Eleven players ranked inside the top 40 in the world have been confirmed for the Heineken Open tennis tournament in Auckland.
The eight seeds for the tournament on January 11-16 are all inside the world's top 31, giving the Open unprecedented depth, with the direct entry cutoff at 59th.
"This is a field with outstanding depth. We are going to be entertained by a class field where there is no obvious winner and the tantalising prospect of a significant number of quality, hard fought, unpredictable matches," Open tournament director Richard Palmer said today.
The quality of the field means that former world No 3 and 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, of Argentina, will require a wildcard into the main draw because he has a ranking of 65th. However, organisers say this will make him a dangerous floater in the draw and seeded players will be wary of him.
The top four seeds are all Spaniards, with Tommy Robredo ranked at 16th, David Ferrer 18th, former world No 1 and 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 23rd and Nicolas Almagro 26th. Between them they have a total of 33 ATP (Association of Tour Professionals) Tour singles titles. The remaining four seeds are 2008 Heineken Open champion Philipp Kohlschreiber, of Germany, at 27th, Austria's Jurgen Melzer, a newcomer to Auckland at 28th, regular visitor Juan Monaco, of Argentina, at 30th, and Spain's Albert Montanes ranked 31st in the world. Organisers also today confirmed the world's best doubles pairing of Americans Bob and Mike Bryan will play in Auckland for the first time.
Collectively, they have won 114 doubles titles, including seven Grand Slam events. The Bryans won six titles this year from 11 finals appearances, highlighted by their win at the Australian Open.
"The Bryans are something New Zealanders haven't seen before. They are obviously top players, but it's the way they play and their Rock 'n' Roll brand of tennis which will create an atmosphere around the tournament," Palmer said.