From this Sunday, eight players will fight to win one of the most prestigious titles, the Masters. This Thursday in Turin, the draw of the pools was made. Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev make up the Red Group. In the Green Group, Rafael Nadal will be joined by Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The latter will have the honor of opening the competition.
The first match of this Masters 2022 will oppose Casper Ruud to Felix Auger-Aliassime. Since his loss in the final of the US Open, the Norwegian has been losing momentum. On the ATP circuit, the world number 4 has won only two of his last six matches. On the other hand, the Canadian is doing just the opposite. In October, FAA achieved a crazy triple with Florence, Antwerp and Basel. In Bercy, he only lost in the semi-finals to the future winner Holger Rune. In the form of his life, Auger-Aliassime will therefore logically be the favorite in what will be their fourth duel on the main circuit. However, Ruud has won the last two.
In the night session, fans will be watching Rafael Nadal’s return to the Masters. The No. 1 seed of the tournament with the withdrawal of his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, the Majorcan will start against Taylor Fritz, his replacement. The American may not be the most dangerous player in the field of eight, but he will still be a challenge for Rafa. The Manacor Bull has played very little in the second half of the year and did not feel comfortable in Bercy with an elimination in his first match against Tommy Paul. In 2022, the two men have already crossed paths twice. Fritz won the final in Indian Wells, but Nadal got his revenge at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.