Nikolay Davydenko takes on Gilles Simon at the Open 13 in Marseille on Wednesday.
This is undoubtedly the pick of the first round matches as the two former top ten stars go head-to-head. Both men are battling back after respective injury woes and in Simon's case it will not be long before he's seeded at these events again.
The Frenchman made a rapid start to 2011, picking up the Sydney title before pushing Roger Federer all the way in a five set second round classic at the Australian Open which many hailed as worthy of a Grand Slam final.
Davydenko was not too shabby either, beating Rafael Nadal (albeit a feverish version of the world number one) on the way to the Doha final. However he was swiftly brought down to earth in the first round of the Aussie Open and crashed out at the first hurdle in Rotterdam too.
The likely winner of this one looks to be Simon especially when you take into account home support as well. Davydenko does not have his usual rhythm from the back of the court yet and Simon has the confidence over four straight wins over the Russian, beating him in three sets in Valencia back in the autumn.
