Kei Nishikori headlines this week’s Rio Open with former champions David Ferrer and Pablo Cuevas also in the line-up.
Nishikori, the world number five and top seed in Brazil, comes into the event chasing his first title of the year having lost in the Buenos Aires final to Alexandr Dolgopolov on Sunday.
The Ukrainian is a potential semi-final opponent for the Japanese, however he faces a tough test when he gets his campaign underway later in the week against home favourite Thomaz Bellucci in the opening round on the clay courts.
Potential second and third-round meetings with Brazilians could also lie in wait at the Jockey Club Brasileiro but the 27-year-old has a favourable run to the final with Joao Sousa, Pablo Carreno Busta and David Ferrer the seeds in his half of the draw.
World number 25 Carreno Busta was a quarter-finalist in Argentina last week, losing to Dolgopolov and the pair could meet in the last eight again with the Ukrainian a huge first-round banana skin for Ferrer.
The 2015 champion in Rio has slipped to 25 in the rankings and with the enigmatic Dologoplov capable of anything on his day and in good form, Ferrer will have to roll back the years.
In the bottom half, last year’s semi-finalist Dominic Thiem (2) is the highest seed while third seed Pablo Cuevas is defending the title he won last year with a three-set win over Guido Pella
Thiem has been handed a tough opener against wild card Janko Tipsarevic and, having been far from his best this year, will be looking to the red dirt to inspire him again.
Five of his seven titles have been on clay, including Buenos Aires and Acapulco in the early months of last year, as his first half of the season set a path to the World Tour Finals.
With Rio the only 500 event on this week’s calendar, he will hope to put early season disappointments behind him.
Also in the bottom half, Tommy Robredo and Fabio Fognini clash for the second time in just over a week after Robredo claimed a surprise win in Argentina.
The injury-plagued 35-year-old is making his first 500 appearance since February after elbow surgery gave him a protected ranking of 57.
He lost just seven games against Fognini last week in the opening round but the Italian has an immediate chance for revenge.
The live action gets underway at 7.30pm on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Mix on Monday and then throughout the week on either Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 or 5 as well as being available to all subscribers on Sky Sports Mix on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
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