Roger Federer has the toughest section of the draw as he returns to Madrid for the first time since 2015.
The Swiss will open his Madrid account against either Richard Gasquet or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as Dominic Thiem awaits in his quarter.
Meanwhile Rafael Nadal begins his bid for a sixth title in Madrid by playing the winner of the all-Canadian clash between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.
Elsewhere in the draw, Novak Djokovic could face Grigor Dimitrov in his first match while defending champion Alexander Zverev could play David Ferrer before the Spaniard’s retirement.
1st Quarter
Top seed Novak Djokovic headlines the draw as he continues his preparations to try and win a second Roland Garros title next month. A challenging test against Grigor Dimitrov could await in his first match although the Bulgarian is struggling for form himself.
A match against Marco Cecchinato could await him in round three in a rematch from the Roland Garros Quarter-Final, which the Italian won last year. In terms of who he may face in the last eight, well that’s anyone’s guess.
Juan Martin Del Potro, who has just returned from injury, faces Monte-Carlo finalist Dusan Lajovic or Laslo Djere. There is also Nick Kyrgios, Jan-Lennard Struff and Marin Cilic in what is an unpredictable section of the draw.
2nd Quarter
This is where Roger Federer has landed in the draw as he is set to play his first clay court match since 2016 after missing the last two years. A match against a returning Richard Gasquet or Estoril semi-finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina awaits.
A possibility of facing Gael Monfils in the third round could happen as well as the Frenchman takes on Andreas Seppi in the first round. This is a tough section of the draw for Federer as Barcelona champion Dominic Thiem is in his quarter.
The Austrian will begin against a qualifier or Pablo Carreno Busta as he looks to take his confidence from beating Rafael Nadal a week ago into Madrid. Other eye-catching round one’s include David Goffin v Marton Fucsovics and Monte-Carlo champion Fabio Fognini taking on Kyle Edmund.
3rd Quarter
This is the weakest section of the draw on paper as defending champion Alexander Zverev headlines this quarter. The German, who hasn’t won back-to-back matches since reaching the Acapulco final, will face Roberto Bautista Agut or David Ferrer in his first match. This will be Ferrer’s last tournament before he retires.
Also in Zverev’s part of the draw is in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas who plays Joao Sousa or a qualifier in his opener, Karen Khachanov who is struggling for form and Borna Coric, who plays Lucas Pouille his first round.
4th Quarter
The final quarter of the draw sees, the king of clay, Rafael Nadal head into Madrid without a title for the first time since 2004. A Canadian test against Denis Shapovalov or Felix Auger-Aliassime awaits Nadal first, with Kei Nishikori a potential quarter-final.
Gilles Simon and Stan Wawrinka could provide tough tests for Nishikori en route to the last eight with both of them playing qualifiers. The best match in this quarter will see Guido Pella clash with Daniil Medvedev as both have looked in-form on the red dirt.
Here is the full draw, with action starting on Sunday:
ATP Madrid singles draw (pdf view) pic.twitter.com/EZWg9Ak0GH
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) May 4, 2019
