Croatian No 1 Ljubicic will return to the Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani from September 24 to October 1 after reaching the semi-final there in 2003, while American heart-throb Blake will touch down in the Kingdom for the first time.

Four-time Wimbledon champion Federer will not return to defend his crown this year because of commitments to the Swiss Davis Cup team.

Despite the non-arrival of Fed-Ex, fans will still have some big names to watch, including two-time Grand Slam champions like Lleyton Hewitt, now ranked No 12, and Marat Safin, who dropped to No 95 this week.

"This is the most open field we have ever had," said Brian Marcar, the managing director or tournament organisers BEC Tero Entertainment. "There are so many players who could win it this year and we will be announcing some more big names in the next few weeks."

Australia's Hewitt, who forfeited last year's quarter-final against local star Paradorn Srichaphan due to injury, was the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion. Safin won the 2000 US Open and upset Federer to win the 2005 Australian Open.

Also joining the competition is clay court specialist Guillemo Coria of Argentina, who rose to his highest ranking of No 3 in 2004. It will be the Argentine's first trip to Bangkok and he is now No 28 in the world rankings.

Andy Murray of Scotland is also returning and will be looking to improve on his runners-up finish after losing in the final to Federer last year. But all eyes will be on Paradorn, who has yet to win the trophy in front of his home crowd after making it to two straight semi-finals in 2004 and 2005.

The tournament will be held from September 24 to October 1 at the Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani. Tickets are available at all Thaiticketmaster outlets from Saturday, July 15. Tennis fans can call 02-2623456 for more details. Ticket prices start at Bt300 for the qualifying rounds and Bt500 for the main draw.