The Mutua Madrid Open draw ceremony took place on Friday afternoon and four-time champion Rafael Nadal landed in an intriguing section. Nadal will kick off his campaign against either familiar foe Fabio Fognini or good friend Joao Sousa before potential meetings with Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic prior to the semifinals.
Madrid has never been the Spaniard’s absolute favorite event. That can be chalked up to the fact that it was played on indoor hard courts instead of clay prior to 2009, on blue clay in 2012, and always at relatively high altitude to make for faster conditions. Nadal (2014), Andy Murray (2015), and Novak Djokovic (2016) have split the last three titles.
An especially watchful eye will be Djokovic’s title defense after he parted ways with his entire team–including coach Marian Vajda–on Friday. The second-ranked Serb is in a quarter of the bracket–one next to Nadal’s–along with Kei Nishikori, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, and Monte-Carlo runner-up Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Just 7-4 in his last four tournaments, Djokovic is not alone among struggling players at the top of the sport. Nishikori, Tsonga, and Monfils are all slumping due to either physical problems or general inactivity. So, too, is world No. 1 Andy Murray. The Scot, who is coming off a Barcelona semifinal loss to Dominic Thiem, finds himself in section of the Madrid draw with Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, Lucas Pouille, Roberto Bautsita Agut, and Richard Gasquet.
Also is less than outstanding form at the moment, No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka may have to open against a red-hot Pablo Carreno Busta.
Full draw:
full draw for the @MutuaMadridOpen pic.twitter.com/Rh5yp2lKon
— The Grandstand (@TennGrand) May 5, 2017
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