Dmitry Tursunov and Marcos Baghdatis contest one of the most exciting first round ties at the Apia International Sydney on Tuesday.
Baghdatis has been on a big fitness drive over the past couple of seasons and the Cypriot will be eyeing a return to the top 20 in 2012. He began the year well with a couple of impressive wins over Ryan Harrison and Kei Nishikori but then Andy Murray illustrated the gulf between the top five and the rest of men's tenni, handing Baghdatis a crushing straight sets defeat in the quarters.
It's six years since Baghdatis thrilled the Melbourne crowds with his run to the Aussie Open final but he's still a very popular figure with the fans down under and he has a good record in Sydney.
His job today will be finding a way to negotiate the awe-inspiring ball-striking ability of Tursunov. However the Russian is not the best in windy conditions and he crashed out in the first round of the Qatar Open last week to the unheralded Albert Ramos.
Prediction: Baghdatis in two.
