Beijing draw: Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev already know their way | ATP Tour

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Beijing draw: Sinner, Alcaraz, Medvedev already know their way

The ATP 500 tournament starts this Thursday

September 24, 2024

Top seed Jannik Sinner will begin his title defence against Chilean Nicolas Jarry, while Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev are in the same half of the draw in Beijing.

The Italian will be playing his first tournament since winning his second Grand Slam crown at the US Open earlier this month. At 23, Sinner has a 55-5 record this season and has fond memories of Beijing, where he beat Medvedev in the final last year.

Twelve months later, Sinner returns to China as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He will be seeking his seventh title of the season, at a tournament where he could face former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the second round or fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.

See painting in Beijing

Wawrinka, who has a wild card, will face Jan-Lennard Struff in his opening match, while former finalist Dimitrov will face a qualifier. The Bulgarian, with 2,835 points, is tenth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and will try to put in a good performance in this ATP 500 on hard courts to close in on eighth place occupied by Alex de Minaur (3,305), who is currently injured.

At the bottom of the draw, Alcaraz and Medvedev arrive as recent Laver Cup winners in Berlin.

Alcaraz will face French big-server Giovanni Mphetshi Perricard in the first round, while Tallon Griekspoor or Miomir Kemanovic will be his opponents in the second round. The 21-year-old Spaniard could face seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals.

Medvedev will face Frenchman Gael Monfils in an interesting match and eighth seed Alexander Bublik will be his potential opponent in the quarter-finals. The Kazakh will play his first match against Flavio Cobolli.

Rublev is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is involved in qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive year. At 26, he would be Sinner’s hypothetical opponent in the semi-finals and could face Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals. Rublev makes his debut against Pablo Carreño Busta and Musetti will play against a qualifier.

Chinese stars Shang Juncheng and Zhang Zhizhen will debut alongside Buyunchaokete and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, respectively.

The ATP 500 in Beijing starts this Thursday, while the final will be on October 2.