Hurkacz Top Seed As Metz Draw Revealed
In a strong field, former champions, upcoming talent and home favourites will compete at the Moselle Open in Metz, with the draw conjuring up some exciting matches at the ATP 250 indoor-hard event.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz leads the draw as the top seed and will begin his quest for his third tour-level trophy of the season against either French wild card Lucas Pouille, who won the title in 2016, or a qualifier. The 24-year-old could face former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.
Murray opens against sixth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who will be aiming to snap a three-match losing streak. Humbert lifted his first ATP 500 trophy at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle in June and will look to regain his best form on home soil in northern France.
Fourth seed Alex de Minaur is also in the top half and is making his debut in Metz. The five-time tour-level champion will meet World No. 77 Arthur Rinderknech or American Marcos Giron his opening match and is seeded to face Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Karen Khachanov in the last eight.
At the bottom of the draw, second seed Pablo Carreno Busta begins against Winston-Salem finalist Mikael Ymer or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. The Spaniard is currently 14th in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin and needs a strong finish to the season to qualify for the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals.
The 30-year-old faces a tricky draw though, with potential clashes against third seed Gael Monfils and Cagliari champion Lorenzo Sonego waiting ahead. Monfils triumphed in Metz in 2009 and could face three-time winner Gilles Simon in the last eight. The 35-year-old’s first assignment is a meeting with Italian Marco Cecchinato or a qualifier.
In other first-round clashes, Singapore winner Alexei Popyrin takes on Pedro Martinez, with the pair landing in Carreno Busta’s quarter, while eighth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili plays Gianluca Mager, with Monfils in their section.