Nadal drawn against Cobolli in Barcelona

Javi Mendez/ATP Tour

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz from the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Hopeful of making his clay debut in 2024, Rafael Nadal has been drawn to play Flavio Cobolli at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

A 12-time champion at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, Nadal has still not yet confirmed he is fit to compete at the ATP 500. If he is, he will hope to return to action strongly after injury in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the 21-year-old Italian Cobolli. Should the former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Nadal prevail in his first tour-level appearance since Brisbane in early January, he would face fourth seed Alex de Minaur in the second round.

“I’m happy to be here, of course, Barcelona is a place that has brought me a great deal of joy, and where I have spent periods of my life,” said Nadal at the draw ceremony. “[Real Club] Tenis Barcelona is my club, I’m really enjoying being here for a few days.

“Over the last two years I’ve had very few days on tour, so spending days here, seeing people, being able to practise with players is a joy. I’m keen to carry on and to congratulate David [Ferrer] and the entire organisation because they’re doing amazing work. The tournament has some incredible players and, as always, the organisation is impeccable.”

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Andrey Rublev will aim to reenergise his season with a deep run in Spain. The 2023 quarter-finalist will take on Daniel Evans or Brandon Nakashima first as he looks to snap a three-match losing streak.

Third seed Casper Ruud, who plays his Monte-Carlo semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Saturday afternoon, will prepare for an opening clash against Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Alexandre Muller upon arriving in Barcelona. Another player in the last four in Monaco, Stefanos Tsitsipas, begins his campaign in Spain against Pavel Kotov or Sebastian Ofner.

Fritz, Thiem could clash early in Munich
At the BMW Open, Saturday’s draw threw up a potential early rematch between third seed Taylor Fritz and Dominic Thiem. The pair clashed in the quarter-finals at last year’s edition of the clay-court ATP 250, where Fritz prevailed in straight sets. However, he will be wary of Thiem’s pedigree in Munich, where the Austrian was a finalist in 2016.

Top seed and home favourite Alexander Zverev will play Jurij Rodionov or Aleksandar Vukic in his opening match in Bavaria. Second seed Holger Rune, the champion in 2022 and 2023, starts against Camilo Ugo Carabelli or Daniel Elahi Galan.

Cerundolo, Wawrinka in action for Bucharest return
The ATP Tour returns to Romania for the first time since 2016 at the Tiriac Open, where top seed Francisco Cerundolo has been drawn to meet Richard Gasquet or Federico Coria in his opening match. Third seed Sebastian Korda is a potential semi-final opponent for Cerundolo in Bucharest.

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Tallon Griekspoor could face Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals. The 16-time tour-level titlist Wawrinka begins against seventh seed Nuno Borges. The 17-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, a quarter-finalist in Rio de Janeiro in February, will start his campaign against Lorenzo Sonego.