No. 5 seed Denis Istomin will face Michael Russell on Thursday in the second round of the SAP Open

Denis Istomin is expected to make a decent run at this year’s ATP San Jose Open, and he stands a reasonable chance of reaching the quarters. He will face Michael Russell in round two, and enters the match as the favourite. Istomin got his campaign off to a decent start in round one, defeating qualifier Roman Borvanov in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

Russell also started up in San Jose with a good win. He made light work of his match against fellow American Alex Kuznetsov, winning the contest 6-4, 6-2. He is expected to stand a decent chance in this match, despite ranking just outside of the top hundred. His experience at this level may give him a slight edge.

Russell won the last and only previous matchup between the pairing. The match took place on the hard courts of Miami in 2010. Russell won in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-4, and may be feeling confident of another victory. Even so, Istomin, who is currently the world No. 49, will be eager for revenge and might be able to earn himself a place in the last eight.