confirmed a star-studded line-up for the inaugural event which begins on December 4.

Several big-name stars on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour guaranteed their presence for the Bermuda event with ample time to spare prior to the midnight deadline on Monday night.

And barring any unforseen obstacles -- such as injuries -- Jaime Yzaga, Aaron Krickstein, David Wheaton, Patrick McEnroe, Tomas Carbonell, Bryan Shelton, Daniel Orsanic, Robbie Weiss and David Witt will head an impressive field of singles participants.

Three of these players -- Yzaga, Krickstein and Wheaton -- are ensconced among the best 60 players on the ATP tour.

The doubles line-up is equally glittering.

Organisers have lured some of the most popular tandems in the game with Luke and Murphy Jenson, Paul Annacone and David Wheaton and Grant Connell and Patrick Galbraith teaming up for the Coral Beach and Tennis Club affair.

XL Insurance Company Ltd. heavyweights Brian O'Hara and Reid Kempe, along with tournament director Alec Anderson were on hand for yesterday's media briefing outlining details of the tournament.

A partner with Conyers, Dill and Pearman (also a major sponsor of the tournament), Anderson pointed out that even though the deadline has passed for players to sign up, there remains a remote possibility that two other marquee names, Mikael Pernfors and Mats Wilander could be last-minute additions.

Also, three local players will be included with Donald Evans and Billy Way participating as expected, but with Ricky Mallory getting a late invitation for singles play. Way will now play doubles only, because of business committments.

"Bermuda was an easy sell to these guys,'' said Anderson of the world class players coming here. "I spoke to some of them individually at the US Open and Wimbledon and they're all very excited about coming. It's really at the end of their season and to hear about an island like Bermuda and to come and play here is fun for them. They have some romantic ideas about what Bermuda is like and I know their expectations will be met.'' Prime Network in the US will guarantee an television audience of 41 million in the US and another 50 million in Europe. The matches will be shown on a delayed basis.

Anderson considers Yzaga, winner of the prestigious Australian Indoor championship a couple of months ago, along with Wheaton, McEnroe and Shelton as the key drawing cards for local fans.

But Anderson is convinced that Krickstein -- curently ranked 45th in the world -- will be one of the more interesting players to watch in the week-long tournament.

"He's capable of doing great things,'' said Anderson. `He could win the tournament, for sure. He's good on this sort of surface (clay) and he's quick.

He'll be fun. He'll play the style of game where he's running around the court a lot.

"The reason he hasn't become a major top 10 star for the last couple of years is because he's been injured quite a lot. But he's been healthy all year and he's climbing his way back up.

"But if you want to see a big serve, come and see Wheaton. I mean he's got a 120 miles-per-hour serve. And we'll have a radar gun out to prove it.'' The organisers are hoping the weather is favourable. "We're just banking on it not raining all day, every day. We'll have lights so we're able to play matches late if we have to,'' said Anderson.

Because of that, Anderson hinted that next year's event could be moved to October or even as early as April or May.

Singles roster: Jaime Yzaga, Aaron Krickstein, David Wheaton, Jordi Arrese, Horacio De La Pena, Karsten Braasch, Patrick McEnroe, Ctislav Dosedel, Gilbert Schaller, Grant Stafford, Tomas Carbonell, Bryan Shelton, Jared Palmer, Gabriel Markus, Mauricio Hadad, Daniel Orsanic, Franco Davin, Steve Bryan, David Riki, Robbie Weiss, Alex O'Brien, Maurice Ruah, Doug Flach, Nicolas Pereira, David Witt, Xavier Daufresne.

AARON KRICKSTEIN -- A big attraction for the week-long tournament at Coral Beach.