Chris Guccione will be out to secure direct entry to January's Australian Open when he heads the draw at the Brisbane Challenger International tournament starting this weekend. Support your AusItalians!

Guccione is ranked a precarious No.100 in the world, with the direct-entry cut-off normally about 105 for tennis's four annual grand slam tournaments.

He will be the top seed in Brisbane, giving the big-serving left-hander a golden opportunity to pick up rankings points ahead of the Australian summer, which climaxes with the Australian Open at Melbourne Park from January 14-27.

Guccione began the year in spectacular fashion, making his maiden career final in Adelaide, where he fell in three tight sets to current world No.3 Novak Djokovic.

The 22-year-old Victorian reached a career-high No.88 in July after pushing world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko to five sets in the second round at Wimbledon.

But his season petered off after Wimbledon and four subsequent first-round defeats and a painful Davis Cup loss to Djokovic in Belgrade - which confirmed Australia's relegation from the World Group - has left Guccione hungrier than ever.

Under pressure to defend his rankings points when he opens his 2008 season in Adelaide, Guccione is eager to get a jump on his rivals with a good showing in Brisbane.

Fellow Davis Cup squad member Alun Jones, ranked 145th, also joins Guccione as among nine AIS players contesting the $US25,000 ($A28,000) Brisbane event.

The highest-ranked international entrant is America's world No.127 Zack Fleishman.

With the Australian Davis Cup team set to take on Chinese Taipei in February in an Asia-Oceania playoff, Guccione and Jones will be keeping an eye on Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, the nation's second-ranked player at 150th in the world.

Wang reached the second round at Wimbledon, the quarter-finals in Bangkok and won Challengers in Italy and Korea.

AAP