Nadal Tests Foot This Week at ATP Marseille

"I'm really happy to be here," said the 19-year-old Nadal, still at No. 2 after an almost-three-month absence from the game. "I've been out of the swing of things for a long time and I hope to get back into the rhythm with a few matches to regain my form."

Nadal was only an overly-muscled, oft-injured promising teenage curiosity on tour until last year when he burst out for 11 titles, matching that of world No. 1 Roger Federer.

Joining Nadal among the seeds in Marseille are two-time 2006 title winner Ivan Ljubicic, Russian Nikolay Davydenko, Swede Thomas Johansson coming off a crushing Davis Cup defeat, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Sebastien Grosjean coming off their D-Cup blitzing of Germany, Ljubicic's Croatian compatriot Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, and Czech Radek Stepanek.

Opening-round match-ups to watch for are (7) Stepanek vs. fellow Czech giant-killer Tomas Berdych, (4) T.Johansson vs. Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, (5) Gasquet vs. (WC) Arnaud Clement in an all-French, (8) Grosjean vs. Gael "Force" Monfils in another all-French, (6) Baby Goran vs. Aussie Open runner-up Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis, and (2) Ljubicic vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan.

Last year Joachim Johansson, playing this week in San Jose, defeated Ljubicic in the straight-set final.

Santoro (1999) is the lone returning champion in the field.

On court Monday in Marseille are Berdych vs. (7) Stepanek in an all-Czech, Henman vs. (WC) Sidorenko, and (WC) Simon vs. Nieminen.