After the emotions related with ATP Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, the clay season rolls on with three ATP tournaments taking part in Europe next week. ATP 500 event in Barcelona will be a headline with a super strong field as every year and two 250s in Munich and Banja Luka will complement the action. It will be a busy week for top names, as 14 players out of top 20 from ATP Rankings will try to grab some good points and prepare well before the most prestigous clay tournaments in the season.
The tournament in Barcelona has always one of the most stunning line-ups out of all ATP 500 events in the calendar. The main draw contains 48 players with 16 seeds getting byes in opening round. Carlos Alcaraz is coming back from injury issues, headlining the draw as a top seed. The world's number 2 will play against winner of first round's match between Ilya Ivashka and Nuno Borges in his first appearance after Miami Open. Stefanos Tsitsipas is second highest seed. The Greek will try to bounce back after unsuccesful campaign in Monte Carlo, where he failed to defend win the title for the third time in a row, after showing a lacklustre performance in quarterfinals. Pedro Cachin or Gijs Brouwer will be the first hurdle to overcome for Tsitsipas in Barcelona. Casper Ruud is seeded with #3. The Norwegian sets up an interesting match-up against one of the Americans - Mackenzie Mcdonald or Ben Shelton, who shows some good skills in his first ever clay season in professional career. Jannik Sinner, seeded with #4, will have a chance to play against Diego Schwartzman once again. The Argentinian pulled out during a match with Sinner due to a shoulder injury last week. If he defeat Yibing Wu in first round, the chance to get a revenge in fully completed match will show up very quickly. Frances Tiafoe comes back after one week break, appearing in action after taking the title in a crazy ATP 250 event in Houston. Tiafoe will have a tough task from the start, playing against the winner of one of the most interesting match-ups in R1, Alexander Bublik vs Emil Ruusuvuori. The wild cards got gifted for 20 years-old Daniel Rincon and three super experienced Spaniards - Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco and Pablo Andujar.
ATP 500 Barcelona draw:
Holger Rune takes up the challenge to defend the title in Munich, one year after winning the ATP 250 event there. The main draw consist of 32 players with top 4 seeds getting byes in first round - Rune, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev and Botic Van De Zandschulp.
ATP 250 Munich draw:
Banja Luka hosts the tournament, which was initially announced to be played in Belgrade. The city in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a great tradition related with ATP Challenger Tour being held there since 2003 year. The field for first ATP event in Bosnia and Herzegovina is really strong. The main star there is obviously Novak Djokovic. The world's number one and tournament's top seed surely wants to show up better after a shocking lose to Lorenzo Musetti in Monte Carlo's round of 16. Andrey Rublev is another top 10 player who appears in Banja Luka, seeded with #2. Borna Coric and Miomir Kecmanovic are other seeds who receive byes in first round. The line up contains some other exciting names on card. Stan Wawrinka plays against Luca Van Assche in opening round, and can set up an absolute top stars clash against Djokovic in second round. The first quarter of main draw contains also Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic, who will play a very intriguing all-Serbian match at the start. Gael Monfils received a wild card and will try to challenge 6th seed Jiri Lehecka in first clay appearance after coming back to competition. Marco Cecchinato, who made some surprises while upsetting higher rated opponents on the road to quarters in ATP 250 Estoril, plays against 7th seed Richard Gasquet.
ATP 250 Banja Luka draw:
