World No 4 Andy Murray of Britain will start off his 2012 Rome Masters campaign against former World No 3 David Nalbandian.

Murray is attempting to make a comeback on tour after he withdrew from Madrid Masters last week due to a back injury. Murray started the season with a title triumph in Brisbane and then reached the final of Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. He then reached the finals of Dubai Championships and Miami Masters but lost to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic respectively. He has a 21-6 win/loss record this year and would defenitely want to go deeper in Rome draw.

Nalbandian has had his share of highs and lows on the ATP World Tour. The Argentine has an ordinary 14-9 win-loss record for the season. Earlier this season, he reached the semis in Buenos Aires, where he lost to David Ferrer and finished as a quarter-finalist in Sao Paulo. He has 8-6 win-loss record on clay this season. Out of his 11 titles, Nalbandian has won four titles on clay.

Both players have met six times before and Murray leads 4-2 in head to head series. Nalbandian won first two meetings and Murray has won last four. Both players last time at Tokyo 2011, where Murray won with 6-4, 7-5 scoreline.

TennisEarth Pick: Nalbandian to win in three sets.