Fernando Verdasco begins his Cincinnati Masters campaign against Thomaz Bellucci later today.
Verdasco leads 2-1 on the head-to-head but Bellucci won their last match in Acapulco earlier this year. However the Brazilian is most at home on the clay and he's had little to write home about from his North American campaign so far.
He was comprehensively outplayed by Richard Gasquet in the second round of Montreal, a 6-1, 6-4 straight sets drubbing.
For a former world number seven, Verdasco's season has taken a long time to catch light but there have been signs in the past month that he's regaining his tennis mojo. He lost to eventual winner Radek Stepanek in Washington and can count himself a bit unlucky to get Janko Tipsarevic so early in Montreal. The noted giant-killer, won their second round clash in three sets and went on to make the semi-finals.
Verdasco isn't even seeded this week and with a ranking of 20, that shows just how strong this field is. He has a decent shot at making the third round but then he could run into his nemesis Rafael Nadal.
