Who’s who at the Classic
David Long is bringing up his 20th anniversary of covering the ASB Classic this week and takes a trip down memory lane.
Back in January 2001 for the women’s Classic, American Meilen Tu won the tournament, while the top seed was Sandrine Testud from France.
For the Heineken Open, as the men’s tournament was known then, Dominik Hrbaty won it for the first time and the No 1 seed was Franco Squillari from Argentina.
Oh, how times have changed. The tournaments have gone from draws containing largely noname players, to being packed with stars.
The ASB Classic Arena has been transformed, and thankfully this year, there will be a modern stand where the concrete Yock Stand used to be.
Some of the charm of the tournaments may have gone and fans can no longer socialise with players under the old dome, but progress needed to be made to drag the events into the 21st century.
The tournaments are almost unrecognisable from how they used to be, they’re now truly world-class events and are the hottest tickets in Auckland every summer.
There have been many memorable moments over the past 20 years and I’m naming my favourite players, along with the five players I’ve least enjoyed reporting on.
1 David Ferrer (left)
2003, 2006-14, 2016-19
Over the past two decades, no one did more for the Auckland ATP tournament than
Ferrer. When other leading players followed the trend of not playing the week before a grand slam, Ferrer kept coming back to Auckland. Because he fronted so often and was such a warm and humble person, he became everyone’s favourite player.
2 Marina Erakovic
2005, 2007-2017
Marina Erakovic may have only had one deep run at her local tournament, making it to the semifinals in 2008, but each year she gave hope of there would be a Kiwi out there who’d be competitive, something rarely achieved in singles by anyone over the last 20 years. It’s only now she’s gone that she’ll be appreciated for what she did for Kiwi tennis.
3 Caroline Wozniacki
2009, 2015-2020
For a player with a profile as big as Wozniacki’s it says a lot about her and the tournament that she keeps coming back every year. She brought star power to the Classic and set the trend for bigname players to return to Auckland each year, rather than take the money and run.
4 Venus Williams
2014-17, 2019
Like Wozniacki, the elder of the Williams’ sisters became a regular feature at the Classic and helped transform the women’s tournament. Speak to any volunteer and they’ll tell you how pleasant Williams was to them, and it was clear that she always enjoyed Auckland.
5 Rafael Nadal
2004-05
When the 17-year-old Nadal first turned up in Auckland it was quickly apparent that we were witnessing something exceptional and it’s just a shame that by losing to Dominik Hrbaty it meant that he didn’t win his maiden ATP final here.
6 Michael Venus
2010-19
Along with Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell, Venus put New Zealand on the world map for doubles. Venus won this tournament with Mate Pavic in 2016 and he also showed he can live with the big guys when playing singles.
7 Gael Monfils
2007, 2013
The enigmatic Frenchman’s quarterfinal win over Tommy Haas still goes down as one of the most entertaining matches ever played at the tournament. But he put so much into that win that he had nothing left for his 6-1 6-2 defeat to Ferrer in 2013.
8 Bianca Andreescu 2019
No-one knew who Andreescu was when she started on an outside court in the first round of qualifying at the Classic. But it was her win over Wozniacki, where she showed she was something special and those who were there knew they were witnessing the start of an incredible year for her.
9 Rubin Statham
2005, 2007-12, 2014-15, 2017-19
Statham has often managed to punch above his ranking at the Classic and never more so than last year, when he defeated world No 25 Chung Hyeon 7-5 6-3 to demonstrate that despite the big overseas’ names, for the crowd nothing beats a Kiwi winning a match.
10 Eleni Daniilidou
2003-10, 2013
The 2003 and 2004 winner of the Classic played wonderful tennis those two years, in an era where the tournament wasn’t as strong as it is now. She blitzed Ashley Harkleroad, who was supposed to be the next big thing, in the 2004 final and while she never reached those heights again, she remained a regular face at the tournament.
11 Andy Murray 2006
Rarely do many overseas media cover the Auckland tournaments, but British journalists were out in force when Murray fronted in 2006. He lost to Mario Ancic in the second round and controversially
said that he played like a girl, but he gave Kiwis a glimpse of what lied ahead for him.
12 Denis Shapovalov 2018-19
The Canadian has quickly become the new crowd favourite at the Classic, even though he’s only won one of this three matches at the tournament. It’s the style of his tennis that makes him a joy to watch. He’s always aggressive, while there is always something so aesthetically pleasing about watching his onehanded backhand.
13 Jo Wilfried-Tsonga 2016
Wilfried-Tsonga has charm but when it comes to being on court, he also has that flair and wonderful natural skill that takes him to the next level when it comes to entertainment. When he lost to Roberto Bautista-Agut in the semifinals, hardly anyone in the arena was happy about the result.
14 Ana Ivanovic 2014, 2016
Her 6-2 5-7 6-4 win over Venus Williams in 2014 has to be one of the tournament’s greatest finals but it was her bemused look afterwards when she was presented with a NZ Sevens jersey from a very lubricated Dan Carter that was just as memorable.
15 Marion Bartoli 2004-07
Each morning before her matches, the French star could be seeing throwing a rugby ball around the ASB Tennis Arena with her father to prepare for matches and had a pretty mean pass. She only entered the Classic four times, but won it once and made the semis twice.
16 Juan Martin del Potro 2007, 2009, 2018
The giant Argentinian was compelling viewing every time he played. His huge forehand is a delight to watch, while in postmatch press conferences he was a delight to talk to. It’s a shame that injuries have meant he’s only come to Auckland three times, winning in 2009.
17 Lindsay Davenport 2008
The American took a break from starting her year in Australia in 2008 and comfortably won the title in Auckland. This was during a time where there would be one star player at the Classic each year and the tournament relied on how well they did. Thankfully, Davenport came up with the goods.
18 Gustavo Kuerten 2003-04
The three-time French Open winner made a big splash at the Classic when won in 2003. The Brazilian may have been a claycourt specialist, but played thrilling tennis in Auckland, including the match moved to an indoor court at Albany Tennis Arena because of rain.
19 Ernests Gulbis 2009, 2015
The Latvian may seem an odd choice, especially as he only won one of his three matches, but as entertainers go they don’t get much better than Gulbis, either with a weird forehand, his shots on the court, or comments in press conferences.
20 Sloane Stephens 2011, 2016
In her first appearance, Stephens made zero impact, losing in the first round of qualifying. But in her only other visit, she took the tournament by storm, defeating Wozniacki in the semis and Julia Georges in the final. Sadly, there’s been no Auckland return.