New Delhi: A tough draw makes the ATP Challenger Series SAIL Open a formidable proposition for the Indians but the local favourites would bank on home advantage to notch up some valuable ranking points on offer in the USD 50,000 tennis tournament starting tomorrow.

One of the best bets for India in the tournament would be Rohan Bopanna, who comes back after recovering from a knee injury that he carried through the Davis Cup win over Japan last month.

Bopanna, however, has a tough match on hand as he has been pitted against fourth seed Go Soeda of Japan in the first round of the tournament that will see the winner take home USD 7,200 besides gaining 55 ATP ranking points.

Soeda was a part of the Japanese team that lost to India in the Davis Cup last month where he was beaten by Prakash Amritraj in the second singles of the tie.

However, Soeda's ATP ranking of 132 gives him an edge over the 303rd-placed Bopanna.

The US-based Prakash Amritraj, meanwhile, is drawn against seventh seed American Brendon Evans.

None of the Indians could get seedings, which were topped by Chinese Taipei's Yen-Huan Lu, ranked 90th in the ATP charts.

Another Indian comeback man Harsh Mankad, who sat through India's Davis Cup win over Japan, has been given a wildcard entry and he takes on French Thomas Oger.

Oger is ranked close to 400 places above Mankad at 276th in the ATP rankings. 

Another Indian wildcard Ashutosh Singh also has tough opener at hand as he takes on eighth seeded Russian Alexandre Kudryavtsev.

Teen sensation Yuki Bhambri, who led the country to the world group play off of the junior Davis Cup, has also been given a wildcard and he will be up against Australian Adam Feeney, who is ranked 274th, close to 1000 places above the Indian.

The other prominent contenders in the tournament include Pakistani number one Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, seeded sixth and drawn against American of Indian origin Rajeev Ram.

World number 129 Dane Kristian Pless has been seeded third and he plays German Alex Satschko.

Source : PTI