Nicolas Almagro has received a wildcard for Auckland, with organizers saying they are looking past his lackluster performance in the last edition of the event. Bothered by a wrist injury, the Spaniard lost 6-0, 6-3 to Marc Gicquel and had his level of effort questioned.
"Even though this year he had an injury early in the match and there was some criticism of his effort after that, I guess you have to be realistic and remember that this is someone preparing for the Australian Open and that has to take precedence," tournament director Richard Palmer told Stuff.co.nz. "Hopefully he's matured."
The decision was made easier by the fact that no appearance fee had to be paid. It's a funny situation where we're not paying him anything, the wildcard is payment enough and with the talent he's got he could blow everyone away here," said Palmer.