Top seeds Murray and Monfils in Bangkok action

Top seeds Murray and Monfils in Bangkok action Andy Murray and Gael Monfils will finally take to the court on Thursday as the top two seeds in the tournament.

Andy Murray vs. Michael Berrer

World No. 4 Andy Murray will make his 2011 Bangkok debut against Germany’s Michael Berrer. The Scot comes into the Asian swing off a semifinal showing at the US Open and a pair of wins in Davis Cup over Hungary.

Prior to Bangkok, Berrer hadn’t won a single match since July at the Washington tournament. He had a trio of first round losses, including one at the US Open. The German, currently ranked 88 in the world, has already clashed with Murray this year; it resulted in a straight set defeat for Berrer.

Gael Monfils vs. Santiago Giraldo

France’s Gael Monfils will kick off his PTT Thailand Open campaign against Colombian clay courter Santiago Giraldo. Monfils has not played since his upset second round loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero at the US Open. The Frenchman missed France’s semifinal Davis Cup showdown with Spain because of a knee injury.

Monfils should be able to ease back into playing with Giraldo as his opponent. The Colombian won a hard court match this summer in Winston-Salem (against Blaz Kavcic), but most of his success comes on the dirt.