For the first time since the demise of the Cardiff tournament in 1997 two British players appear on the Main Draw list for a WTA clay court event. The Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (their headed paper must be a metre wide!) includes both Katie O'Brien, who scraped in on ranking, and Elena Baltacha, who accepted the feed-up offered for winning in Torhout.

The main draw normally takes place here on Saturday, but tomorrow sees the qualifying draw which should also have British interest. Amanda Elliott, who like Katie and more recently Bally, has been working with Jens Gerlach (who coached Anastasia Myskina to the 2004 French Open title) should figure in that. After Morocco the trio all head to Zagreb.