Rafa Nadal already knows his roadmap for the Rome Masters 1,000, a tournament that the Spanish tennis player has won ten times and in which the Spaniard will return to the Foro Italico in Rome after a year of absence.
However, Nadal will still have to wait to find out who will be his first rival in the tournament, since his first opponent will be one of the tennis players who enter from the previous phase of the tournament. If he overcomes this first challenge, Nadal would have a tough test in the second round against one of the big favorites: the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, seventh seed.
Nadal was placed in the lower part of the draw, where he could see himself with the Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry in the third round and with Holger Rune in a hypothetical round of 16 before a very tough match in the quarterfinals with Daniil Medvedev, current champion of the tournament. If he beats the Russian, Nadal would have a hypothetical semifinal against Stefanos Tsitsipas or Andrey Rublev, recent champion in Madrid.
For his part, Novak Djokovic, who will go to the top of the draw as the first seed, will make his debut on his return to the courts almost a month later against the winner of the match between the Russian Roman Safiullin and a tennis player from the previous round. A Djokovic who, if he goes through the rounds, would find himself in the third round with the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, in the round of 16 with Karen Khachanov, in the quarterfinals with Casper Ruud and in the semifinals against Alexander Zverev or Grigor Dimitrov… and in a hypothetical final against Rafa Nadal, with whom he has already had epic confrontations like gladiators in the Foro Italico in Rome.
As for the rest of the Spanish tennis players, Pedro Martínez, who will also go to the top of the draw, will debut against the Portuguese Nuno Borges and could see himself in the second round with the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, in the third round with the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor and in round of 16 with the German Alexander Zverev.
The draw has also led to two other Spaniards, Jaume Munar and Roberto Carballés, sharing a quadrant in the Roman tournament. Munar, who will debut against the Australian Rinky Hijikata, could be seen in the second round with the British Cameron Norrie and in the third with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. For his part, Carballés will also debut against another Australian, Christopher O’Connell, before a possible second round match with the Australian Alex de Miñaur and a third round confrontation with the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Sharing a quadrant with Nadal will be the last Spaniard with a ticket in the final draw waiting for the qualifier, Alejandro Davidovich from Malaga, exempt from the first round and who will make his debut in the second round against Alexei Popyrin or a tennis player from the qualifier and who in the third round It could be seen with one of the bogeymen of the tournament, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, before a possible round of 16 against the Americans Tommy Paul or Frances Tiafoe… and a possible quarterfinal with Nadal.
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2024-05-06 10:44:32
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