand Slam appearances. His best effort in a Slam was a semifinal in the 2007 US Open and last year he made the quarters at the Australian and French Opens and helped Spain to its first Davis Cup win in four years.
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Robin Soderling
Ranking: 17
Nationality: Swedish
Age: 24
Height: 1.91m
Weight: 81kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 3
Prize money (US$): 3,053,974
A wrist injury put the Swede out of action for several months at the end of 2007 after he had pushed Rafael Nadal in an epic five-setter at Wimbledon, narrowly losing out on a place in the quarter-finals. He made a strong return in 2008, winning 45 matches to storm into the top 20 of the men's rankings for the first time. He has been to Auckland before, although that solitary trip to these shores wasn't exactly a resounding success, the Swede losing to Dutch player Fred Hemmes in the first round in 2004. Soderling is coached by 2000 Heineken Open champion and fellow Swede Magnus Norman.
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Nicolas Almagro
Ranking: 18
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 23
Height: 1.82m
Weight: 81kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 4
Prize money (US$): 2,228,150
A classic Spanish clay-court specialist burdened with a reputation for flair and inconsistency, Almagro is making his third successive trip to Auckland. In both previous visits he exited the tournament in the second round but he returns this year with a career-high ranking and with some encouraging hard court results under his belt. His best performances, however, have all come on clay. Last year was truncated by a wrist injury but he still picked up titles in Costa Do Sauipe and Acapulco and made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros where he was knocked about by countryman Rafael Nadal - his best result at a Grand Slam.
* * *
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Ranking: 28
Nationality: German
Age: 25
Height: 1.77m
Weight: 70kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 2
Prize money (US$): 2,210,883
Another Auckland regular, the defending champion is making his fifth appearance at this tournament in the past six years. A surprise winner last year when he hit a purple patch of form to defeat Juan Monaco in the semifinals and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, the German seems to like Auckland, where he has a 9-3 record. That form boosted his world ranking to a career-high 24 in April, though his time at the Australian Open was cut short by 42 Andy Roddick aces in the third round. The handy doubles player's 2008 was interrupted by damage to a thigh, robbing him of the chance to go to the Beijing Olympics.
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Sam Querrey
Ranking: 39
Nationality: American
Age: 21
Height: 1.98m
Weight: 94kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 1
Prize money (US$): 1,040,510
The great white hope of American men's tennis, Querrey has made steady if unspectacular progress in recent seasons, with his ranking rising from 127 in 2006 to 39 last year. The vacuum created by the departure of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi means the expectations on the big American are huge. Whether he will live up to them remains to be seen but he has a massive weapon in his serve, ranking eighth on tour in aces sent down last season. Billed as one of the game's rising stars when he came to Auckland last year, he was unable to get past German Florian Mayer in the first round.
* * *
Albert Montanes
Ranking: 45
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 28
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 70kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 1
Prize money (US$): 2,293,8707
A journeyman pro, the Spaniard picked up his first title in his ninth year on tour last year. Despite being in the top 100 since 2001, Montanes has never threatened to break into the top 20. He has made three visits to Auckland, only getting past the first round once - last year when he struggled past Kiwi wildcard Rubin Statham. Frenchman Michael Llodra dispatched him in straight sets in the second round and it would be a surprise if he progressed beyond that point this time around. Nonetheless, Montanes is in something like his best form, his ranking of 45 is the highest it's been since he turned professional in 1999.
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Juan Monaco
Ranking: 47
Nationality: Argentinian
Age: 24
Height: 1.85m
Weight: 76kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 3
Prize money (US$): 2,021,789
A semifinal appearance in Auckland helped the Argentinian to a career-high ranking of 14 early last year but it all turned to custard after that as an ankle injury and a string of poor results saw him tumble outside the top 40. Having won last year's Open doubles title alongside Peru's Louis Horna, Monaco should hold fond memories of Auckland which is as good a place as any as he looks to climb back up the rankings. Overall, he has an 8-3 singles record at the tournament, having won through to the quarter-finals as a qualifier in 2007. He is another clay-court specialist and has three ATP titles to his name.
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NZ No 1 - wild card
Rubin Statham
Ranking: 414
Nationality: New Zealander
Age: 21
Height: 1.82m
Weight: 71kg
Plays: Right handed
Titles: 0
Prize money (US$): 46,962
Having overtaken Dan King-Turner - who slipped more than 150 places in 2008 - Statham has become New Zealand's No 1, and as such inherits the obligatory Kiwi hope wildcard for the tournament. Last year, he also received a wildcard entry into Stanley St, putting in a respectable performance against Spain's Albert Montanes in losing 6-4 6-4. The Kiwi's best result from 2008 was at the US$50,000 Baton Rouge Challenger, where he beat two players ranked in the top 250 en route to the semifinal. At Futures level Statham has reached two finals, the latest in Malaysia in November.
