Opinion – James Spencer (Twitter – @jspencer28)
The absence of serial winner Rafael Nadal means that another prestigious clay-court title, in the form of the Barcelona Open, is up for grabs this week.
Banc Sabadell, as it is locally called will still boast a host of homegrown stars.
The toast of them being 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who has lit up the ATP Tour this season.
A highly impressive Australian Open soon built the foundations for success at Masters 1000 level.
At Indian Wells, the El Palmar native reached the semi-finals, and took the fight to his idol Nadal, losing in three tight sets.
This was topped off in stunning style with victory at the Miami Masters, to become their youngest ever champion, and the third youngest Masters 1000 winner of all time.
Talk about walking in Nadal’s footsteps.
This was also a title the 21-time Grand Slam champion has never won. One of the few elite titles missing from his trophy cabinet.
That spells out just how big a success this was for Alcaraz.
However, his loss to Sebastian Korda last week in Monte Carlo, at the first hurdle, suggests he has work to do if he is to acclimatise successfully from hard-court to clay.
He will no doubt be amongst the favourites, and will most likely face the feisty Frenchman Benoit Paire, who is unpredictable on any day he chooses to turn up and play his best tennis.
We then have the two-time reigning Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who could face home player Pedro Martinez.
After his tremendous run to the semi-finals in the Principality, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov could begin his campaign against Argentine Federico Coria.
His countryman Diego Schwartzman will be looking to bounce back after a heart-wrenching defeat to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo, after being 4-0 up in the final set.
American Mackenzie McDonald is his most likely opponent.
Britain’s Dan Evans goes in search of victory with a possible meeting with Italian Lorenzo Musetti on the horizon.
American Frances Tiafoe could play Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien.
A titanic match-up between the below par Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, and 21-year-old Korda, could be in the making.
After announcing his impending retirement, legendary Spaniard Tommy Robredo will have to beat qualifier Bernabe Zapata Miralles, for the right to take on two-time US Open semi-finalist, Pablo Carreño Busta.
Meanwhile, Miami Open finalist Casper Rudd could face American Brandon Nakashima.
And finally, Alexander Bublik could face home legend Feliciano Lopez in another tasty match-up.
