Nadal gets tough draw in Rome

Rafael Nadal has landed in the same quarter of the draw as the second seed and 2023 champion Medvedev at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. The pair would meet in the quarter-finals, should they each reach that stage at the Foro Italico.

Nadal, who has said this will be his final appearance at an event where he holds a 69-8 record, will face a qualifier in his first-round match in Italy. Should he prevail, he would face a big second-round test against seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz. It would be Nadal’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the Pole.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/rome/416/draws?matchtype=singles

Medvedev, who will hope to be back at full fitness after retiring from his quarter-final last week in Rome, must prepare for an opening match against Borna Coric or Jack Draper. The 28-year-old produced a memorable run to the trophy last year in Rome, his first tour-level title on clay.

Medvedev and Nadal’s potential semi-final opponents include Madrid champion Andrey Rublev, who will aim to maintain his strong form when he plays Emil Ruusuvuori or Marcos Giron in his opening match. The 26-year-old Rublev is seeded to meet Monte-Carlo winner Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, although he may first have to battle past a home favourite, Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi, in the fourth round.

The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic will take on Roman Safiullin or a qualifier in his first competitive appearance since Monte-Carlo last month. The 36-year-old, who is a six-time champion in Rome, is seeded to face Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. Serbia’s Djokovic is two match wins shy of his 1100th tour-level career victory.

Djokovic and Ruud’s fellow Top 10 stars Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov are also in the top half of the draw. The third-seeded Zverev, who beat Djokovic in the championship match at the Foro Italico in 2017, starts his campaign against Aleksandar Vukic or a qualifier. The eighth seed Dimitrov, a former Rome semi-finalist, is placed in an intriguing section of the draw that includes 11th seed Taylor Fritz and home favourites Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli and Fabio Fognini.

First-round matches to watch out for include two all-Italian battles, which are sure to generate lively atmospheres at a venue renowned for its passionate home support. The former World No. 6 Berrettini plays Stefano Napolitano, while Matteo Gigante meets Giulio Zeppieri.

A pair of #NextGenATP stars will look to impress on their main-draw debuts in Rome. Jakub Mensik starts against Yannick Hanfmann, whom he beat just 11 days ago in the first round in Madrid. The 18-year-old Czech Mensik is a potential third-round opponent for Djokovic, while the 19-year-old American Alex Michelsen starts against Pavel Kotov.

The third #NextGenATP player in the draw, 31st seed Arthur Fils, plays Bucharest champion Marton Fucsovics or a qualifier first as he looks to improve on his second-round run in Rome last year. The 19-year-old Frenchman is the current leader in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.