The Draw Ceremony of the BNL Internazionali d’Italia at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Elina Svitolina and Holger Rune toss the coin for good luck.
Ten-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal has been drawn in the same section as 2023 champion Danil Medvedev.
Nadal will make his final appearance at the Rome Foro Italico. The former world number 1 will open his campaign against a qualifier before a potential second round clash against Hubert Hurkacz. It would be the first head-to-head match between Nadal and Hurkacz. Nadal could face Tomas Etcheverry or Thiago Seyboth Wild if he beats Hurkacz, Holger Rune in the round of 16, Medvedev in a potential quarter final, Stefanos Tsitsipas or Andrey Rublev in the semifinal.
Nadal beat Alex De Minaur en route to reaching the fourth round at the Madrid Mutua Open.
Medvedev could meet Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round and Tommy Paul in the fourth round.
Medvedev will face either Borna Coric or Jack Draper in the second round. The 28-year-old Russian player won his first clay title in Rome last year. He arrives in Rome after retiring from his quarter final against Jiri Lehecka.
Holger Rune will start in the second round against either Daniel Altmeier or Luca Nardi. Rune beat Novak Djokovic in the quarter final, Casper Ruud in a three-set semifinal before losing to Medvedev in the final in last year’s edition of the Rome Masters 1000 tournament.
“I really try to take it match by match. I think everyone is a good player, so I don’t think you can allow yourself to look much forward. I just look look at the very opponent, watch a little bit of their match and get prepared”,said Rune.
Medvedev’s potential opponent in the semifinal is last week’s Madrid Mutua Open Andrey Rublev, who will face either Emil Ruusuvuori or Marcos Giron in the second round.
Rublev is seeded to face either Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round and three-time Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter finals.
World number 1 Novak Djokovic will face either 2023 Wimbledon quarter finalist Roman Safiulin or a qualifier. Djokovic will play in his first tournament since Monte-Carlo last month. Djokovic is bidding to win his seventh title in Rome and his first since 2022. Djokovic could face a third round match against Alejandro Tabilo, who recently the Challenger in Aix de Provence, before a potential clash against Danil Medvedev. Djokovic is seeded to meet this year’s Barcelona champion Casper Ruud in the quarter final. Ruud beat Djokovic in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo. Djokovic could face a potential semifinal against either Alexander Zverev of this year’s Miami Open finalist Grigor Dimitrov.
Zverev, who beat Djokovic in the Rome final in 2017, will start his campaign against either Alexander Vukic or a qualifier. Dimitrov has been drawn in a tough section that features Taylor Fritz and Italian players Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli and Fabio Fognini.
