The If Stockholm Open begins this week with Gael Monfils and Juan Martin Del Potro looking to boost their outside chances of qualifying for London next month.
Last year, Swedish crowds were treated to the rare pleasure of seeing Roger Federer in action. The Swiss maestro was finally able to honour a pledge he had made to close friend and tournament organiser Thomas Johansson and compete at the event, cruising through the draw to claim the title.
Sadly the tournament does not have the funds to bring the likes of Federer to Sweden on a regular basis but there are still plenty of top 20 stars in the draw.
Monfils is making his Stockholm debut and needs a good run this week with the top eight in the ATP Race beginning to pull away after a successful few weeks in Asia. The Frenchman often saves his best for the indoor swing and as top seed this week he'll be hoping to pick up the third indoor title of his career.
The same goes for Juan Martin Del Potro who has not competed since helping Argentina into the Davis Cup final. Del Potro last competed in Stockholm back in 2007, losing in round one then and he'll have his eye on a semi-final place at the very least.
Watch out for sixth seed Milos Raonic who's shaking off the rust after a four month injury enforced layoff. Raonic has an absolute cannon of a serve and pretty decent volleys and on this fast indoor surface, he will be a real threat.
Dark horse of the week goes to David Nalbandian, who won Stockholm back in 2008. Nalbandian may be unseeded but he was looking dangerous in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago.
