Novak Djokovic begins his Dubai title defence against France's Michael Llodra.
Djokovic is in action for the first time since the Australian Open at a tournament he has virtually owned for the past two years. He had a tough path to the final last year, needing three sets to see off the likes of Viktor Troicki, Ivan Ljubicic, Marcos Baghdatis and Mikhail Youzhny.
Djokovic enjoyed possibly the finest fortnight of his career down under, producing two blistering displays to see off both Roger Federer and Andy Murray in straight sets. He is the man to beat right now and it will be fascinating to see whether he can keep that momentum going into next month's Masters Series events.
Djokovic and Llodra are 1-1 on the head-to-head. Llodra won their last match 7-6, 6-2 but that was at the Paris Masters in November on a fast indoor surface.
However the Frenchman is nowhere near as effective on a medium paced outdoor hard court where his flat groundstrokes lose their bite and Djokovic has more time to pick him off at the net.
Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1 when they met in Miami four years ago and expect a similar scoreline on Tuesday.
