Madrid Open draw: Djokovic, Alcaraz drawn in same half

Two-time Mutua Madrid Open champion Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are in the same half of the draw at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Alcaraz arrives in Madrid in good form, having won the title in Monte-Carlo and reached the final in Barcelona this month. The second-seeded Spaniard, who triumphed in Madrid in 2022 and 2023, will begin his campaign in the Spanish capital against Yoshihito Nishioka or Zizou Bergs and is seeded to meet last year’s semi-finalist Jiri Lehecka in the third round.

Grigor Dimitrov is seeded to face Alcaraz in the fourth round, with sixth seed Alex de Minaur, 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti or 17th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas potential quarter-final opponents.

Djokovic could await in the semi-finals and the Serbian would take a 5-3 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead into that match. Djokovic, who is chasing his 100th tour-level title, plays Matteo Arnaldi or a qualifier in his first match. The 37-year-old, a three-time Madrid champion, is seeded to play Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round and could meet Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in the quarter-finals. Draper starts against Tallon Griekspoor or a qualifier.

In the top half, Alexander Zverev plays Roberto Bautista Agut or Jaume Munar in his opening match. The German, fresh off winning the title at the ATP 500 in Munich on Sunday and returning to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is in the same quarter as Andrey Rublev, Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils. Zverev could play Fils in the fourth round and Shelton or Rublev in the last eight. Miami champion Jakub Mensik is also in Rublev’s section.

Barcelona champion Holger Rune opens against Flavio Cobolli or Fabian Marozsan and is seeded to face Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round. Rune could meet Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. The third seed Fritz is competing for the first time since he semi-final run in Miami last month. Fritz opens against Christopher O’Connell or Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

#NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca starts against a qualifier and would play Tommy Paul in the second round.