It seems all is forgiven for Nicolas Almagro and Heineken Open organisers have forked out an appearance fee for the Spaniard to play in Auckland in January.
Tournament boss Richard Palmer refused to pay Almagro to play at this year's tournament, even though he was ranked No 15 in the world at this time - it's normal for a player of that standing to receive some money for playing.
But Palmer was still upset at Almagro's perceived lack of effort the previous year, when he was bundled out of the second round after a first-round bye.
Almagro still played in Auckland in 2011, gaining entry as a wildcard, and his progression to the semifinals of this year's event was enough to convince Palmer he was worthwhile chasing.
The 26-year-old will make his sixth appearance at the Heineken Open and, as world No 10, will start as the tournament's second seed behind fellow Spaniard and defending champion David Ferrer, who is ranked No 5 in the world.
It's a significant achievement to attract two top-10 players to Auckland the week before the Australia Open when many of the top players prefer to go directly to Melbourne to prepare for the first grand slam of the year or play in Sydney.
"Getting two top 10 players hasn't happened very often, if it has at all,'' Palmer said. "In in a truly global sport like tennis, I'm very happy to get to that point.
"I know in the past there have been a couple of times when people have said Almagro hasn't put much effort in but the reality is people grow up,'' Palmer said.
"He's always been very, very talented and he showed his true colours this year when he lost to [David] Nalbandian in the semifinal. I'm rapt to have him back. He's had a really good year and is a really good player.
"We have paid a fee for him, not exorbitant, but we consider to get another top-10 player that is money well spent and what he showed this year was more than a glimpse of the potential he's had and he's backed that up with a good year. He was No 9 in the world and has just slipped down to 10. You don't get to No 9 in the world if you're a muppet.''
He proved he wasn't when he made a superb start to the season with back-to-back ATP titles in Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires and he reached his third successive final a week later in Acapulco where his 13-match winning streak came to an end with a loss to Ferrer.
Almagro collected his third title of the year in Nice, and his 10th overall, before reaching his fifth final in 2011 in Hamburg. All of his titles have come on clay and helped boost his career earnings to US$5.9 million.
The full field for the 2012 Heineken Open will be announced on November 30 and Palmer is hopeful former champion John Isner will be on that list. He's still in discussions with the big-serving American, who jumped six places to 18 in the latest rankings.
Former world No 7 Fernando Verdasco (currently 24) provides the fresh face in this year's line-up and Palmer has another couple of irons in the fire.
"The field is filling in behind and there will be one or two very interesting names when we announce the full field,'' he said. "There will be some familiar names but there will be one or two others who will be quite different.''
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