Jenson Bascome will have his work cut out when he takes to the court this morning against Israel's former world No.30 Harel Levy.

The Bermudian Davis Cup star was granted a wildcard into the qualifying rounds of the XL Capital Bermuda Open and takes on the Israeli in a Centre Court clash at Coral Beach at 11 a.m.

Fellow Islander, James Collieson, who was also granted a wildcard, faces Venezuelan Jose De Armas at the conclusion of the first match.

Both Bermudians were part of the Davis Cup squad which started so brightly in Costa Rica earlier this month.

The pair, who were joined by Jovan Whitter and Ricky Mallory, went on to falter, not only against good opposition but altitude and wind, in a losing effort to gain promotion from Americas Zone Group Four.

They will be looking to put that disappointment behind them today, however, in the hope of being one of the four players from the qualifiers to make it into Monday's main draw.

Levy (24), who was born in Kibutz Nahshonin, Israel and is seeded No.2 in the qualifiers, had a very successful 2001 when he reached the top 30, but he was forced to battle injuries last year and as a result his ranking suffered. He is now 232nd in the world.

The highlight of his career so far was arguably his 2001 victory over Pete Sampras at the Italian Open.

In yesterday's Royal Gazette Bascome was realistic about his own chances prior to the draw being made last night.

"I think it's going to be a good experience to play in it," he said. "All I want to do is play well. I had a tough week last week but mentally I am a bit more relaxed and I just have to come out and give a good account of myself.

"It's my first time, there's no real pressure on me. I can go out there and just go for my shots and play my game. There are no high expectations."

Collieson's opponent De Armas, is currently 242nd in the world and is seeded one place behind Levy.

He is 22-years-old and was born in Florida, though now lives in Caracas and was part of the Venezuelan Davis Cup team that lost 3-2 to Ecuador in the Americas Group One semifinal earlier this month.

Top seed in the qualifiers is Sebastian De Chaunac of France who faces Brendan Evans of the USA on Court Seven later today. He is ranked 202nd in the world.

A total of 20 players will contest the preliminary rounds.

Nicolas Massu, meanwhile, has received the final wildcard into the main draw, which starts on Monday.

Chilean Massu finished 2002 with his best year-end ranking of 56 in the world and improved on his standing for the sixth consecutive year. He captured his first career ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires and won a career-high 29 matches during the season.

The main draw has attracted other top 100 players such as Brian Vahaly (64), Kenneth Carlsen (66), Nicolas Kiefer (74), Andre Sa (80), defending champion Flavio Saretta (83) and Justin Gimelstob (88) among others.

Coral Beach's grounds are open free of charge to the public this weekend.

Tomorrow will see the ever popular Junior Clinic take place with professionals Andrew Ilie, Frank Dancevic, Mikael Pernfors and Todd Martin instructing, signing autographs and answering questions.