Henman will be hoping to make it third time lucky in Bangkok on Tuesday when he takes on the fourth-seeded Scotsman, who knocked him out of both the Cincinnati and Toronto Masters events early last month.

Henman said he was relishing the early test against the in-form teenager, but conceded he would have to improve his game to progress to the next round.

"I was happy with the draw when I found out I was facing Andy," the Thai-language Siam Sport daily quoted Henman as saying.

"Every time we've met he's been in great form but if I want to progress I have to play a better game than I've been playing so far."

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt has withdrawn from the competition and said he will take several weeks off to recover from a knee injury.

Second-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, in the hunt for his second career ATP tour title after winning the China Open last week, takes on France's [Images] Julien Benneteau, while top seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia faces Spain's Fernando Vincente.

Third seed James Blake of the United States goes against wild card entry Marin Cilic of Croatia, while Juan Carlos Ferrero (sixth) will take on one the winners of Monday's qualifying rounds.

Home favourite Paradorn Srichapahan (eighth) has a tough opener against Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who he has failed to get past on their three previous meetings.

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