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Ferrer Wild Card a Boost for Auckland Fans

WELLINGTON — While local tennis fans bemoaned the early exits of the top two women's seeds from the Auckland Classic, organizers of next week's ATP Auckland Open delivered some good news on Thursday after world number seven David Ferrer accepted a wild card.

Ferrer was upset by Ukraine's Illya Marchenko in the first round in Doha this week, paving the way for him to accept the wild card at Auckland, a tournament he has won four times.

"It's huge for this tournament to have David Ferrer back for another year," tournament director Karl Budge said. "He has been so loyal to us and is a huge crowd favorite.