Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed at Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell at the Royal Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899. Alcaraz won two titles in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells and finished runner-up to Cameron Norrie in Rio de Janeiro.
Alcaraz starts his campaign against either Ilya Ivashka or Nuno Borges in the second round before a potential all- Spanish third round match against his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut. Alcaraz is on a collision course for a potential quarter final clash against Frances Tiafoe, who recently won the second title of his career in Houston on clay.
Alcaraz lost to Tiafoe in straight sets on his main draw debut in Barcelona in 2021. Last year the 19-year-old Spanish star won the semifinal and the final on the same day to clinch his first Barcelona title. The 2022 US Open champion claimed his third Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells and lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the Miami Open this year.
“We will be thinking about everything, apart from defending the title. Barcelona is a place I love playing in, where I have really amazing memories, not just from last year, but also playing when I was young. I am going to try and avoid that pressure to defend the title”, said Alcaraz during the pre-tournament press conference.
Third seed Casper Ruud has also been drawn in the top half of the draw. The Norwegian player, who won his first title of the season in Estoril, will face a tough opening match against either Mackenzie McDonald or US Next Gen star Ben Shelton. Ruud is seeded to play a potential quarter final match against this year’s Australian Open semifinal Karen Khachanov, who is looking to bounce back from a third round defeat against his third-round defeat against his compatriot Andrey Rublev.
Two-time Barcelona finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas will face either Pedro Cachin or Gijs Brower in his opening match before a potential quarter final clash against Alex De Minaur. The Australian player held two match points before losing to Alcaraz in the semifinals of the Barcelona semifinals last year.
Jannik Sinner, who reached the final in Miami and Rotterdam and two semifinals in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo this year and was semifinalist in Barcelona in 2021, is the highest ranked player in the third quarter of the draw. The Italian player will start his campaign against either Diego Schwartzman or Wu Yibing and seeded to play against either Lorenzo Musetti or Cameron Norrie. Sunner beat Musetti in the quarter finals in Monte-Carlo.
