Jelena Dokic was supposed to make her ASB Classic debut on Monday but due to Auckland's inclement weather her date with NZ tennis fans was pushed back to Tuesday.
Dokic wont be the only high profile attraction on day two. Joining her on the day's menu will be number two seed Daniela Hantuchova; number three seed Elena Likhovtseva; number four seed Maria Kirilenko and number six seed Marion Bartoli.
Hantuchova comes to Auckland with a big reputation and rightly so. The 22-year-old from Slovakia was ranked as high as number five in the world in 2003.
The Monaco resident is the owner of four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (two of those won in 2005) and one career WTA singles title (Indian Wells, 2002).
As if her resume wasn't impressive enough, there is the small matter of having defeated 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova to reach her lone final in 2005 at Los Angeles.
Fellow Eastern European, Elena Likhovtseva (Russia), will begin her fourth attempt to capture the ASB Classic crown when she faces Japan's Akiko Morigami.
The 30-year-old Russian who reached the semifinals at Roland Garros last year decisively beat Morigami in their only previous encounter in 2003.
The two met on hardcourt in Los Angeles and Likhovtseva rolled to a 6-1 6-1 victory.
Another Russian, Maria Kirilenko, will also be on display. Kirilenko is one of the rising stars of the WTA tour as she moved up nearly 90 places in the rankings in 2005 and faces Olga Blahotova.
She began 2005 ranked 111 but ended the year at No25. The 18-year-old has something in common with Hantuchova: she had a victory over Maria Sharapova in 2005.
Kirilenko defeated her countrywoman enroute to her first WTA title at Beijing.
France will also make its presence felt on day two when Bartoli
faces compatriot Emile Loit. They have met on two previous
occasions and the score currently stands at 1-1.
