There will be no Bermudians on court when the XL Capital Bermuda Open starts at Coral Beach Club next month.

However, assistant tournament director Amanda Temple is confident the Bermuda public will appreciate the chance to see some of the world's top-ranked players and she hopes that exposure to this level of tennis will inspire Bermudian youngsters to qualify for the Open in future years.

"We try to inspire youngsters with our junior clinic where they get to spend an afternoon with a few players from our tournament and some local pros also. We want them to realise that this is an amazing sport to get into and we hope some of them follow through," said Temple yesterday.

She noted that while there were several tournaments here involving Bermudian players, the XL Open was "special" since it offered an international field of competitors who have to be on the ATP circuit to qualify.

"This is a professional ATP tournament and you generally need ATP points (to be in it). There aren't any Bermudians currently on the (ATP) Tour . . . Last year we gave James Collieson a wild card entry but he won't be playing this year."

So far, Michael Chang and Taylor Dent of the United States and Australian Andrew Ilie are the world-rated players confirmed for the event.

Temple expects a full slate of singles and doubles players by the March 23 deadline for sign-up.