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The China Open is being held in Beijing where heat and humidity always play a part by making the courts play slightly slower than the usual outdoor hard surfaces. The winner will need to be fit with plenty of stamina, since the conditions will test the player's endurance to the absolute limit.

Number one seed is Rafael Nadal, who loves Beijing, having been successful in this tournament in his only start in 2005. The Spaniard also won the Olympic tournament here last year. So, overall, Nadal has played two and won two in the city.

The world number two has been given a relatively easy draw. His first round opponent is an on-the slide-Marcos Baghdatis and his section includes James Blake, David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzalez - all of whom Nadal should have no worries about defeating.

The adjacent section is wide open, with Davydenko the highest seed ahead of Marin Cilic. I fancy Cilic in this section over a tired Davydenko, of whom the Croatian holds a 2-0 head-to-head advantage in any case. Cilic has prevailed in stifling conditions before, when he won the title in Chennai this year, so he won't be hindered at this venue and is not a bad bet at around [17.0] on his New York form.

The bottom half of the draw is crowded with potential title winners, including reigning champion Andy Roddick ([6.6]) and number two seed Novak Djokovic ([5.6]), in addition to Soderling ([20.0]) and Fernando Verdasco ([23.0]. There are also some unseeded players with potential, such as Bangkok runner-up Viktor Troicki ([80.0]) and the likes of Tommy Robredo ([60.0]), Jeremy Chardy ([110.0]), Paul-Henri Mathieu ([80.0]) and Juan Carlos Ferrero ([50.0]).

So, the bottom section of the draw looks like the tougher of the two but I have a feeling that Djokovic will be the one to make his way to the final. The world number four gave Serbia's Davis Cup tie a miss in order to be ready for the Asian swing and he isn't in Beijing purely to make up the numbers.

Although Djokovic is regarded as having endured a disappointing 2009 campaign, he has actually only been beaten by the likes of Roger Federer and Nadal in the big events, with the odd exception. He holds a very respectable 33-9 hard court record in 2009 and at around [5.6] the Serbian represents the best value in the bottom half of the draw.

Roddick enjoyed a great summer after linking up with Larry Stefanki, but has been disappointing since that loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final. Depending on your viewpoint, you could argue that he may have needed some time to get over that defeat and is ready to bounce back any time soon, or you may buy into the theory that Roddick always enjoys a short lived 'new coach bounce' when he links up with a new mentor.

I'm siding with the latter viewpoint right now and the [6.6] currently on offer about the American, who hasn't played since a disappointing loss to John Isner in New York, doesn't tempt me to back him this week.

So, to sum up, I think that Nadal will be going all out to avenge that hammering at the hands of Juan Martin Del Potro in New York and he has the draw to do it. I can see him facing Djokovic in the final.

Recommendations:

Back: Nadal at around [2.94]
Long shot: Cilic at around [17.0]