Gasquet set to lock lips with Auckland

Controversial French tennis star Richard Gasquet, who escaped a drugs ban by claiming he had ingested cocaine by kissing a woman in a nightclub, is in line to appear at the Heineken Open in Auckland in January.

But that's only if he beats a final hearing into his drugs test, with the world drugs governing body Wada appealing his exoneration.

A verdict is due within the month – which could see Gasquet forced out of the Auckland event just weeks before it starts.

Gasquet has nominated for the conflicting Sydney and Auckland tournaments but is likely to miss the main field cut for Sydney and Heineken Open organisers are confident he will come to New Zealand.

Tournament director Richard Palmer is unperturbed by the world No52's unusual backstory, and is confident he will name him in the official field on Wednesday.

"Who hasn't got baggage?" Palmer asked. "With guys in these positions, it's more public and we've had people with controversy before. He's not the first or last person with a story behind them – whether it's a mad father or drugs or whatever."

Gasquet will be joined by fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement – once ranked as high as 10th in the world – in late nominations for the Auckland event which starts January 11.

Spaniards Tommy Robredo (16th), David Ferrer (18th) and Juan-Carlos Ferrero (23rd) will be named as the three top seeds.

The official cut for the main draw is likely to fall at 64 – the same as in 2009. This year the line-up will lack a major star but have the compensatory effect of a much more even field.

Former world No3 David Nalbandian – whose ranking has plummeted to 66th due to injury – will take one of the three tournament wildcards.

Gasquet, who has won five career titles, made six finals and was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2007, tested positive for cocaine at the Sony Ericsson event in Miami in March this year, and was provisionally suspended for a year but then cleared in July by an independent tribunal after his claim that he had kissed a woman who had taken the drug.

Since his comeback has been a semifinalist at Metz and a quarter-finalist at Kuala Lumpur.

The tribunal backed Gasquet because "no more than a grain of salt" was found in the sample. But reports last week said the ITF and Wada had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. They are due to hand down a decision next month.

"We could potentially get him, and lose him," Palmer admitted.

Gasquet and Clement are among players who have nominated the competing Sydney tournament as their first pick, and Auckland as second, but they will certainly miss the cut for Sydney, which is expected to be at around 44 in the rankings.

A handful of players still opt to turn down Auckland and play qualifiers in Australia but most will divert immediately to the Heineken main draw. With entries closing at 11am on Tuesday, Palmer won't know his final field until early the next morning.

"Given what we have against us in terms of court surfaces and big money in the Middle East, I am happy going in with a solid field," says Palmer, who tried unsuccessfully to secure top-10 players Juan Martin Del Potro, last year's winner, and Gilles Simon.

The court surface has been a recruitment issue for both tournaments this year, costing the women's ASB Classic the former world No1 Justine Henin.

Auckland serves as an Australian Open warm-up, and the surface at Melbourne Park changed last year from Rebound Ace (used in Auckland) to Plexicushion.

While Palmer claims the two surfaces don't play very differently, it has been used as a bargaining chip by agents. The Sydney tournament, on at the same time as Auckland, has a Plexicushion surface.

Auckland's Tennis Centre is due for a rebuild after the 2010 tournaments, and the No1 court will be resurfaced with Plexicushion for the 2011 event.

- © Fairfax NZ News