Andy Murray plays Marcos Baghdatis in a testing opener at the Japan Open today.
Murray picked up the Thailand Open title at the weekend but this is a tough first match for him. It's quite a long flight from Bangkok to Tokyo and adjusting to the slower hard courts at the Japan Open is a difficult process.
Baghdatis was already competing outside in Kuala Lumpur last week so he comes into this one ready and full of confidence after reaching the final in Malaysia, defeating Jurgen Melzer and Viktor Troicki along the way.
Reaching another final this week would be a huge achievement for Murray, particularly with the likes of David Ferrer and David Nalbandian in his section of the draw but he knows he can't afford to look beyond this initial match-up.
Baghdatis actually leads Murray 3-1 on the head-to-head though two of the Cypriot's wins were in 2006 and 2007. Murray gained revenge in four sets at last year's French Open but Baghdatis hammered him in Rotterdam in February as a disconsolate Murray was still recovering mentally from his Australian Open final defeat.
Prediction: Murray in three.
