After two days of qualifying rounds, the Big Boys are all geared up to do battle for top honours when the curtain goes up on the Tata Open tennis tournament at the Nungambakkam tennis here on Monday. The ATP tourney undoubtedly will be a treat for the tennis buffs, quite a few big names including the top Asian star Paradorn Srichapan of Thailand, who lost in the final last year before winning the gold at Busan Asian Games and the two ATP titles in Stockholm and Long Island, is back along with the champion Guillermo Canas and the Aussie with one of the big serves in the game — Mark Philippoussis, nick-named the 'Scud' for his booming serves.

Spearheading the Indian challenge will be the scarred veteran of many a duel, Leander Paes, and the current chart-topper of the AITA rankings, Rohan Bopanna. At 22, Rohan may be considered to be in his prime. This tournament thus presents a great opportunity for him to prove his mettle. Along with Prakash Amritraj, Rohan is a privileged wildcard entrant. As endorsed by his illustrious father, Vijay, 19-year-old Prakash's two greatest attributes are his passion for the game and the willingness to work his heart out.

It will certainly be baptism by fire for young Prakash who is taking part in his first major tournament. He is the present US junior champion. At 6 ft 4 inch, Philippoussis is the 'biggest' of the big boys playing and not surprisingly leads the challenge for the crown, Srichapan's, who lose to Canas in last year's final, strength lies in his groundstrokes and he thrives on hard courts.

Nungambakkam should therefore suit this six-footer to the hilt. In the doubles, Indian tennis buffs have much to rue about as the indomitable pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes have split up into Bhupathi-Todd Woodbridge and Paes-David Rikl. The formidable former duo are the top seeds to bag the prize. Mahesh, of course, is a class act when it comes to doubles and in the company of one of the best doubles players of the past decade, this pair may be hard to beat.