The Grand Prix Hassan II gets underway in Casablanca this week with Albert Montanes, Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Simon all in action.
Top seed Montanes will be relishing the start of the European clay court swing, a period of the year which saw him enjoy some fine results in 2010, winning the Estoril title. He made the Casablanca final back in 2007 and a good run again could see him move to the verge of the world's top twenty.
However many people's favourite for the title will be third seed Simon, the 2008 Casablanca champion. Three years ago the Frenchman was on his way to the top ten and after several injury-riddled years he's finally regained that kind of form. An impressive start to the year saw him pick up the Sydney title and he arrives in Morocco high on confidence after reaching the Miami Masters quarters.
Baghdatis rarely begins his clay campaign this early but the Cypriot opted for a wildcard into the tournament after a string of early exits recently. However he has never won a clay title before and it would not be a surprise to see him ousted by Victor Hanescu in the quarters.
Hanescu made the Casablanca final last year and the 6'6 Romanian will be a threat on the surface as ever. Hanescu's 2011 has been very average so far but he's a different beast on the red dirt and will be hoping for an upturn in results over the coming weeks.
