In the Mutua Madrid Open men’s main draw, Rafael Nadal may face Nick Kyrgios in the third round, while Andy Murray is in the same half as Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka.
The first eight seeds have a bye in the first round, with all the top 10 players competing excepting Roger Federer. After the late withdrawal of Juan Martin Del Potro, the final cut-off is 55 (Nicolas Mahut last direct acceptance).
The four wild-cards went to the home players Tommy Robredo, Guillermo Garcia Lopez, Nicolas Almagro and to Romania’s Marius Copil.
Possible Third Rounds:
Murray-Pouille
Dimitrov-Thiem
Wawrinka-Sock
Berdych-Cilic
Raonic-Goffin
Kyrgios-Nadal
Nishikori-Tsonga
Monfils-Djokovic
Possible Quarterfinals:
Andy Murray [1] – Dominic Thiem [8]
Murray and Thiem played each other last week in Barcelona, as the Austrian won in three sets; the world’s number one still leads the head-to-head 2-1. Murray will face either Garcia-Lopez or Copil in the second round, and one between Lucas Pouille, Richard Gasquet and Mischa Zverev in the third. Thiem should have a tough third round as well, playing against Grigor Dimitrov, Roberto Bautista-Agut or Ivo Karlovic.
Stan Wawrinka [3] – Marin Cilic [7]
Wawrinka is likely to have a very difficult opening match against Carreno-Busta, who is playing very well at the moment. If he wins, he might face Pablo Cuevas or Jack Sock, unless Nicolas Mahut finds an exploit. Cilic has a very tricky draw too, with Alexander Zverev or Fernando Verdasco in the second round and Tomas Berdych then.
Milos Raonic [5] – Rafael Nadal [4]
This is another very hot section of the draw. After a second round against Joao Sousa or Fabio Fognini, Nadal will probably meet Nick Kyrgios, if the Australian can beat Baghdatis and Tomic/Harrison. The altitude of Madrid makes Kyrgios an even more dangerous opponent, even if this is his first clay-court tournament of the season. Raonic may have to raise his level to beat Gilles Muller and David Goffin in order to reach the quarters.
Kei Nishikori [6] – Novak Djokovic [2]
Djokovic will open his campaign against a home player, Robredo or Almagro, and then he should face one between Gael Monfils and Feliciano Lopez. Nishikori will play against a clay-court specialist, Ramos or Schwartzman, in the second round, and against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or David Ferrer in the third.
Full main draw:
