ATP Beijing Preview

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will return to action this week as they headline what is a strong draw in Beijing. Djokovic, the number 1 seed will open up against the Chinese wildcard, Gong in what should be a straightforward opener. In the 2nd round Djokovic will play either Tipsarevic or Fish; i would expect Tipsarevic to progress and give Djokovic a test but ultimately Djokovic should prevail. Tomas Berdych is his projected QF opponent however Berdych's form has dipped since Wimbledon and resembled more of the frustrating inconsistency he has demonstrated before this year. Giles Simon should upset Querrey and be a real tester for Berdych. The number 4 seed in Nikolay Davydenko will play Florian Mayer in the 1st round which he should win. However Cilic or Bellucci in the 2nd round will probably be one step too far for Davy. Verdasco faces a testing opener against the tricky German, Philipp Kohlschreiber. The winner is likely to play John Isner in the 2nd round; i'd go for Cilic and Isner to make the QF in what is a wide open section of the draw.

The number 8 seed David Ferrer will play against Denis Istomin in the 1st round in what could be a potential upset for ferrer. The number 3 seed Robin Soderling will open his campaign against Tommy Robredo and will then likely take on another Spaniard in Nicolas Almagro. On the hard courts of Beijing, Soderling should have few problems reaching the QF here. Andy Murray will begin his quest for the Beijing title against a qualifier before a tie with either Andrey Golubev or Albert Montanes. Mikhail Youzhny is Murray's projected QF opponent however following his exploits in Malaysia i'd go for Alexander Dologopolov to cause a surprise or two.

Semi-final picks - Djokovic v Isner, Soderling v Murray