The unassuming Spaniard ripped up the form book last year, beating two former French Open champions, Albert Costa and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, before winning the final in straight sets against current world number one Roger Federer.

But he failed to build on that success after suffering a stomach injury and struggled for the remainder of the season with a dismal 1-10 record.

This year the mild-mannered 29-year-old hopes to have turned the corner and is raring to go in the Eternal City.

"I have some great memories from last year -- it's a wonderful place to play and the atmosphere here is very special," said the softly spoken clay court specialist, who reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 1998.

"I've had some problems with my stomach and I haven't always been able to train properly and that's very tough for any player.

"But I feel a lot better now and I just want to go out on court and play my best tennis."

Seeded 30, Mantilla admitted he was happy to be considered an outsider, just as he was last year.