Andy Roddick is in first round action against Yen-Hsun Lu on the opening day of the 2011 Shanghai Masters.
Given his lack of match practise Roddick performed admirably at the US Open last month, somehow dragging himself into the quarters and he'll be hoping he can put himself back in touch of a place in the top ten before the season ends.
Roddick put in a dire performance at the China Open last week, never looking comfortable while going down 6-4, 7-5 to South Africa's Kevin Anderson. However the faster indoor surface in Shanghai this week should be more to his liking and he has a decent draw with clay-courter Nicolas Almagro seeded to face him in the third round.
Almagro may be seeded seventh but he's done little on faster surfaces this season and Roddick has dealt well with Spaniards over the course of his career.
First up though he'll have to take care of Lu, a man who inflicted one of the more painful defeats of his career at Wimbledon last year. Roddick had won all three of their past matches but Lu held his nerve to win 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 9-7 in the fourth round.
The good news for Roddick is that Lu is nowhere near as dangerous off the grass and even lost in qualifying for Tokyo last week.
Prediction: Roddick in two.
