ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal makes his PTT Thailand Open debut on Thursday night while countryman and No. 2 seed Fernando Verdasco returns to Bangkok for the first time in three years.

In the first singles match, No. 7 seed and last year’s runner-up Viktor Troicki of Serbia looks for his second win of the season against Finnish left-hander Jarkko Nieminen. Last month, prior to the US Open, Troicki won the second round meeting in straight sets en route to the semi-finals. He is trying to reach his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final or better this year. Nieminen was a quarter-finalist last week in Metz and his best showing in 2010 was the semi-finals in Delray Beach in February.

In the second match, Verdasco brings a 4-1 lifetime mark against ’07 Bangkok finalist Benjamin Becker of Germany. Verdasco, who is trying to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the second straight year, is No. 8 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP year-to-date rankings. The 26-year-old Madrid native is 2-2 in ATP World Tour finals this season and he is looking to reach his 11th quarter-final or better. Becker is 4-16 lifetime against Top 10 opponents and his last win came over No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko in Halle in June.

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In the evening session, Nadal looks for his 60th win of the year (59-7) against Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans. The 24-year-old Spaniard locked up ATP World Tour Champion honours for the second time in three years after capturing his first US Open title (d. Djokovic) on Sept. 13. He became the seventh man in the history of the sport to complete a career Grand Slam and the youngest to accomplish the feat in the Open Era (since 1968).

In the final match of the day, Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan tries to reach his second career ATP World Tour quarter-final (’09 Moscow, SF) as he takes on veteran Belgian Olivier Rochus, who upset No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro on Tuesday.

NADAL SEASON IN REVIEW – Here is a look at Nadal’s incredible 2010 season on the ATP World Tour:
Tournaments: 13  
Titles: 6  
Finals: 1
SF: 3
QF: 3
W-L: 59-7 
Prize Money: $7,381,738 (career-high)

THURSDAY SECOND ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS  - In Order of Play

Centre Court

(7) Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) Troicki Leads 1-0
10 New Haven (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Viktor Troicki 7-5 6-3

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

Nieminen FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Delray Beach (l Gulbis); QF: Metz (l Zverev)
YTD W-L: 18-22
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: July 23, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 60

Benjamin Becker (GER) vs (2-WC) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) Verdasco Leads 4-1
06 Wimbledon (England) Grass R64 Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-7(7)  4-6   6-3 9-7
09 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami Hard R64 Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-4
09 s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) Grass R16 Benjamin Becker 7-5 7-6(4)
09 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Fernando Verdasco 7-5 6-4   7-5
10 San Jose (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Fernando Verdasco 7-5 6-2

Becker FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Halle (l Hewitt); s-Hertogenbosch (l Tipsarevic); QF: Delray Beach (l Nieminen)
YTD W-L: 23-26
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: June 16, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 65

Verdasco FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: San Jose (d Roddick); Barcelona (d Soderling); F: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (l Nadal); Nice (l Gasquet); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l Ferrer); QF: Acapulco (l Monaco); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Berdych); Båstad (l Robredo); Washington (l Baghdatis); US Open (l Nadal)
YTD W-L: 41-17
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 5
Date of Birth: November 15, 1983
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 8

(1) Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs (Q) Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)  First Meeting

Nadal FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo (d Verdasco); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (d Ferrer); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (d Federer); Roland Garros (d Soderling); Wimbledon (d Berdych); US Open (d Djokovic); F: Doha (l Davydenko); SF: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l Ljubicic); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l Roddick); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto (l Murray); QF: Australian Open (l Murray); London / Queen's Club (l Lopez); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l Baghdatis)
YTD W-L: 59-7
YTD Titles: 6
Career Titles: 42
Date of Birth: June 3, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 1

Bemelmans FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: January 14, 1988
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 195

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) vs Olivier Rochus (BEL)  First Meeting

Kukushkin FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 10-6
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: December 26, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 83

Rochus FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
F: Newport (l Fish); QF: Nice (l Gasquet)
YTD W-L: 16-20
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: January 18, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 78