Novak Djokovic has been handed nightmare Madrid draw as he will face Kei Nishikori in the first round.
The Serbian has been placed in the third section of the draw, where he will face a very tricky test in Kei Nishikori in his opening match. Nishikori was a finalist in Monte-Carlo a few weeks ago, where he eventually succumbed to Rafael Nadal in the final. Djokovic’s potential third round opponent is David Goffin, should the 10th seed get past a tricky Nishikori. The former Madrid champion crashed out to Barcelona to Martin Klizan in his first match a couple of weeks ago.
Meanwhile, a seemingly unstoppable Rafael Nadal is on a quarter-final collision course with Dominic Thiem, in what would be a repeat of last year’s final. The Spaniard, who is looking to add to his Monte-Carlo and Barcelona titles this season, will face the winner of Gael Monfils’ match with a qualifier.Thiem’s first match will be either Mischa Zverev or a qualifier as the Austrian looks to continue his clay court pedigree. Nadal and Thiem could face Diego Schwartzman and Pablo Carreno Busta respectively.
One man that could stop Nadal this week is big firing Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro. The fourth seed will look to continue his impressive season when he plays either Julien Benneteau or Damir Dzumhur in his first match of the week. Other matches that look impressive in the third section of the draw includes, Richard Gasquet v Tomas Berdych and Roberto Bautista Agut v Jared Donaldson.
The final section of the draw could pit second seed Alexander Zverev up against in-form Greek teenager, Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 19 year old reached the final of Barcelona and is once again looking impressive in Estoril this week as he will play a qualifier in Round one of Madrid. Other potential threats include Pablo Cuevas, Jack Sock, Fabio Fognini and John Isner.
Here is the full draw:
ATP singles draw @MutuaMadridOpen pic.twitter.com/3lvy9nxFDA
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) May 4, 2018
