Bermuda number one Andy Bray has described his XL Open qualifying draw as the ?dream ticket?.

Bray, who was bizarrely drawn against doubles partner James Colliesion last year, will not take on the number one qualifying seed and former world number 85 Michael Russell today in the second qualifying round after both players received byes.

Russell, a former quarter-finalist at the French Open and perennial visitor to Bermuda, is exactly the opponent Bray was looking for in his second outing on the Coral Beach clay.

?This really is the dream ticket,? said Bray, just minutes after hearing of the draw last night.

?To get the top guy in the qualifying is just what I wanted. It is going to be an amazing experience to play someone like him ? it is going to be brilliant.

?I?m just going to play my normal game, there is no point doing anything clever or out of the ordinary, it just wouldn?t work. It?s the dream draw and I?m hoping to make the most of it.?

Russell, 27 and with career earnings of more than $500,000, is currently ranked 219 in the world.

James Collieson, who took on Serbian Dusan Vemic last year after beating Bray, is taking on unknown Michael Birzon, a 23-year-old from the US, in the first qualifying round.

The 6ft 3ins Birzon is ranked 1314 in the world - 300 places lower than Collieson?s best ranking based on his apperances in the XL main draw courtesy of withdrawals - and was beaten by Vemic in Ecuador last month.

For Monday?s main draw, a number of players will be coming in to the XL on somewhat of a roll.

A large number of the seeds for the Coral Beach tournament have been competing in Houston at the $380,000 US Men?s Clay Court Championships where Mardy Fish and XL number one seed Paul Goldstein have booked places in the semi-finals ? and earned a mimimum of $18,000 in prize money.

Fish, here on a wildcard, rallied from a set down to beat fellow Bermuda-bound American Vince Spadea 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the quarter-finals yesterday.

Fish?s first ATP semi-finals effort since June 2004 continued the former top-20 player?s comeback from two wrist surgeries last year. He won a minor challenger event last week in Florida, accepted a wild card entry into this week?s tournament, and received a break in the previous round when Germany?s Rainer Schuettler withdrew with a stomach illness.

Seventh-seeded Goldstein and Austria?s Jurgen Melzer advanced to the semi-finals with straight-sets wins.

Goldstein beat Spain?s Albert Montanes, who is also coming to Bermuda, 6-3, 6-4 and today the American will play Melzer, who downed Fernando Vicente of Spain 7-5, 6-4.

Americans Jesse Witten, who was beaten by Grand Slam finalist Marcos Baghdatis in Houston, and Alex Kuznetsov have now been offered wild cards into the main draw of the Open while Mark Philippoussis has entered the main draw automatically as he was number two on the alternate list and there are no special exemptions.