The draw for the final Masters 1000 of the season has been made, and with a number of subplots involving Nitto ATP Finals qualification it promises to be an exciting tournament in Paris.
A number of top players are absent however, having ended their seasons early. Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios, and Tomas Berdych are absent from the final main tournament of the season.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal is the top seed, with all seeds enjoying a first round bye. Nadal’s section includes Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Hyeon Chung, Mischa Zverev, Pablo Cuevas, and Karen Khachanov.
Nadal is seeded to face 8th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals, though fellow ATP Finals hopeful Sam Querrey also features in the section. Should Querrey and Carreno Busta meet in the third round the winner would knock the other out of the Finals contention.
4th seed Alexander Zverev highlights the second quarter and he will start against the winner of a match between Robin Haase and Steve Johnson in the second round. Zverev could face Juan Martin del Potro in the third round, with the in-form Argentine gunning for a place in London after a run of 18 wins in 21 matches. Del Potro could face a tough start with a potential second round match with Gael Monfils.
6th seed Grigor Dimitrov is expected to meet Zverev in the quarter-finals, though the Bulgarian withdrew from Basel citing fatigue. Dimitrov confirmed his place in London recently, and may not go too deep in Paris as he prepares for his first ATP Finals appearance. 9th seed John Isner has a slim chance of qualifying, though the tall American would have to win the title and see other results go his way.
The third quarter sees in-form David Goffin with a potentially difficult task. He faces either Adrian Mannarino or David Ferrer in the second round. Mannarino is in terrific form whilst Ferrer is always a tough competitor. If that was not enough, Goffin would face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as early as the third round if both seeds reached that stage.
Marin Cilic is already assured of his place in London, and the Croatian has a relatively favourable draw. He starts with a qualifier in the second round before a potential meeting with Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.
The 2nd seed is Roger Federer, and his potential quarter-final is the 5th seed Dominic Thiem. Should the out-of-form Austrian fail to reach that stage Federer could face Kevin Anderson, Fernando Verdasco, or Ryan Harrison.
