Rafael Nadal is facing a difficult path at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell if he wants to lift a 12th trophy that extends the record. Nine players in the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP rankings qualify for the ATP 500 clay court tournament.
Nadal avoided his Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters winner, Russian Andrey Rublev, who appears in the bottom half of the 48-player draw with Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. But the Spanish superstar may have to overtake David Goffin, Karen Khachanov, Diego Schwartzman, Daniel Evans, Fabio Fognini or Pablo Carreno Busta to reach the final.
Nadal, 34, who has a record of 61-4 matches in Barcelona since making his tournament debut in 2003, will begin his search against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or a qualifier. Nadal lifted the Barcelona trophy in 2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-18.
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Second-seeded Tsitsipas, who defeated Evans in Monte Carlo on Saturday for a place in his third ATP Masters 1000 final, could face Rublev in the Barcelona semi-finals. The pair will meet for the seventh time in the ATP Head2Head series on Saturday in the Monte Carlo final.
Tsitsipas, who lost to Nadal in Barcelona in his first ATP Tour final three years ago, will start his search against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro or Jaume Munar from Spain. Rublev, who eliminated Nadal 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the semifinals in Monte Carlo on Friday and has the best record of 24-4 ATP Tour matches in 2021, will face Frenchman Benoit Paire or a qualified in his first match. Rublev could meet Casper Ruud, serial no. 15, the player he defeated in the semifinals of Monte-Carlo in the third round.
Wild Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the youngest player in the Top 100, faces Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez in the first round. The winner will advance in a second round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime, seed no. 10, which is coached by Toni Nadal. The loaded section also includes the seventh seed Denis Shapovalov, who will first meet the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy or the title of Qatar ExxonMobil Open this season Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia.
Jannik Sinner, who is about to enter the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP rankings after a strong start to the year that includes capturing the Great Ocean Road Open title (d. Travaglia), also appears in the bottom half of the draw and may meet the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, ranked fifth, in the third round.
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17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who recently reached the semifinals of AnyTech365 Andalucia Open (from Munar), plays American Frances Tiafoe in the top half of the draw, with fourth seed Schwartzman an opponent in the second round.
Elsewhere, Kei Nishikori, the 2014 and 2015 Barcelona champions, who continue to recover from injuries, faces Guido Pella in the first round. He could be a potential opponent in round three for Nadal.