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Australia's Lleyton Hewitt has withdrawn from the competition and said he will take several weeks off to recover from a knee injury.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 [ Images ], in the hunt for his second career ATP tour title after winning the China Open last week, takes on France's [ Images ] Julien Benneteau [ Images ], while top seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia [ Images ] faces Spain's Fernando Vincente.

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

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