Three of the top four seeds in this year’s Heineken Open are Spaniards, led by World No. 7 and 2007 champion David Ferrer, wild card and World No. 15 Nicolas Almagro and No. 4 seed and last year’s semi-finalist Albert Montanes.

Other seeds are: No. 3 and defending champion John Isner of the U.S., No. 5 Juan Monaco of Argentina, No. 6 David Nalbandian of Argentina, No. 7 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil and No. 8/2008 winner Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Six of the eight seeds won an ATP World Tour title last season (except Monaco, Kohlschreiber). 

On Monday’s schedule, there are four final-round qualifying matches and three singles main draw matches, including No. 8 seed and ’08 champion Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany and ’07 runner-up Tommy Robredo of Spain. Kohlschreiber headlines the evening session against Argentine Carlos Berlocq while Robredo takes on local wild card Michael Venus. 

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TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS
CITY:   Auckland, New Zealand
VENUE:  ASB Tennis Centre
DATE:   January 10-15, 2011
CATEGORY:  ATP World Tour 250
PRIZE MONEY:  $398,250
DRAW:   28 singles / 16 doubles
SURFACE:  Hard
SINGLES FINAL:  Saturday, January 15, to follow after doubles final
DOUBLES FINAL: Saturday, January 15, at 1:00 p.m.
FIRST HELD:  1956

2010 FINALS
Singles –  John Isner (USA) d. Arnaud Clement (FRA) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(2) – Saved 1 M.P.
Doubles – (WC) Daniell-Tecau d. Melo-Soares 7-5, 6-4

RECENT CHAMPIONS/FINALISTS (since 2000)
2010 John Isner/Arnaud Clement
2009 Juan Martin del Potro/Sam Querrey
2008 Philipp Kohlschreiber/Juan Carlos Ferrero 
2007 David Ferrer/Tommy Robredo 
2006 Jarkko Nieminen/Mario Ancic  
2005 Fernando Gonzalez/Olivier Rochus  
2004 Dominik Hrbaty/Rafael Nadal  
2003 Gustavo Kuerten/Dominik Hrbaty 
2002 Greg Rusedski/Jerome Golmard 
2001 Dominik Hrbaty/Francisco Clavet 
2000 Magnus Norman/Michael Chang
 *Bold denotes past champions / runners-up in 2011 draw

A LOOK AT THE DRAW
Seeded Players (Tournament record, best finish - year)
1 David Ferrer (ESP)                12-5 W-'07
2 Nicolas Almagro (ESP)           3-4 QF-'09
3 John Isner (USA)                  7-1 W-'10
4 Albert Montanes (ESP)           4-5 SF-'10
5 Juan Monaco (ARG)               7-5 SF-'08
6 David Nalbandian (ARG)         2-2 QF-'02
7 Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)           1-1 R16-'10
8 Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)    14-4 W-'08

Wildcards: Nicolas Almagro, Arnaud Clement, Michael Venus
Youngest: Thiemo de Bakker (22 years, 3 months)   
Oldest:  Arnaud Clement (33 years, 24 days)
Top Country Breakdown: Spain 6, Argentina 3, Germany 3, Netherlands 2 
Former Champions in Draw (3): John Isner (2010), Philipp Kohlschreiber (2008), David Ferrer (2007)
Former Finalists in Draw (2): Arnaud Clement (2010), Tommy Robredo (2007)
2010 ATP World Tour Winners in Draw (6): Nicolas Almagro-2, David Ferrer-2, Albert Montanes-2, Thomaz Bellucci-1, John Isner-1 and David Nalbandian-1.      
         
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS 2011 ATP RANKINGS POINTS / PRIZE MONEY 
Singles               W           F         SF       QF        R16    R32       
Rankings Pts.    250         150      90        45         20       0  
Prize Money     $72,600 38,200  20,700 11,800  6,940 4,120  
  
Doubles              W           F        SF       QF       R16
Rankings Pts.   250          150      90        45        0                    
Prize Money    $22,000  11,600 6,300  3,600   2,100 

Seeded Doubles Teams: (Team record, best finish - year) 
1 Lindstedt / Tecau         Debut
2 Granollers / Robredo    1-1 QF-'10
3 Kohlmann / Petzschner 1-1 QF-'09
4 Almagro / M. Lopez      Debut

RECENT CHAMPIONS (since 2000)
2010 Marcus Daniell/Horia Tecau (playing with different partners)
2009 Martin Damm/Robert Lindstedt
2008 Luis Horna /Juan Monaco
2007 Jeff Coetzee/Rogier Wassen
2006 Andrei Pavel /Rogier Wassen
2005 Yves Allegro /Michael Kohlmann
2004 Mahesh Bhupathi /Fabrice Santoro
2003 David Adams /Robbie Koenig
2002 Jonas Bjorkman /Todd Woodbridge
2001 Marius Barnard /Jim Thomas
2000 Ellis Ferreira /Rick Leach
*Bold denotes past champions in 2011 draw

ABOUT THE ATP WORLD TOUR
The ATP is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits - the ATP World Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. With 63 tournaments in 32 countries, the ATP World Tour showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues. From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the ATP World Tour battle for prestigious titles and South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings points at Grand Slams (non ATP events), ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 and ATP World Tour 250 events. At the end of the season only the world’s top 8 ranked men’s singles players and top 8 doubles teams, based on their performance throughout the year, will qualify to compete for the last title of the season at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Held at The O2 in London, the tournament will officially crown the 2011 ATP World Tour No.1 in singles and doubles. For more information, please visit www.ATPWorldTour.com
 
MONDAY FIRST ROUND FedEx ATP Head 2 Head – In Draw Order

Centre Court

Santiago Giraldo (COL) vs Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
07 Bogota CH (Colombia) Clay R32 Santiago Giraldo 6-4 6-4

Giraldo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Chennai (l Cilic); s-Hertogenbosch (l Stakhovsky)
YTD W-L: 2-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 27, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 64

• Giraldo, 23, is making his tournament debut and last week he opened the season by reaching the quarter-finals in Brisbane with wins over former Top 10 Frenchman Gilles Simon (62 63) and German Benjamin Becker (63 64) before losing to South African Kevin Anderson (26 63 64)
• Last season the top Colombian finished in Top 100 for first time at No. 64, highlighted by a personal-high 20 match wins…His best ATP World Tour results were QFs in Chennai (l. to Cilic) in January and in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June
• Went 16-4 in Challenger play and won title in Pereira (d. Lorenzi)…Represented Colombia in Davis Cup World Group play-off tie vs. USA in September, beating No. 21 Querrey in straight sets before losing fifth and decisive rubber to Fish 8-6 in fifth set
• Compiled marks of 9-15 on hard and 7-5 on clay…Earned a career-high $378,942
 
Gimeno-Traver FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Stuttgart (l Monfils); Gstaad (l Almagro)
YTD W-L: 0-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 7, 1985
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 56

• Gimeno-Traver, 25, is making his tournament debut and last week in Doha he lost 60 63 in the first round to Ukrainian wild card Sergei Bubka
• Last year finished in the Top 100 for the third straight season with a year-end best No. 56 and an 18-25 match record (6-10 on hard, 12-13 on clay) …He reached a career-high No. 53 on Sept. 13 after reaching the third round at the US Open, a Grand Slam-best showing
• In July 2010, he advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Stuttgart (l. to Monfils) and two weeks later he reached his second SF in Gstaad (l. to Almagro)
 
(WC) Michael Venus (NZL) vs Tommy Robredo (ESP)  First Meeting

Venus FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 16, 1987
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 329

• Venus, 23, was born in New Zealand and at age 14 moved to the U.S. where he played his junior career before changing his nationality back to New Zealand...He is making his tournament main draw debut...Last year he lost in the first round of qualifying to Andre Sa in three sets
• He played mostly Futures and Challenger level tournaments last season, winning a California Futures title in June and reaching his first Challenger final at Karshi, Uzbekistan (l. to Kavcic) in August
• Played in two Davis Cup ties during the year, in July vs. Pakistan (0-1), and in September vs. Thailand (1-1)
• This is his second career ATP World Tour main draw appearance...In 2006, he lost in the first round in Washington (l. to Tipsarevic)

Robredo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Bastad (l Almagro); QF: Auckland (l Isner); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Roddick); Metz (l Gasquet)
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 9
Date of Birth: May 1, 1982
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 50

• Robredo, 28, is making his fourth appearance in Auckland (5-3 record), reaching the final in 2007 (l. to countryman Ferrer) and quarter-finals last year
• Last season he finished his 10th consecutive Top 50 campaign, joining Federer (11), Ljubicic (10) and Roddick (10) as only active players with such a streak…Did not win an ATP title for first time since ‘05 despite and won fewest matches (20) since 2000
• Struggled with back injury in spring retiring in Barcelona and pulling out of Rome and Madrid
• Best result of season was SF in Bastad (d. Verdasco in QF, l. to Almagro) in July…Reached 4th Rd. at US Open for third year in a row (l. to Youzhny)… In doubles, turned in SF at US Open  (w/ Granollers)
 
(8) Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs Carlos Berlocq (ARG) Berlocq Leads 1-0
06 Sopot (Poland) Clay R32 Carlos Berlocq 6-0 6-2

Kohlschreiber FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Auckland (l Clement); Metz (l Simon); QF: San Jose (l Istomin); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Ferrer); Munich (l Baghdatis); Halle (l Federer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada (l Nadal); Vienna (W/O vs Melzer)
YTD W-L: 1-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: October 16, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 34

• Kohlschreiber, 27, the top German on the ATP World Tour, opened the season last week in Doha where he defeated Andreas Seppi 62 64 before losing in the second round to big-serving Croat in three tie-breaks (with no breaks in the match)
• Has a 14-4 career mark in Auckland, winning his second career ATP World Tour title here in 2008 (d. Ferrero)…Also a semi-finalist last year and quarter-finalist three times (2004, ’07, ’09)
• Last season he finished in the Top 35 for fourth straight year at No. 34 with a 37-24 match record, highlighted by eight quarter-final appearances or better on the ATP World Tour…His best result was semi-finals in Auckland (l. to Clement) in January and in Metz (l. Simon) in September…Made two ATP Masters 1000 QFs, on clay in Monte-Carlo (l. to Ferrer) and on hard courts in Toronto (l. to Nadal)…Also a QF in four events on three different surfaces
• Reached 3rd Rd in first three Grand Slam events
• Compiled marks of 21-14 on hard, 12-8 on clay and 4-2 on grass
 
Berlocq FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Costa Do Sauipe (l Ferrero)
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 3, 1983
South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking: 66

• Berlocq, 27, who is making his Auckland debut, finished in the Top 100 for first time in three years at a year-end best No. 66 (from No. 255 in ’09)
• Worked his way back up by winning 54 matches and three titles on Challenger circuit…His best ATP World Tour result was quarter-final in Costa do Sauipe as a qualifier in February
• Won Challenger titles in Tudi (d. Granollers) San Benedetto (d. Gimeno-Traver) and Reggio Emilia (d. Andujar) while runner-up at Alessandria (l. to Phau) and Cancun (l. to Riba)
• In doubles, won first ATP World Tour title in Stuttgart (w/ countryman Schwank).
 
OTHER FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Draw Order (to be played Tuesday) +

David Nalbandian (ARG) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA)   Nalbandian Leads 1-0
08 Buenos Aires (Argentina) Clay R16 David Nalbandian 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3

Thiemo de Bakker (NED) vs Philipp Petzschner (GER)  First Meeting

Robin Haase (NED) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU)   First ATP Meeting
07 Scheveningen CH (The Netherlands) Clay R16 Pablo Cuevas 6-4 7-6(2)

Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs Xavier Malisse (BEL)   Malisse Leads 3-2
01 's-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) Grass R32 Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-4
01 Lyon (France) Carpet R16 Xavier Malisse 7-5 3-6 7-6(6)
01 ATP Masters Series Paris (France) Carpet R32 Xavier Malisse 6-4 3-6 7-6(5)
06 Metz (France) Hard R32 Arnaud Clement 7-6(3)6-2
07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R128 Arnaud Clement 6-3 3-6 7-5 6-4

Victor Hanescu (ROU) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)   First Meeting

+ Does not include qualifiers