Kim Clijsters believes the Diamond Games will be hotly contested as a strong field prepares to compete at the WTA hard-court event.
After seven years as a Tier II tournament, the last five editions were played as exhibition events, while 2015 marks its first time as a Premier-status competition.
As a player, Clijsters won this event in 2004, as well as finishing runner-up on three occasions.
Now tournament director, the Belgian is thrilled with the quality of the competition in Antwerp. World number one Serena Williams is absent, but other stars such as Eugenie Bouchard, Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic make for an exciting line-up.
"I just discussed this with somebody at the WTA: the cut-off of our entry list is 60," said Clijsters.
"In layman's terms: the world's number 60 is the lowest ranked player to be directly qualified for the main draw.
"With 28 girls in the main draw that means that out of the 60 best players in the world, half will compete at the Diamond Games.
"Okay, we're missing Serena Williams but that's a Fed Cup issue. She is taking on Argentina with the American team to secure her place at the Olympic Games.
"No worries, I'm very happy with the players who do come to Antwerp this week.
"Let's start with top-seeded Eugenie Bouchard. She will undoubtedly become one of the absolute stars of this generation.
"She has already reached seventh place on the WTA rankings and played last year's final at Wimbledon. She's incredibly talented and pairs that talent with plenty of discipline: an ideal combination.
"I know Angelique very well. She beat me at my last appearance at Wimbledon. But I forgive her, she's a very cool girl.
"And Petkovic is a great personality."
Bouchard, Kerber, Petkovic and Luice Safarova come into the tournament as the top four seeds, and all enjoy byes into the second round of action.