According to British William Hill bookmaker quotations, Roddick is the favourite in this match: stakes for his victory are taken at 1.8, for Safin's at 1.9.
Simultaneously, Moscow-based Marathon takes stakes at the same rates, though the Russian is the favourite.
After the first matches in the blue group of the Houston tournament, Marat Safin and Andy Roddick are top-of-the-list in the tournament table. In his debut duel Safin defeated Guillermo Koria of Argentina - 6:1, 6:4 and Roddick did Tim Henman of Great Britain - 7:5, 7:6 (8:6).
Safin and Roddick met four times, drawing 2-2.
Their first match was held in 2001, when Safin did not find it too hard - 6:3, 6:4. All the later duels became genuine battles. Thus, in the quarter-finals of the 2004 Australia Open Safin won in five sets - 2:6, 6:3, 7:5, 6:7, 6:4. After that, only the American won. In Indian Wells Roddick won 7:6, 6:2 and in the Bangkok semifinals 7:6, 6:7, 7:6.
From this it is hard to make predictions for the forthcoming match. In Roddick's favour are the home walls and thousands of fans from his home state Texas. Safin's trump cards are his top shape at the end of the season (he won in succession two tournaments of the Masters series in Madrid and Paris), top concentration in playing.
Shamil Tarpischev, president of the Russian Tennis Federation, believes that precision in play and neat first serve must help Marat Safin beat American Andy Roddick.
"Safin must beat Roddick", Tarpischev said. "The main thing is that Marat play neatly and first-serve percentage be around 62 percent".
As regards Andy Roddick's strong and weak points, Tarpischev said he is a brisk player.
"Roddick is more dynamic and quicker than Safin. His trump card is powerful serve and weak point is left strike".
The Andy Roddick-Marat Safin match will be held on Thursday, November 18 just after the Guillermo Koria-Tim Henman duel, due to begin at 22:00, Moscow time.
