A number of international players with ATP rankings will join the UAE's best in a bid for glory at the 12th Aviation Cup tennis tournament which gets underway at the Dubai Aviation Club later this week.

Leading the field of international entries is Uzbekistan's Oleg Ogorodov with an ATP ranking of 167.

Though further down the line in terms of ATP rankings, the next seven players including UAE's national champion Omar Behroozian, are sure to give the Uzbek top seed a tough time in the 32-player main draw of the competition.

This year's tournament, by far the best in terms of international participation, attracted 85 players from across the globe when entries closed on December 1.

Besides Behroozian, there are India's Manoj Mahadevan (ATP 676) and Rishi Sridhar (ATP 876), Qatar's Nasser Al Kholeifi (ATP 997), another Uzbek Anton Kokurin (ATP 1,091) along with the Algerian duo of Abdelhak Hameurlaine (ATP 1,129) and former champion Wassell Harrad (ATP 1,324).

"In terms of the field we‚ve managed to attract it certainly is an exciting event," Simon Brown, gym director, Aviation Club, told the Gulf News.

"This looks more like a tournament on the Future circuit."

In last year's final India's Syed Fazaluddin defeated an erratic defending champion Amr Ghonaim of Egypt in straight sets. This year, Ghonaim has not confirmed participation as he's entered to play in another event elsewhere.

Making the charge for the title along with defending champion Fazaluddin will be fellow countrymen Rishi Behl, Karan Rastogi and UAE-based former Indian Davis Cupper, Zeeshan Ali.

Kazakhstan's Alexey Kedriovik has also been confirmed as an entry in the main draw in the company of UAE players, Mahmoud Nader and Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi.

"We have players from 12 different nationalities in this tournament and that speaks volumes for the event this year," noted Dewelyn Menezes, marketing manager at the Aviation Club.

These 24 players will be joined by eight qualifiers who will have to contest the preliminary stage of the competition starting Dec. 11. The main tournament will be worked off between December 15-20.

"This year's tournament definitely has a higher profile," Menezes added.

Yet another factor in this year's tournament is that Tennis Emirates (TE) has been using the event as an ideal exposure for the UAE players as they prepare for a more gruelling schedule ahead.

"This tournament is definitely a part of our plans as we prepare for the GCC Individual Championship in Muscat (Dec. 22). If Omar plays well and he gets a good draw, he can go a long way. Mahmoud and Mohammed are dark horses, but they are capable of upsets," said UAE coach Luis Reis.

The draw for the qualifying will be held on December 10, while the qualifying itself will start the next day. The main draw will be conducted at the Aviation Club Majlis on December 14.