Rome, May 4 (IANS) World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will open against Mariano Navone or wild card Federico Cina at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 Italian Open, following Monday’s draw ceremony in Rome. The 23-year-old will be playing just his second tournament of the year, after winning the Australian Open in January, and his first since completing three months of ineligibility in a case resolution agreement with WADA.
Should Sinner and World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz reignite their gripping rivalry at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, it must come in the championship match after having been drawn on opposite sides of the bracket as per the ATP.
Sinner could face a potential quarterfinal clash with Madrid champion Casper Ruud, whom the Italian leads 3-0 in their ATP head-to-head series. Fresh from claiming his maiden Masters 1000 title, Ruud will start against Roman Safiullin or Alexander Bublik in Rome.
After withdrawing from the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Alcaraz will return to action against Jan-Lennard Struff or Yoshihito Nishioka. The Spaniard sustained an adductor injury during his championship-match run in Barcelona but will hope to bounce back in Rome, where he is competing for just the second time. Alcaraz is seeded to meet World No. 5 and Madrid runner-up, Jack Draper, in the quarter-finals.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev will begin his campaign against a qualifier or Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli. The second-seeded Zverev saw his seven-match winning streak come to an end in the fourth round in Madrid, where he suffered his third consecutive defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.
Zverev could face Alcaraz in an intriguing semifinal, but the German must first navigate a testing quarter, which includes Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev, Arthur Fils, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev, who claimed his most recent tour-level title in Rome in 2023, opens against a qualifier or Christopher O’Connell. The 29-year-old could set a meeting with Musetti in the fourth round, who on Monday made his Top 10 debut. Musetti starts against Hamad Medjedovic or a qualifier.
–IANS
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