A lifelong dream will come true for Nick Kyme tonight when he walks out in front of a flag-waving full house to take on the best player in world squash.

It might be the seventh game in the first round of the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters, but it is the one that will truly launch the tournament and show the Island how close the sport has come to earning the title squash Mecca.

Kyme earned the right to take on world champion and world number one Thierry Lincou after clinching the national championships in February ? the first player to be given a wildcard into the Masters, the second most prestigious event on the international tour ? and he certainly wants to make the most of his opportunity.

?This is the sort of thing you dream about when you are a kid,? said Kyme, who was beaten by former world number one Peter Nicol in the first round of the $55,000 Bermuda Open last year in front of a noisy and partisan crowd.

?To be playing the world number one in Bermuda is an incredible thing. I don?t think the enormity of it all will really hit me until I walk out there in front of all those people.

?I have only been back a few days from training in Wales and everywhere I go people are wishing me luck.

?I just hope I don?t let anyone down.?

Kyme has joined the world?s top 31 players to compete in the $120,000 tournament after organisers signed a three-year deal, the largest in squash history, to bring the Masters here for two years followed by the World Open in 2007.

The tournament will be spiced up by the addition of main sponsor Virtual Spectator?s innovative technology, with all manner of advanced graphics and sensors being used to give the spectators an enhanced view of the event.

But, the paraphernalia aside, the event is all about squash and watching the very best of the best in action ? and Kyme knows he has his work cut out against the French master.

?Realistically I know I am not going to win this tournament or this match,? said Kyme, who took the unprecedented step of training with Lincou on Friday.

?But I am going to go out there and give the best possible account of myself. I have set myself a points target, although I don?t really want to share it with the public, and the aim will be to keep him out on the court as long as possible.

?I am going to be putting everything I?ve got into the opening game. I am going to throw myself into it and try and sneak one. I have the fitness and athleticism to keep going beyond that, but I am really going for it in the first.

?He is an incredible player ? he?s the world number one, for Christ?s sake ? and I know that he is going to be running me ragged.

?But having practised with him, at least I now have an idea of how he moves, how he hits the ball, what his drop shot looks like, what his length shot looks like, I feel a little better going on to the court with him now.?

There will still be nerves for Kyme, he admits, although he hopes not enough to put him off his game.

?Last year, I was shaking when I walked out against Peter (Nicol),? added the 24-year-old, who famously said ahead of that game that his ?butterflies have got butterflies?.

?I had no idea what the atmosphere was going to be like. There were people stamping their feet and cheering and waving flags, it was amazing.

?I hope that is how it?s going to be again against Lincou, and if it is, I am going to be a little better prepared.

?I am apprehensive but I am ready to do my best for Bermuda and for the organisers of this incredible event who have given me this opportunity.?

Lincou, who has brought his long-term girlfriend and daughter to the tournament for the first time, has said rather magnanimously that he needs to be ?on his toes? for the encounter, but realistically the Frenchman should breeze through and is expected to be challenging for the title come Saturday.