Canberra tennis officials will target more top-100 players including former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis for a $75,000 event in January in another major step to boost the capital's tournament profile.
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But Canberra star Nick Kyrgios is unlikely to be in the ATP Challenger event, despite the Lyneham facility looming as an attractive option if the world No. 30 wants to prepare at home for the Australian Open.
Tennis ACT officials have taken another step to securing a Davis Cup tie, with the ATP turning to its new $10.5 million facility to give players crucial court time before the first grand slam of the year.
The Challenger event will be played at the Canberra Tennis Centre from January 9-16 and run at the same time as the Sydney International and an ATP 250 tournament in Auckland.
It follows the $50,000 Canberra International last week, which passed the test as the first major event at the new facility.
And it is hoped there will be an influx of top-100 stars as they put the finishing touches on their game a week before the Australian Open.
"There will be a lot of players looking for some match play prior to the Australian Open so we should get a fantastic line-up," said Tennis ACT boss Ross Triffitt.
"I think we should get at least six players who have direct entry to the Australian Open – we've already had contact from player managers who are looking to the event as part of their preparation.
"Marcos Baghdatis played at Onkaparinga in South Australia last year ... there are players who have been top 10 or top 20 who are still around that play these types of events around the grand slams."
The Canberra International attracted four of Australia's top 10 men's players with former world No. 39 Marinko Matosevic also playing at the event last week.
The tournament's success showed Tennis Australia officials that Canberra was capable of hosting big events and a decision on securing a potential Davis Cup tie is expected in the coming weeks.
World No. 42 Baghdatis was ranked as high as No. 8 and lost the 2006 Australian Open final to Roger Federer.
Kyrgios played at the Sydney International last year and it's likely he will be lured back to chase crucial rankings points.
But the 20-year-old prefers to base himself in Canberra as much as possible during a long professional season.
"We'd love to have Nick playing in Canberra but he has a high profile now and will attract appearance money at other events, so the likelihood of him playing is low," Triffitt said.
"We've had contact from players in the top 60 who have been in the 20s and 30s – recognisable players."
