The SAA Tennis Open gets underway in East London on Monday, 11 February, with strong-serving Croatian Ivan Ljubicic was named top seed.

The seedings were announced on Thursday, 7 February: Austria's Stefan Koubek is seeded number two, Swedes Thomas Johansson and former Australian Open champion Jonas Bjorkman are seeded three and four respectively. Rik de Voest, the only seeded South African, completes the top five. The remaining seeds are Portugal's Frederico Gil, Australia's Joseph Sirianni and Italian Stefano Galvani.

Tournament director and CEO of the South African Tennis Association, Ian Smith, confirmed that injury has ruled last year's winner Mathieu Montcourt of France out of the tournament.

"The qualifying tournament for four spots in the main draw will be played this Saturday and Sunday at Selborne Park, with the final qualifying round being played on Monday. The qualifying draw sign-in takes place at the Stadium on Friday evening at 7pm," said Smith.

The tournament's first round will be played from Monday to Wednesday, with the second round scheduled for Thursday, 14 February.

The quarter-finals will be played on Friday, 15 February with the semi-finals on Saturday, 16 February. The finals are scheduled to be played on Sunday, 17 February. Play will start at 10am each day.

Tickets for each day are R20 for adults and R5 for scholars and are available at Selborne Park Stadium daily. There will also be a season ticket option at R60. Tickets can also be purchased at the following outlets in East London: Sportslife (Devereux Centre – Vincent), Sportsman's Warehouse (Retail Park – Beacon Bay) and Classic Eyes (Vincent Park Centre).

The tournament seeds are: 1-Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 24; 2-Stefan Koubek (AUT) 55; 3-Thomas Johansson (SWE) 60; 4-Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) 71; 5-Rik de Voest (RSA) 132; 6-Frederico Gil (POR) 139; 7-Joseph Sirianni (AUS) 145; 8-Stefano Galvani (ITA) 157.

The SAA Tennis Open is presented by Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Buffalo City and the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.