Sweden's Kenneth Carlsen and Brian Vahaly of the USA are the top seeds at the forthcoming XL Capital Bermuda Open.

And with last year's champion Flavio Saretta of Argentina confirming he is returning to defend his title and the likes of two-time Wimbledon semifinalist Todd Martin also among the ranks, this month's event has one of the strongest fields ever.

This year the Open, which runs between April 14 and 20, is celebrating its tenth anniversary and many well-known names are set to grace the courts at Coral Beach and Tennis Club.

One who will not be playing though is American youngster Robbie Ginepri. Although he had been announced last month, a change in plans will see the player, who made the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 in Miami last week, placing his focus on the European circuit.

Carlsen, meanwhile, will be the scalp that those who will be here will be trying to take.

The Copenhagen-born left-hander is currently 85th in the ATP Champions Race, having finished 2002 65th.

A two-time singles title winner, he has won three and lost eight matches so far this year and made the quarterfinals in San Jose.

Vahaly, from Camden, New Jersey, is a 6ft right-hander who is currently 34th in the Champions Race, a significant improvement on his finish of 146 last year. A semifinal appearance at Memphis and quarterfinal appearances at the Indian Wells, Adelaide and Joplin tournaments are responsible for his rise.

Germany's Nicolas Kiefer is another name familiar to tennis fans the world over. The German finished in the top 100 for the sixth consecutive year last year but fell outside the top 50 for first time since 1996.

Israel's Noam Okun and Cecil Mamit of the US are players Bermudians will remember from previous XL tournaments and they will be joined in the main draw by the likes of Justin Gimelstob of the US, Fernando Meligeni of Brazil and Juan Antonio Marin of Costa Rica among others.

There are a total of 32 places available, with 22 players at the top of the list going straight into the main draw. Four spots are taken by wildcard entries, four through the qualifiers and two are reserved for special exemptions. The latter are players that make it through to the quarterfinals, semifinals or the even finals in a tournament right before the XL and so cannot make the qualifiers here.

If there are no special exemptions then players from the top of the alternate list, which includes the always popular American Michael Russell, Harel Levy of Israel and Magnus Larsson of Sweden, take the spots in the main draw. If a player pulls out of the main draw with an injury then a player from the alternates list will take their place.