With no time to rest after winning his second Conde de Godó, Carlos Alcaraz already knows the rivals he will have on the way to revalidate the Masters 1,000 in Madrid. The draw held this Sunday at the Caja Mágica paired the Murcian with the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori or with the Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second round. The first will go by ‘bye’ for his status as first seed. With Ruusuvuori he has lost the face-to-face, after losing in his only match in the first round of Indian Wells 2021, while with Humbert, number 72 in the ranking, he has never faced each other.
In the third round, Alcaraz could face off with Grigor Dimitrov, whom he beat in his only clash at the 1,000 Masters in Paris-Bercy last season. In a hypothetical fourth round, there could be Sebastian Korda, a tennis player who already knows what it is to beat him on clay, after doing it in his debut in Monte Carlo last season, or Alexander Zverev, whom he already defeated here in the final last year. . However, the German arrives in poor shape, after losing in Monte Carlo in the third round and in his debut in Munich.
The quarterfinal duel could face him with Andrey Rublev, recent winner in Monte Carlo, while in the semifinals they could be Casper Ruud or Holger Rune, who won the title in Munich this Sunday. The draw has meant that Alcaraz avoids Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas until a hypothetical final.
The Russian, second seeded, will debut in Madrid against a player from the previous one or against Andy Murray, while the Greek, after losing the final in Barcelona, will play against Kyle Edmund or Dominic Thiem, who has fallen a lot in the ranking due to the wrist injury that has kept him away from the circuit for months.
Alcaraz will debut in Madrid on Wednesday or Thursday, after this year the capital tournament draw has increased to 96 players and two weeks of competition. This expansion puts it at the level of other 1,000 Masters such as Indian Wells and only one step behind the Grand Slams in breadth. The Murcian puts 1,000 points from last year at stake and, if he revalidates the title, he would be five points away from catching Novak Djokovic at the top of the standings. The Serbian, with elbow problems, is one of the great absences from the final draw, along with Jannik Sinner.
As for the women’s draw, the main Spanish racket, Paula Badosa, is exempt from playing the first round, due to her status as seed, and she could face Elisabetta Cocciaretto or Barbora Strycova in second, and Cori Gauff, finalist of the Roland Garros last year; Maria Sakkari, in the round of 16, Ons Jabeur, current champion; in quarterfinals; Aryna Sabalenka, in the semifinals, and Iga Swiatek, who has just won Stuttgart, in the final.
The Spaniard made the second round here in 2022 and needs a good result to move up the ranking before Roland Garros; She is currently number 42 in the WTA ranking. The best result of her in Madrid was the semifinals of 2021.
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