When James Stout steps onto Court Two today, he will get a pretty good gauge of how far he has to travel if he wants to make it as a pro.

The teenager has been quietly improving in the background behind Nick Kyme, but with Bermuda?s number one not making an appearance in the tournament until Wednesday?s main draw, the 19-year-old will have to take centre stage.

Stout is one of four Bermudians competing in today?s qualifiers and although realistically none of them have a chance of victory, the Island?s number two should fare the best.

But despite sharing professional status with tomorrow?s potential opponents, Stout knows he is a world away in terms of fitness and competitiveness.

Currently ranked 194, although he will be in the top 150 once the combined points for this tournament and the national championships are added, Stout is just setting out on the road to professional squash and will struggle to match his opponent in any facet of the game, whoever it will be.

?This is me against myself,? said Stout, who is using Belgium as a training base as an alternative to playing the tournament circuit. ?There is no real pressure on me and it will be just a wonderful experience for me and a chance to gauge where I am compared to these guys.

?This event is a wonderful opportunity for all of us (Bermudians) but we will all be playing pretty tough games.

?One of the huge differences will be fitness ? these guys are going to be at a whole different level. For me the first thing is that I don?t want to just get blasted off the court.

?I know where I stand and I want to be able to come away from the match, even if I have lost, knowing that I have achieved what I wanted in terms of points and knowing what I am capable of.

?The game is just going to be played at a different pace and you will see the gap between us and these guys.?

But for Stout, enjoying playing in the shadow of headline-hogging Kyme, there is still a whole squash career ahead.

?For now I am concentrating on improving my game and working on the things that need it,? he added. ?I am not interested in playing tournaments at the moment, I am leaving that to Nick and he can deal with all the pressure, which I know he is feeling. I just want to get on and see where I am before I start doing the tournament thing.

?The way I am looking at it, is that it is my ambition to be able to play in the qualifiers for this Open in a couple of years without needing a wild card. That is a realistic target.?

Although for Stout tomorrow?s match will be the first rung on ladder to the top, for another Island player ? Nick Wiffen ? it is one last hurrah.

Wiffen, who at 32 is the tournament?s oldest player, is happy just to walk away from his match being able to tell his son he ?played in the Bermuda Squash Open with some of the world?s top players?.

Although Wiffen talks a great game ? claiming that his ?experience will help him through? ? once his pre-match joking about ?going out there to win? is over, he concedes that he will not even be picking up a game.

?I am just going to go out there and will go flat out and see how many points I can win,? said Wiffen, who is leaving the Island in July. ?I?m really excited about it, really, It is going to be an amazing tournament and I think it will be great for everyone involved in squash in Bermuda.

?These guys have got an incredible level of fitness and we can?t even begin to compete with that. We all just have to make the best of what we have got and see if we can put in a good performance.

?I think it is going to be great.?

Although Wiffen is going to have a tough contest, he also has other things to worry about ? among other administrative tasks, he is helping organise youngsters to clean the courts .

It could be worse, fellow local and qualifier Gary Plumstead has to coach a lesson tonight ? losing in the first round of qualifying won?t pay the bills.