Tennis: Wild card spot still up for grabs

Juan Carlos Ferrero will not make the trip to Auckland this year due to wrist and knee injuries. Photo / Getty Images

Auckland men's open organisers have a few last minute headaches as they weigh up where their final wild card spot should go and deal with the late withdrawal of one of the tournament's stars.

Tournament seventh seed and Heineken Open regular Juan Carlos Ferrero will not make the trip to Auckland this year due to wrist and knee injuries. It will also keep him out of the Australian Open later this month.

Robin Haase of the Netherlands will slot into the draw in Ferrero's place.

The popular Spaniard, a former world No 1, was a key drawcard and his withdrawal puts the heat on tournament director Richard Palmer to fill the remaining wild card spot with a crowd pleaser.

Spanish star Nicolas Amalgro and Kiwi No 1 Michael Venus have snapped up the first two wild cards, and Palmer expects to decide upon the final spot today.

Palmer has been in talks with world No 5 Robin Soderling and there is a chance, if the Swede loses his match in Brisbane tonight, he will fly to Auckland for next week's tournament.

Palmer will also scour the draw for other potential players who were knocked out early and who may be keen to squeeze in some extra match play in Auckland.

"There are other players outside the big names, who I'm not prepared to divulge at this stage, that I think will add a lot to the tournament if they are prepared to come here at such short notice."

He has hinted the spot will only go to a New Zealander as a last resort.

With Venus having already secured his berth, the other options are Dan King-Turner and Rubin Statham, who have looked out of their depth in previous appearances at the tournament, or Russian import Artem Sitak, who is an unknown quantity.

"It's always nice to give them to the New Zealanders ... but there has to be a dose of realism here. You look at the strength of the field - they're all in the top-65 in the world. Some people have already had a lot of wild cards and haven't really done anything, and other people's rankings have slipped, so you've got to weigh that up against the good of the tournament," he said.

Palmer pointed out the players have the opportunity to come through qualifying if they are not given a wildcard for the main draw.

"It's a gift, not a right."

Palmer has awarded a doubles wild card to Marcus Daniell, who will be given the opportunity to defend his title when he pairs with Sitak in an all-New Zealand partnership.