It will be the top Brazilian’s fourth appearance in Auckland this week after making the quarterfinals last year where he lost to Santiago Giraldi.

Thomaz Bellucci reached two semifinals in 2011 - at Acapulco and Madrid, where he beat both the fourth seed Andy Murray and the seventh seed Thomas Berdych. He also reached the quarterfinals in Santiago, Costa do Sauipe, Estoril and Los Angeles.

The 24-year-old’s best Grand Slam effort of the year was reaching the third round at Roland Garros.
Bellucci represented Brazil in two Davis Cup ties, and was awarded a wild card into the inaugural eight-player ATP Challenger Tour Finals in Sao Paulo in November.

He has two career titles - the Swiss Open in 2009 and the Movistar Open in Chile in 2010.