ATP Barcelona: Thiem on Nadal branch, Zverev starts against qualifiers
Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev will compete in the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona next week. The defending champion is Rafael Nadal.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 21, 2019, 07:19 am
After Zverev had been granted a late wildcard by the organizers, Thiem slipped to third place in the seed list. And was drawn into the top half of the tableau. All rounds of the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona have a walk-through in round one. Defending champion and tournament favorite Rafael Nadal meets either Leonardo Mayer or Marius Copil. In the quarterfinals, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Mallorca could wait.
Thiem plays against either Hyeon Chung or Yoshihito Nishioka. In the event of a win, Frances Tiafoe could wait in the round of eight Karen Khachanov. Alexander Zverev definitely opens against a qualifier, then there could be a meeting with Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian had also been given a wildcard.
The two remaining went to the Spanish veterans Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer. The latter will end his career in Madrid - and opens in Barcelona against Mischa Zverev. Philipp Kohlschreiber drew Malek Jaziri as an opponent and would meet Félix Auger-Aliassime in round two.