Two-time champ Sam Querrey faces a tough ask to defend his Farmers Classic title with the 2011 field featuring the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Mardy Fish.
Querrey's ascent into the world's top 20 last year convinced many American fans that he had the potential to go on and break into the elite. His performance in Los Angeles was particularly impressive, saving match point to defend Andy Murray in the final on the Brit's favourite surface.
However the surprising successes of 2010 have been followed by an even more surprising slump this season. Querrey has not made it past the quarters of any event and has lost to journeymen such as Ryan Sweeting and James Ward. No one expects him to make it a hat-trick of titles this week.
Instead we should look to Del Potro and Fish as potential champions. Del Potro won Los Angeles in 2008 and has been showing signs he's returning to his US Open winning form of 2009. With the men's game in fine fettle right now, it would be fantastic for the sport to have an in form Del Potro to spice the majors up even more.
Fish is enjoying a career year which has seen him break into the top ten and become the top American. He battled his way to the Wimbledon quarters and will fancy his chances of pushing on further over the summer.
Look out for James Blake early on. Many thought the 31 year old would be considering retirement but he still loves the game and won a challenger a couple of weeks ago. Could the former world number four find a second wind ?
