Nadal will debut against Mannarino or a qualifier and avoid Djokovic

Rafa Nadal already knows his possible roadmap in the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 (April 12-18), which will be the scene of his return almost two months after his last match, the one that lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Spaniard, who for the first time in a long time enters a box as number three, avoids one, Novak Djokovic, which goes the other way. The 11-time winner of the Monegasque tournament is in the Medvedev sector, which would be his opponent in the semifinals. What is safe is the one first, directly in the second round, because it is exempt from the first, It will be the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or a player from the previous one. He will play, at the earliest, next Wednesday.

After that, he could find himself, by ranking, with Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev, on a difficult path before the hypothetical semi-finals against second-ranked Medvedev, and a final dream of the tournament against Djokovic. Because, remember, there will be no spectators in the stands.

The Balkan, who occupies the world throne, will face the winner of the duel between Albert Ramos and the Italian pearl Jannik Sinner. Later he would have possible crosses against Hubert Hurkacz, Alexander Zverev and Tsitsipas. Medvedev, for his part, will start against Filip Krajinovic or Nikoloz Basilashvili, and in his advance would be the current champion, Fabio Fognini, who was present at the draw this Friday, and Diego Schwartzman before a certain unwanted encounter with Nadal in the semifinals.

Four other Spaniards on the board

In addition to the aforementioned Nadal and Ramos, four other Spaniards also have a direct place in the main draw: Roberto Bautista, who will have a tough debut against Taylor Fritz; Pablo Carreño, who will be seen with a qualifier; Alejandro Davidovich, who will run into a bone, Alex de Miñaur; and Pablo Andújar, who will try to beat Gael Monfils.