Paris - AFP
France's Gael Monfils has shrugged off a knee injury scare in time to take top seeding at the Stockholm Open begins on Monday. The flamboyant world number 10 looked to be out for weeks when he lost a gruelling semi-final to American Donald Young in Bangkok a fortnight ago, then hurried to Paris for a scan on the troublesome knee which has bothered him on and off this season. But with an unexpected positive result to the tests, Monfils feels ready to make a run through to the end of the season in four weeks, opening with a bye at the Kungligahallen where Juan Martin del Potro and Stanislas Wawrinka are the second and third seeds. Monfils will be making his Stockholm debut and faces a second-round start against the winner from a qualifier and Australian teenage wildcard Bernard Tomic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist. Monfils is still looking for his first ATP title of the season and will hope to get it at the event which Roger Federer won a year ago. Second seed Del Potro is building up to Argentina's Davis Cup final with Spain in Seville from December 2-4, with teammate David Nalbandian also entered in the Swedish capital. Del Potro's first match in the second round will come against either two-time champion James Blake of the US or Belgian Olivier Rochus. Third seed Wawrinka arrived from the Shanghai Masters where he lost to Andy Murray. The Swiss reached the quarter-finals here a year ago, losing to Federer. Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela takes the fourth seeding, ahead of South African Kevin Anderson. Seeded sixth is Canadian Milos Raonic, another tournament debutant. The 20-year-old is playing in his third event since returning from July 5 hip surgery and lost in Shanghai in the second round to Spaniard David Ferrer. German Tommy Haas was given a wild card while 2009 winner Marcos Baghdatis is back with a first-round match against Raonic. Unseeded two-time finalist Jarkko Nieminen of Finland plays a qualifier with the winner to play Wawrinka. Missing from the field is Swede Robin Soderling, stil battling a case of glandular fever. The 2003 and 2008 home finalist has not played since winning the Swedish Open in mid-July.