Debutant Almagro top seed in Malaysia

The Davis Cup has taken a severe toll on the ATP Malaysian Open starting Monday, with Spain's Nicolas Almagro taking over as top seed after the withdrawal of world number nine Tomas Berdych. Berdych, who helped the Czech Republic remain in the Davis Cup World Group, is suffering with a nagging shoulder problem that forced him out of the hardcourt event at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Almagro, the world number 12, will be making his debut at the tournament and is awarded with a first-round bye, as the ATP World Tour begins its Asian swing. He will face the winner from Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and Spaniard Albert Ramos in the second round. The top four seeds all enter at the second-round stage. The tournament is beginning its third edition, but holder Mikhail Youzhny is another notable absentee. He will not be in town to defend his title as he gets treatment on his injured back in Moscow. But fellow Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a one-time member of the top five but now ranked a lowly 36th and without a title since April, when he won Munich on clay, will be back. The 30-year-old takes the fifth seeding and begins against Ryan Harrison, one of three Americans in the field along with Alex Bogomolov, the sixth seed, and Ryan Sweeting.   The colourful Harrison carries a reputation as a hothead, with his display of temper during an opening-round loss at the US Open against Marin Cilic earning him a fine.   Serbian Davis Cup players take the second and third seedings, with Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic. Jurgen Melzer, of Austria, is seeded fourth. Russian debutant Dmitry Tursunov and Japan's Kei Nishikori, beaten in the 2010 first round by Marcos Baghdatis, complete the seedings. Two young Australians are others to watch out for. Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic starts against Italy's Flavio Cipolla and Matthew Ebden clashes with Belgian David Goffin. Former Australian Open finalist Baghdatis, who has had a mixed year, is in on a wildcard entry, with the 2010 quarter-finalist from Cyprus competing in Malaysia for the third straight edition. Seeds: Nicolas Almagro (ESP x1) Viktor Troicki (SRB x2) Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x3) Jurgen Melzer (AUT x4) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x5) Alex Bogomolov (USA x6) Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x7) Kei Nishikori (JPN x8)