Just one week after opening his Mutua Madrid Open campaign against #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal could face Italy’s leading #NextGenATP star in his first match at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Jannik Sinner.
Nadal, who is chasing his 10th trophy in the Italian capital, will begin his title bid against the winner of Sinner’s first-round encounter against Ugo Humbert. Sinner will be aiming to set up a repeat of last year’s Roland Garros quarter-final against Nadal, when he pushed the eventual champion for the opening two sets of their three-set clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Humbert will enter his meeting against Sinner with a 1-0 ATP Head2Head advantage. The Frenchman denied the home favourite an unbeaten run to the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals crown in Milan with a four-set win during the round robin stage.
Whether he faces Sinner or Humbert, Nadal’s goal will remain the same. The second seed will be keen to rediscover his best level from the outset in Rome after his straight-sets quarter-final defeat to Alexander Zverev in Madrid. Across 16 appearances at the Foro Italico, Nadal has compiled a 63-7 tournament record.
Nadal could meet Zverev for the second straight week. The German also features in a packed fourth quarter of the draw, which also includes last year’s Rome semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov, Marbella champion Pablo Carreno Busta and former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori. In two of the standout matches of the first round, Shapovalov will open against Madrid semi-finalist Casper Ruud and Nishikori will battle 2019 Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini.
In the top quarter of the draw, five-time champion Novak Djokovic will be chasing his second straight Rome title. The top seed, who claimed a record-breaking 36th ATP Masters 1000 title in last year’s final against Diego Schwartzman, will meet Daniel Evans or Taylor Fritz in the second round.
In his most recent Masters 1000 appearance in Monte-Carlo, Djokovic was stunned by Evans in the third round. The World No. 1 will aim to build on his semi-final run at last month’s Serbia Open and add to his 55-9 record in Rome.
Djokovic shares the top quarter with Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, Madrid semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini and 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov. Tsitsipas awaits the winner of another exciting first-round match between former World No. 3 Marin Cilic and in-form Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik.
Fourth seed Dominic Thiem leads the way in the second quarter. The 2017 semi-finalist, who will face Zverev in the Madrid semi-finals on Saturday, will start his sixth Rome appearance against Guido Pella or Marton Fucsovics in the second round. Seventh seed Andrey Rublev, 10th seed Roberto Bautista Agut and 14th seed Gael Monfils also feature in the second quarter. Monfils will be making his first appearance since his Australian Open first-round loss to Emil Ruusuvuori in February.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev and 2020 runner-up Schwartzman are the highest seeds in the third quarter of the draw. Medvedev will meet countryman Aslan Karatsev or Miomir Kecmanovic in his tournament opener, while Schwartzman will face Filip Krajinovic or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round. In the same section, Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz will battle #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3o0YZIQ
No comments:
Post a Comment