The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2010, a second-year tournament on the ATP World Tour, features a strong field with four of the Top 10 players in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings.

Leading the way is top seed and World No. 5 Robin Soderling of Sweden, defending champ Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. All four players are trying to secure one of six spots remaining for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. The other seeds are: No. 5 David Ferrer of Spain, No. 6 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyrpus, No. 7 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine and No. 8 Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan. Seven of the top eight seeds (except Berdych) have won at least one ATP World Tour title this season.

There are five singles matches on Monday’s schedule. In the first match on Centre Court, Michal Przysiezny of Poland takes on Santiago Giraldo of Colombia for the first time. In the second match, another Colombian, Alejandro Falla, takes a 1-0 mark against big-serving South African Kevin Anderson. In the third match, Stakhovsky, a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour this year, plays 32-year-old American Michael Russell, who is the oldest player in the singles draw.

In the evening session, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, plays Golubev for the first time. Both players are compiling the best season of their respective careers. Lu reached a Grand Slam-best quarter-final at Wimbledon while Golubev earned his first ATP World Tour title in Hamburg in July. In the final match, Malaysian wild card Yew-Ming Si makes his ATP World Tour debut at the age of 31 against 18-year-old Indian wild card Yuki Bhambri. In doubles, the top seeds and defending champions are the Polish duo of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

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TOURNAMENT QUICK FACTS
CITY:   Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
VENUE:  Putra Stadium, National Sports Complex
DATE:   September 27-October 3, 2010
CATEGORY:  ATP World Tour 250
PRIZE MONEY:  $947,750
DRAW:   28 singles / 16 doubles
SURFACE:  Hard
SINGLES FINAL:  Sunday, October 3, at 2:30 p.m.
DOUBLES FINAL: Sunday, October 3, following singles
FIRST HELD:  2009

2009 FINALS (First year)
Singles – (1) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) d. (2) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – (1) Fyrstenberg-Matkowski d. Kunitsyn-Levinsky 6-2, 6-1

A LOOK AT THE DRAW
Singles: Player Record  Best Finish 
1 Robin Soderling (SWE)  2-1 SF-'09
2 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)   4-0 W-'09
3 Tomas Berdych (CZE)   2-1 QF-'09
4 Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)  2-1 QF-'09
5 David Ferrer (ESP)   0-1 R32-'09
6 Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)  1-1 R16-'09
7 Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)   Debut 
8 Andrey Golubev (KAZ)  0-1 R32-'09

Wildcards: Yuki Bhambri, Yew-Ming Si, Bernard Tomic
Qualifiers: Igor Andreev, Frantisek Cermak, Milos Raonic, Laurent Recouderc
Youngest: Bernard Tomic (17 years, 11 months)   
Oldest:  Michael Russell (32 years, 4 months)
Top Country Breakdown: Russia 4, Spain 3, United States 3, Seven countries with 2
 
Seeded Doubles Teams: (Tournament record, best finish - year)  
1 Fyrstenberg / Matkowski  4-0 W-'09
2 Cermak / Mertinak  0-1 R16-'09
3 Melo / Soares   Debut  
4 Butorac / Rojer   Debut

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

Michal Przysiezny (POL) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)  First Meeting

Przysiezny FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 2-12
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 16, 1984
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 89

Giraldo FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Chennai (l Cilic); s-Hertogenbosch (l Stakhovsky)
YTD W-L: 16-19
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 27, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 62

Alejandro Falla (COL) vs Kevin Anderson (RSA)                        Falla Leads 1-0
08 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R128 Alejandro Falla         5-7 7-5 6-7(8) 6-2 7-5

Falla FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: s-Hertogenbosch (l Malisse); Los Angeles (l Murray)
YTD W-L: 14-17
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 14, 1983
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 75

Anderson FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Atlanta (l Isner)
YTD W-L: 13-16
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 18, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 64

(7) Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs Michael Russell (USA)   First Meeting

Stakhovsky FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: s-Hertogenbosch (d Tipsarevic); New Haven (d Istomin); QF: Nice (l Verdasco)
YTD W-L: 24-19
YTD Titles: 2
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: January 6, 1986
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 31

Russell FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: San Jose (l Querrey); Atlanta (l Isner)
YTD W-L: 10-18
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: May 1, 1978
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 86

Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs (8) Andrey Golubev (KAZ)   First Meeting

Lu FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Johannesburg (l Monfils); Wimbledon (l Djokovic)
YTD W-L: 12-15
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 14, 1983
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 44

Golubev FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Hamburg (d Melzer)
YTD W-L: 18-15
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 1
Date of Birth: July 22, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 41

(WC) Yew-Ming Si (MAS) vs (WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)  First Meeting

Si FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 1-1
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: August 24, 1979
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: Not Ranked

Bhambri FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 0-0
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 4, 1992
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 532

OTHER FIRST ROUND HEAD-TO-HEADS – Does not include Qualifiers

Marsel Ilhan (TUR) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)   First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
07 Karshi CH (Uzbekistan) Hard F Denis Istomin 6-1 6-4

Bernard Tomic (AUS) vs David Ferrer (ESP)    First Meeting

Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs Kei Nishikori (JPN)   Baghdatis Leads 1-0
09 Memphis (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Marcos Baghdatis 7-5 6-3