The Mutua Madrid Open draw ceremony was held on Monday morning and Carlos Alcaraz finds himself in a stacked section. Alcaraz, who finished runner-up in Barcelona on Sunday, is joined by Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov, Lorenzo Musetti, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov, and Czechs Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Machac. Alcaraz’s projected path to the semis is Zizou Bergs (R2), Lehecka (R3), Dimitrov (R4), and De Minaur (QF).
The other quarter in the bottom half is much softer. Novak Djokovic is on course to face Sebastian Baez in round three, Frances Tiafoe in the fourth, and either Jack Draper, Tommy Paul, or Matteo Berrettini in the last eight.
It is the top half that is especially intriguing. That’s where you can find last week’s champions–Alexander Zverev (Munich) and Holger Rune (Barcelona)–in addition to defending Madrid Masters champion Felix Auger-Aliassime and 2024 Madrid runner-up Andrey Rublev. Zverev enjoyed home-court advantage in Munich, but he will likely have the crowd against him in each of his first two matches at the Caja Magica. The top-seeded German awaits either Roberto Bautista or Jaume Munar and could run into either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Pablo Carreno Busta in the last 32. Zverev’s quarter also includes Rublev, Arthur Fils, Munich finalist Ben Shelton, and Miami champ Jakub Mensik.
Elsewhere in the top half of the bracket, Rune and Auger-Aliassime could square off in the fourth round. However, Rune will have difficult opener match on his hands against either Flavio Cobolli or Fabian Marozsan and Auger-Aliassime will potentially meet Daniil Medvedev in the third round. The Taylor Fritz-Rune quarter is also home to Casper Ruud and Sebastian Korda.
First-round matchups in watch include Marozsan vs. Cobolli, Lorenzo Sonego vs. Miomir Kecmanovic, Alex Michelsen vs. Alexander Bublik, Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Hamad Medjedovic, and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Mariano Navone.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.