Second seed Ana Ivanovic is looking for plenty of court time in the ASB Classic as she prepares for the year's first tennis grand slam.
The Auckland event, which begins on Monday, is her sole build-up to the Australian Open and she wants to use it to set the platform for Melbourne Park.
Remaining in contention until the final day on Saturday would do that nicely for the 26-year-old Serbian, who plans to stay on for a couple of days after the tournament.
"Every match you play is very important, no matter if it's singles, doubles, a practice session," Ivanovic said.
"It sets the tone because you gain confidence and I definitely want to get a few matches here."
A former world No.1, Ivanovic has 11 WTA titles to her name, including one grand slam crown from the 2008 French Open.
She starts the new season as the world No.16, and among her focal points outside the four majors is making the eight-strong end-of-year WTA Championships in Singapore.
Ivanovic's first-round opponent in the Classic will be 23-year-old American Alison Riske, who is ranked 40 places below her.
"It's the first tournament of the year, so everyone is a little bit rusty," she said.
"I just want to go out there and apply the things I've worked on and see how that goes."
As part of her aim of getting plenty of match play, Ivanovic has also entered the doubles, where she is a wildcard pairing with singles third seed Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
Ivanovic is one of two big names at the tournament, the other being seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams, whose present ranking of 47 means she isn't seeded.
With none of the top four seeds in action in the singles, Williams' evening encounter with Czech wildcard Andrea Hlavackova is the feature clash on the first day's program.
That will be followed by a doubles contest involving three Aucklanders - New Zealand No.1 Marina Erakovic and Zimbabwe's Cara Black, the second seeds, against New Zealand-born Australian wildcard Sacha Jones and Abigail Guthrie.
