ATP Rome draw: Nadal makes comeback against Carreno Busta, Djokovic leads field
The draw for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome is here! The field in the Italian capital is led by Novak Djokovic , Rafael Nadal will meet Pablo Carreno Busta on his tour comeback.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 12, 2020, 06:57 pm
On Saturday, the organizers of the classic clay court in Rome had to accept two bad news: After Daniil Medvedev had already canceled his start on Friday , the two US Open finalists Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem are now also renouncing participation in the Italian capital .
The field is still more than impressive, with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal even the two best players in the world will serve in Rome. Djokovic will make his first appearance after the disqualification in New York and should have to make up for a lot given the missed opportunity at the US Open.
After a bye in the first round, the world number one first has to deal with Salvatore Caruso or a qualifier. First opponent could be Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the quarter-finals Stan Wawrinka or Gael Monfils would wait according to the seeding list. Possible semi-final opponents of the Serb are Matteo Berrettini and David Goffin.
Tsitsipas with a high opening hurdle
Last year Djokovic had to admit defeat to Rafael Nadal in the final. The Spaniard, who is again the top favorite for the title this year, will play his first match since the Acapulco final against Taylor Fritz in Rome - in his first appearance after a break of more than six months, the 34-year-old will meet Pablo Carreno Busta , who benefits from a special regulation after his US Open semi-finals and, like Nadal, enjoys a bye in the first round.
After that, Milos Raonic would probably wait before a quarter-final duel with Diego Schwartzman or Andrey Rublev could come. As in the previous year, Nadal could meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals. The Greek is already facing a major challenge in the second round: Tsitsipas is expecting the winner of the game between Jannik Sinner and Benoit Paire.
Here you can find the article on the women's draw