Asia's top player Kei Nishikori of Japan will face a tough fight in the ATP Tour's Malaysian Open which begins on Monday. Nishikori, the third seed for the event at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, is headed in draw by the in-form world number five and top seed David Ferrer of Spain and world number 11 Juan Monaco from Argentina, the second seed.
Rising star Nishikori, the world number 17, receives a bye into the second round of the 28-player tournament as one of the top four seeds.
But lying in wait for Nishikori, who reached the last four in 2011, is a likely semi-final against Monaco and, should he win that, a potential final against Ferrer. Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, ranked 19 in the world, completes the top four seeds.
"I was a losing semi-finalist last year, and even then, it was difficult just to reach the top four," Nishikori said on Saturday. "That shows how difficult this tournament is. I hope to do better this year, but there are three tough players to contend with. We shall see how it goes."