Danai faces Spadea in Hawaii tie

Danai, who is looking to claw his way up the rankings after failing to reach the Australian Open main draw, has been drawn against the world No 80 who outclassed him 6-3 6-4 the last time they played in San Jose last year.

"He must be very confident after making the third round at the Australian Open. He is a baseliner just like me, but he has heavy ground strokes. He hits the ball on the rise so it's going to be tough for me,'' said Danai, who is now ranked 153.

However, the Thai will find himself outside the top 200 as he was unable to defend his points in Melbourne, where he reached the third round last year, when the ATP rankings are updated next week.

Despite its status as a Challenger, the Waikoloa event will showcase some strong players on the ATP tour, including Frank Dancevic of Canada, Americans Robby Ginepri and Michael Russell and German Benjamin Becker, all in the top 100.  Danai will play two Challengers before joining his team for the Davis Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan next month.

The other Challenger is in Guangzhou next week.

The Nation