With qualifying now over, the draw for this year’s Italian Open is now complete. Eight qualifiers plus an additional lucky loser have been placed into the draw, which is headed by Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. Injuries for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have hurt the tournament a little but some will hold hope with Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on opposite sides of the draw.
Nadal will play qualifier Zizou Bergs after the Belgian secured his place in the main draw thanks to a win over Shang Juncheng. Bergs has been thriving at Challenger level, having secured an eighth title last month in Tallahassee.
Nadal showed a lot more promise in Madrid, picking up three wins before falling to a strong performance from Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16. He still looks a long way from being ready to compete against the top players but is gaining momentum at just the right time ahead of the French Open in a few weeks. Should he defeat Bergs, a route to the fourth round that contains Hubert Hurkacz and Tomas Etcheverry could be kinder but are not matches you’d place him as a massive underdog in.
Djokovic will be the favourite here after the withdrawals of Sinner and Alcaraz but it may not be plain sailing for him here. He begins against the winner of Roman Safiullin and Corentin Moutet, with the latter being a lucky loser following Stanislas Wawrinka’s withdrawal. The top seed met Safiullin in Monte Carlo, with a routine 6-1 6-2 win helping him on his way to the semi finals.
