Sam Querrey plays his first match in Houston today against wildcard Ryan Sweeting.
Querrey may be ranked over 70 places higher than his compatriot but he will be wary of Sweeting's potential having lost to him 7-6, 6-4 in Delray Beach a couple of months ago.
The 6'5 Sweeting is in the form of his life, breaking into the top 100 last month after a run to the third round in Indian Wells, beating Juan Monaco along the way.
Querrey has had a distinctly average start to the year and he needs to pick up his game soon if he's going to remain in the top 30 as the tall Californian has a mountain of points to defend over the next few months. American fans were excited about Querrey's potential top ten prospects when he racked up four titles over the first six months of 2010 but he's been struggling to win back to back matches in 2011.
He made the Houston final last year and went on to win a title in Belgrade a few weeks later so he has the potential to do well on clay. However he appears to have lost his rhythm on serve recently and that has affected the rest of his game.
Prediction: Querrey to grind out a three set win
