It's not a Masters 1000 event which probably explains why so many of the top players decided against entering the 2011 ATP Open de Nice Cote d' Azur.

Without the top names, (1) David Ferrer of Spain, (2) Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, (3) Nicolas Almagro of Spain and (4) Andy Roddick were awarded byes in what they all hope will be a rewarding stop before the second Slam of the year gets under way next week.

Ferrer, 10-3 on the clay this year and the prohibitive favorite to win Nice, pulled out of Rome last week due to an illness. His health is a concern, but with an extra day to rest the mosquito figures to be a pest for all in the final French Open tuneup.

The Spaniard's nemeseses on the red dirt have been No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain and No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Both of the world's top two players are among the plethora of stars to not make the trip over to Nice. But someone who may be a formidable foe is (5) Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov who'll have to beat an Italian and a qualifer for the much anticipated bout with Ferrer who'll see either a French wildcard or Italian in the second round.

Other players in Ferrer's draw are Roddick and another Ukrainian (7) Sergiy Stakhovsky. With the American 0-2 on the clay this season and riding a four-match losing streak, the prospects of him going deep in Nice are about as good as a South American winning this week's clay-court event.

Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas and Argentine Carlos Berlocq aren't the worst clay-courters around, but with the wear and tear of the clay-court season it may be too much to ask either of them to capture their first event on the red dirt in Nice. Cuevas, alone, has made two semifinals on the clay in Estoril and Houston this year while Berlocq hasn't been past the second round of four clay-court tournaments in 2011.

Besides Berlocq in the bottom-half of the draw we have Berdych paired with Italian (8) Fabio Fognini and Almagro paired with Cypriot (6) Marcos Baghdatis in potential quarterfinal clashes.

A number of quality players are blended in the bottom-half as youngster Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria draws Pablo Andujar of Spain in one of the more scintillating first-round affairs.

Of the four seeded players I like Ukrainian (5) Alexandr Dolgopolov to not get knocked off. As for who I think has the best chance to fall of the seeded players in the first round, I'll go with maniacal Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili ousting (7) Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky. In their only prior meeting on an indoor hard court in 2004 the Ukrainian outlasted the Russian 6-4, 7-6(4). It's due time that Gabashvili retaliates.

The most probable winner is David Ferrer if you ask me, playing the final against his country mate - Nicolas Almagro.

• Name: Open de Nice Côte d’Azur
• Category: ATP World Tour 250
• Place: Nice, France
• Date: 16.05.2011-21.05.2011
• Draw Size: S-28 D-16
• Surface: Clay
• Prize Money: € 398,250

Draws and Order of Play