The Spanish could see themselves in the quarterfinals, with the Serbian in the semifinals, on a path of serious rivals
MADRID, 29 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Mutua Madrid Open, the fourth Masters 1,000 of the season, raffled this Friday a main draw that promises strong emotions at the top, where the Spanish favorites, Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, possible rivals in the quarterfinals, along with the number one of the world, Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The 20th anniversary of the tournament in the Spanish capital will not have its dream final between the Balearic and the Murcian. Nadal reappears after a last mishap in the Caja Mágica in search of his sixth title in Madrid and will debut in the second round against the winner of the duel between the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic and the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
The champion of 21 ‘greats’ started with all of 2022, champion of the Australian Open and also in Melbourne and Acapulco, for a 20-1 match record. However, the Spaniard returns to the tracks in Madrid after the misfortune of a rib injury in the semifinals of Indian Wells, precisely against Alcaraz.
The Murcian, the great sensation of the ATP, number 9 in the world (23-3) and recent champion in Barcelona, is willing to dispute Nadal’s status as the public’s favorite, and will also have a demanding debut in the second round against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili or the Italian Fabio Fognini.
The draw put them close to the top of the table, with the option of seeing the clash of generations again in the quarterfinals. In that upper area, a Djokovic commands who will debut with the Spanish Carlos Gimeno or the Frenchman Gael Monfils. The Serbian lives a complicated 2022, with few games and a ranking that he will have to prove with, surely, the public against.
In addition, the one from Belgrade will have Dominic Thiem and Andy Murray, rivals in the first round, very close, Roberto Bautista, Alejandro Davidovich, Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov in a ‘bomb’ side that concentrated many favorites. On the other side of the draw, the second seed is Alexander Zverev. The German is the defending champion, but he is not at his best either, and in fact he acknowledged that he hit rock bottom this week in the Munich tournament.
As for the duels of Spaniards in the first round, in the absence of the end of the preliminary phase, Pablo Carreño, present at the draw, will face the Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp; Bautista will do it against Croatian Borna Coris; Davidovich, against the South African Lloyd Harris; Carlos Gimeno-Monfils, Pedro Martínez-De Miñaur and Albert Ramos-Marin Cilic.