The eighth edition of the PTT Thailand Open features an impressive field, led by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who is making his tournament debut, along with countryman Fernando Verdasco, who is the No. 2 seed and a wild card entry. Other seeds are: No. 3 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 4 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who is making his return from a wrist injury, No. 6 Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, No. 7 and last year’s finalist Viktor Troicki of Serbia, and No. 8 Michael Berrer of Germany.

This is the first time since 2005 a World No. 1 is playing in Bangkok. That year Roger Federer won the title.

On Monday’s schedule, there are four qualifying matches and four main draw singles matches. In the first match on Centre Court, Frenchman Florent Serra takes a 1-0 lead against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili. Serra also won a Challenger meeting. In the second match, top Dutchman de Bakker makes his Bangkok debut against Spanish wild card Marc Lopez. They are facing each other for the first time. The 22-year-old de Bakker has broken into the Top 50 this season while reaching two ATP World Tour semi-finals.

In the evening session,  last year’s runner-up Troicki, meets Swiss No. 3 Marco Chiudinelli for the first time. Troicki is also a two-time semi-finalist this year and he’s a member of his country’s Davis Cup team, which reached the final. Next up is the top-seeded doubles duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes. They are teaming together in a tournament for the first time since the ‘08 Beijing Olympics where they reached the quarter-finals. Since then, they have played in four Davis Cup ties (4-0), including two this year. They also played here together in 2004.

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TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS
CITY:   Bangkok, Thailand
VENUE:  Impact Arena
DATE:   September 27-October 3, 2010
CATEGORY:  ATP World Tour 250
PRIZE MONEY:  $551,000
DRAW:   28 singles / 16 doubles
SURFACE:  Hard
SINGLES FINAL:  Sunday, October 3, at 3:00 p.m.
DOUBLES FINAL: Sunday, October 3, at 1:00 p.m.
FIRST HELD:  2003
     
2009 FINALS
Singles – (2) Gilles Simon (FRA) d. (4) Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles – Butorac-Ram d. Garcia-Lopez-Zverev 7-6(4), 6-3

RECENT CHAMPIONS/FINALISTS (since 2003)
2009 Gilles Simon/Viktor Troicki
2008 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/Novak Djokovic
2007 Dmitry Tursunov (in last round of qualifying)/Benjamin Becker
2006 James Blake/Ivan Ljubicic 
2005 Roger Federer/Andy Murray
2004 Roger Federer/Andy Roddick 
2003 Taylor Dent/Juan Carlos Ferrero
*Bold denotes past champions / runner-up in 2010 draw

A LOOK AT THE DRAW
Singles:                            Player Record  Best Finish 
1 Rafael Nadal (ESP)                  Debut
2 Fernando Verdasco (ESP)         3-1                SF-'07
3 Jurgen Melzer (AUT)               5-2                 SF-'09
4 Ernests Gulbis (LAT)               1-1                 R16-'09
5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)    0-1                 R32-'07
6 Thiemo de Bakker (NED)        Debut 
7 Viktor Troicki (SRB)                4-2                  F-'09
8 Michael Berrer (GER)               0-1                 R32-'08

Wildcards: Marc Lopez, Danai Udomchoke, Fernando Verdasco
Youngest: Juan Martin del Potro (22 years, 4 days)
Oldest:  Rainer Schuettler (34 years, 5 months)
Top Country Breakdown: Germany 5, Spain 4
Former Champions in Draw (1): Dmitry Tursunov (2007) – playing in last round of qualifying
Former Finalists in Draw (2): Viktor Troicki (2009), Benjamin Becker (2007)
* Final round of qualifying to be played Monday

Doubles Seeded Teams (Tournament record, best finish - year) 
1 Bhupathi / Paes  1-1 QF-'04
2 Knowle / Ram  Debut
3 Aspelin / Hanley  Debut
4 Erlich / Melzer  Debut

RECENT CHAMPIONS (since 2003)
2009 Eric Butorac/Rajeev Ram
2008 Lukas Dlouhy/Leander Paes
2007 Sanchai Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana
2006 Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (not playing together)
2005 Paul Hanley/Leander Paes (not playing together)
2004 Justin Gimelstob/Graydon Oliver
2003 Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (not playing together)
 *Bold denotes past champions in 2010 draw

ABOUT THE ATP WORLD TOUR
With 62 tournaments in 32 countries, the ATP World Tour showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues. From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the ATP World Tour battle for prestigious titles at Grand Slams (non ATP members), ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 and ATP World Tour 250 events. At the end of the season the world’s top 8 ranked men’s singles players and top 8 doubles teams, based on their performance throughout the year, will qualify to compete in the season’s climax - the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. To be held at London’s O2 arena, the event will officially crown the 2010 ATP World Tour Champion and determine the final South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. For more information, please visit www.ATPWorldTour.com.

MONDAY FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS  - In Order of Play

Centre Court

Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs Florent Serra (FRA) Serra Leads 1-0
09 Casablanca (Morocco) Clay QF Florent Serra 6-0 6-4
Other Meeting:
05 Szczecin CH (Poland) Clay QF Florent Serra 2-6 6-4 6-3

Gabashvili FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: New Haven (l Istomin)
YTD W-L: 8-13
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 23, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 99

Serra FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Casablanca (l Hanescu)
YTD W-L: 17-22
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: February 28, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 70

(6) Thiemo de Bakker (NED) vs (WC) Marc Lopez (ESP)   First Meeting

de Bakker FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Barcelona (l Soderling); New Haven (l Stakhovsky); QF: Chennai (l Tipsarevic)
YTD W-L: 26-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 19, 1988
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 47

Lopez FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 31, 1982
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 729

(7) Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)  First Meeting

Troicki FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Doha (l Nadal); New Haven (l Istomin); QF: Zagreb (l Berrer); Belgrade (l Wawrinka)
YTD W-L: 25-26
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 10, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 48

Chiudinelli FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Stuttgart (l Gimeno-Traver)
YTD W-L: 13-26
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: September 10, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 68

Court 1

Daniel Brands (GER) vs Illya Marchenko (UKR)   First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
09 US Open Q (U.S.A.) Hard -- Illya Marchenko 3-6 7-5 6-4

OTHER FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS – Does not include qualifiers
  
Olivier Rochus (BEL) vs Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)      First Meeting

Rainer Schuettler (GER) vs Ricardo Mello (BRA)  Mello Leads 1-0
05 Munich (Germany) Clay R32 Ricardo Mello 6-4 6-2

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs Michael Berrer (GER) First Meeting

Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) vs Danai Udomchoke (THA)  Nieminen Leads 1-0
03 Bangkok (Thailand) Hard R32 Jarkko Nieminen 6-4 6-1

Benjamin Becker (GER) vs Mischa Zverev (GER)  Becker Leads 1-0
10 Halle (Germany) Grass QF Benjamin Becker 7-6(4)  6-0
Other Meeting:
07 Dnepropetrovsk CH (Ukraine) Hard QF Mischa Zverev 6-3 7-5