Bermuda's two wildcard entries in the XL Capital Bermuda Open, James Collieson and Donald Evans, both predictably fell at the first hurdle at Coral Beach.

But neither disgraced themselves in Saturday's first qualifying round, where they were playing against ATP Tour professionals.

Collieson, whose fine form was instrumental in Bermuda's Davis Cup promotion last month, went down 6-2, 6-3 to 20-year-old American Zack Fleishman.

Evans lost 6-1, 6-3 to another American, Jeff Salzenstein. The 26-year-old from Denver got through two more qualifying rounds to earn himself a place in the main draw against number six seed Ronald Agenor, of Haiti, a match which will take place on centre court this afternoon.

Salzenstein triumphed 6-4, 6-4 against Germany's Bernd Karbacher, before seeing off Johan Ortegren, of Sweden, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.

Fleishman went out in the second qualifying round to fellow American Mike Russell, who went on to bag a place in the main draw with a 6-2, 6-4 victory yesterday over Mark Merklein, of the Bahamas.

Russell faces a tough task against number eight seed Markus Hantschk, of Germany, in the second match on court five today, which will follow Jiri Vanek versus another qualifier Giorgio Galimberti.

Italian Galimberti beat New Zealander James Greenhalgh (1-6, 6-3, 1-1, retired) and American Taylor Dent (6-2, 6-2) to qualify for his meeting with Czech Vanek, who is seeded seven.

The other qualifier is Sebastian Prieto who saw off fellow Argentinian Jose Acasuso in an emphatic, straight-sets victory yesterday, 6-1, 6-2. Prieto also eliminated popular German player Karsten Braasch in a much tougher contest, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 and will now meet number five seed Nicolas Massu, of Chile, a semi-finalist last year at Coral Beach.

The highlight of today's schedule will come in the evening programme when top seed Andrew Ilie, who won an ATP Tour event in Atlanta last weekend to jump to number 33 in the ATP Champions Race, will take on wildcard James Blake, of the US, after 6.30 p.m.

Ilie defeated fellow Australian Jason Stoltenberg in Atlanta and the two could stage a rematch in the Open semi-finals on Saturday -- provided the two live up to their seedings.

Stoltenberg is seeded three and will open his Coral Beach campaign against Czech Tomas Zib.

Also in action today is number two seed Gianluca Pozzi, at 34, the oldest player on the ATP Tour. The Italian will open proceedings on the centre court at 11.30 a.m. when he takes on Switzerland's Lorenzo Manta.

Despite the absence of two-time defending champion Hernan Gumy, organisers say that in terms of overall strength, the field is one of the strongest seen in the annual Challenger event, which concludes on Sunday.

The doubles tournament, which opens tonight, when Germans Karsten Braasch and Dirk Dier take on American Jack Waite and Australian Michael Tebbutt, should also be highly competitive.

Among those in the running for the title will be Richey Reneberg and Jim Grabb, the Jensen brothers, Luke and Murphy, and Australian pairing Paul Kilderry and Island resident and two-time US Open winner Patrick Rafter.

Forehand rocket: Italian Giorgio Galimberti unleashes a powerful groundstroke during his emphatic 6-2, 6-2 victory over Taylor Dent in the third qualifying round at Coral Beach yesterday. Galimberti will play Jiri Vanek in the main draw today.