ATP Madrid - DRAW: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer share the same half
Staged at Caja Magica, the Mutua Madrid Open had switched the surface from indoor hard to clay back in 2009, finding its place in the calendar in May and joining Monte Carlo and Rome as one of three most significant events on the slowest surface after Roland Garros. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have won eight out of ten titles in Madrid since 2009 and they are the favorites to go all the way next week as well, with the Swiss entering the first ATP tournament on clay since Rome 2016. The two-time Madrid champion and world no. 1 Novak Djokovic is the top seed, hoping to bounce back after a poor run in the first three Masters 1000 events of the season and show the form that carried him towards Australian Open title.
Novak opens the campaign against Grigor Dimitrov or a qualifier before the tricky third-round clash with Marco Cecchinato, Diego Schwartzman, Jeremy Chardy or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The quarter-final should bring the encounter between Djokovic and Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios, Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere or Juan Martin del Potro who returns to action for the first time since Delray Beach. Competing in Madrid for the first time since 2015, Roger Federer kicks off the campaign against Richard Gasquet or the young Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before the third-round encounter versus Gael Monfils, Andreas Seppi, Marton Fucsovics or David Goffin. Indian Wells and Barcelona champion Dominic Thiem shares the quarter with Roger and he has to beat Fabio Fognini, Kyle Edmund or Pablo Carreno Busta for the possible match against Roger whom he beat in the final at Indian Wells in March.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and the defending champion Alexander Zverev lead the third quarter, together with Borna Coric, the struggling Karen Khachanov, Jaume Munar, Lucas Pouille, Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer who is playing his last ATP tournament in a career. Zverev delivered one of the best performances at Masters 1000 series last year in Madrid and he is miles from that form at the moment, losing seven of the last 11 matches and enjoying a terrible run on clay this spring. The four-time Caja Magica champion Rafael Nadal is eager to get back on the winning way following the semi-final losses in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, hoping to add points to his tally after losing in the quarters to Thiem a year ago. Nadal will have to work hard right from the start, with Denis Shapovalov or Felix Auger-Aliassime as the rival in the second round before the potential quarter-final test versus Kei Nishikori, Daniil Medvedev or Stan Wawrinka.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2PL2m5r
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