By Niall Clarke
- Andy Murray faces Steve Johnson in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters
- This is their first ever meeting
- Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Stan Wawrinka also in action.
Shanghai China- Andy Murray will begin his Shanghai campaign on Wednesday when he faces Steve Johnson in the second round.
The British number one is due on stadium court around 8am BST to face his American opponent, following the conclusion of the Kei Nishikori vs Nick Kyrgios match.
Murray has never met Johnson before, so it is a fresh test for the world number two as he seeks a third Shanghai masters title.
The Scot has not played since helping Great Britain to the Davis Cup final in September. A stark contrast to last year where he was fighting every week to secure a place in the World Tour Finals.
With his place at the O2 already secured, Murray is on a less rigorous schedule as he aims to peak for the Davis Cup final in November.
His opponent, ranked 47 in the world, came from behind to defeat Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(2) after being 5-2 down In the decider in his first round match.
The 25 year old has reached a career high of 37 in the world last year where he rose over 120 places in the world rankings. His 2015 has not quite been as successful on the whole, but Johnson did score victories over Grigor Dimitrov and Jo Wilfried Tsonga during the American hard court swing.
The stacked day of action in Shanghai does not start or stop with Murray however. Kicking off proceedings on stadium court is the much anticipated match between Kyrgios and Nishikori.
The young Aussie has been in the headlines again after being fined for a foul mouth outburst during his first round match. The world number 32 will receive a ban if he receives another fine for verbal or physical misconduct.
World number one Novak Djokovic is looking to extend his dominance this week, but he first must face dangerous leftie Martin Klizan. The Slovakian is known for his inconsistent ball-bashing style, but provides many problems when ‘on’. Klizan took to Facebook last week to complain about the pollution in Beijing following his defeat to Fabio Fognini. Djokovic would go on to win the title in the Chinese capital.
The man he defeated in the final was Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard faces the giant task of breaking down the Ivo Karlovic serve. The Croatian set the record for the highest amount of career aces last week, surpassing Goran Ivanisevic.
Tokyo champion Stan Wawrinka will be favourite to make the final from the bottom half following the departure of Roger Federer on Tuesday. The world number four opens his tournament against Viktor Troicki.
David Ferrer will face Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych meets Jack Sock, and Murray’s potential third round opponent will be decided when John Isner faces David Goffin.
Murray will take to Stadium court around 8am Wednesday morning.
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