Three top 25 players lead the field at the Sofia Open ATP 250 tournament. Top seed Denis Shapovalov will be bidding to win his first ATP title of the season.
The Canadian star will start his Sofia campaign against either Moldova’s Radu Albot or Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Shapovalov is on collision course with Alex De Minaur for a potential semifinal clash against Australia’s Alex De Minaur. Shapovalov broke into the top ten last September and will aim to finish the year in this position after Sofia.
Shapovalov’s compatriot Felix Auger Aliassime will pursue the goal to win the first title of his career after reaching three finals in 2020 in Rotterdam, Marseille and Cologne 1. Auger Aliassime, who won the men’s doubles title in Paris Bercy, will make his debut in Sofia on Tuesday against either Salvatore Caruso or Bulgarian wild-card Dimitar Kuzmanov.
Two Canadian players will be the top seeds for the first time in an ATP tournament since 1990. Shapovalov will lead the main draw in an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career. Auger Aliassime has already been the number two seed in Chengdu 2019 and Adelaide 2020.
The fourth seed is Jan- Lennard Struff, who could face Auger Aliassime in the semifinal. Struff has drawn in the same quarter with John Millman and Vasek Pospisil. Millman will make his first appearance in Sofia one week after winning his maiden ATP Tour title in Nur Sultan.
Alex De Minaur (runner-up in the past two editions of the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan) will try to reach his second final this year after finishing runner-up to Ugo Humbert in Antwerp. This year De Minaur reached his first Grand Slam quarter finals at the US Open. The young Aussie player will play against either a qualifier or a lucky loser.
Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner will start his Sofia campaign against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, who reached the final in Sofia last year finishing runner-up to Danil Medvedev. The Hungarian player reached the third round at the US Open and the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Sinner has broken into the top 50 for the first time this year after reaching his first Grand Slam quarter final at the US Open and the semifinals in Cologne. Sinner could face his compatriot Stefano Travaglia or Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round, if he beats Fucsovics.
Two doubles teams are in contention for the final qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals. Top seeds Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger Vasselin will secure their ticket to London, if they reach the final in Sofia. If Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski do not reach the final in Sofia, Melzer and Roger Vasselin will qualfy for London.
Nineteen year-old wild cards Jonas Forejtek from Czech Republic and Adrian Andreev from Bulgaria will be the new names to watch. Forejtek won three Grand Slam titles (US Open singles and two doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2019. The Czech player will play against 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. The winner of this match will face either Richard Gasquet or Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round.
Andreev won the doubles title at the 2018 US Open.
