The 2011 Kremlin Cup in Moscow sees a strong Eastern European contingent contesting for the title this week.
Janko Tipsarevic leads the field and the world number 13 is still in with a small chance of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. Tipsarevic won his maiden title in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago but time is running out for him and after a couple of first round exits he badly needs to repeat his 2009 run to the final this week.
Defending champion Viktor Troicki is seeded second. Troicki relishes the fast indoor carpet in Moscow but he's struggling for form at the moment suffering first round defeats in Tokyo and Shanghai to teenage rising stars Bernard Tomic and Ryan Harrison.
Nikolay Davydenko is a three-time champion in Moscow and indeed, Russian players have dominated this event in the past, winning 14 of the 21 titles in the tournament's history. However the last of Davydenko's Moscow titles came in 2007, back when he was still ranked in the world's top 5.
Alexandr Dolgopolov may prove too inconsistent to go all the way but as ever, the Ukrainian will create some fireworks. He reached the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career in Shanghai.
