The congested tennis calendar's playing on the mind of the Heineken Open top seed Tommy Robredo.
Sixteen of the world's top 20 men have skipped both the Auckland tournament and its Sydney rival, with the number one Roger Federer opting to train instead of play ahead of next week's Australian Open.
The Heineken Open's given first round byes to the top four seeds, and Spain's Robredo believes that sort of lenience helps encourage top players to come to ATP 250 events like Auckland just before a Grand Slam.
Robredo's second round match today against Germany's Simon Greul follows the New Zealander Rubin Statham's appearance on centre court.
Statham's bidding to become the first New Zealander to win a second-round match at Auckland since 1999 but he faces a tough match against the eighth seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes.
