This year’s Australian Open and Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal has been drawn in the same half as Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Nadal will play for the first time since the Laver Cup last September. The Spanish legend will start his campaign against either this week’s Basel Swiss Open semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut or Tommy Paul. He could meet either Pablo Carreno Busta or this week’s Vienna finalist Denis Shapovalov in the third round.
Nadal will chase his first title at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris Bercy. He has reached at least the quarter finals in Paris Bercy in his previous eight appearances at this tournament.
Novak Djokovic will play against either Diego Schwartzman or US serve and volley specialist Maxime Cressy. Djokovic has won two consecutive titles in Tel Aviv and Astana and arrives in Paris on a nine-match winning streak.
Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Felix Auger Aliassime in the semifinal at the Swiss Open, will meet either Aslan Karatsev or Yoshihito Nishioka. Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, two Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami and Madrid, two ATP 500 titles in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona. The young Spaniard could face last year’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the third round. Berrettini will open with a qualifier before a second round clash against either Botic Van de Zandschulp or Grigor Dimitrov.
Andrey Rublev and Hurkacz have been drawn in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the draw Felix Auger Aliassime, who won three titles in Rotterdam, Florence and Antwerp and reached the final in Basel, could face Taylor Fritz in the third round.
Auger Aliassime and Fritz have been drawn in the same quarter of the draw as this week’s Vienna finalist Danil Medvedev, who will take on the winner of the match between Alex De Minaur and Sebastian Korda in the second round before a potential third round match against this year’s US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.
Andy Murray will face a first round match against Gilles Simon, who will play the final tournament of his career.
Danish Next Gen player Holger Rune, who won two titles in Munich and Stockolm, will face Stan Wawrinka, who has returned to his best form by reaching the quarter final in Basel this week.
