Djokovic, Nishikori Begin Madrid Campaigns Wednesday

Twelve second-round matches will be played at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, highlighted by the return of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The 2011 Madrid champion has not appeared at Caja Mágica since falling to Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match three years ago. Djokovic will be competing for the second time since 3 April, having lost to Jiri Vesely at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in his only clay-court match of the season. The top seed meets Next Generation star Borna Coric for the first time not before 4 pm on Manolo Santana.

Coric is one of six players challenging Top 10 opponents on Wednesday. All six underdogs are on losing streaks against the Top 10, with the 19-year-old Coric falling in eight straight matches. Albert Ramos-Vinolas is 1-18 going into his meeting with No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Denis Istomin is 1-30 entering his matchup with No. 8 Tomas Berdych. Fabio Fognini’s past three Top 10 wins were against Rafael Nadal, but his opponent on Wednesday is No. 6 Kei Nishikori. Qualifier Denis Kudla goes for the biggest win of his career against No. 9 David Ferrer.

On Estadio 3, Next Generation No. 1 Nick Kyrgios faces fourth-ranked Stan Wawrinka for the fourth time in 11 months. After Wawrinka defeated Kyrgios at London/Queen’s Club, their last two encounters have ended with back injuries. Kyrgios advanced at the Rogers Cup when Wawrinka retired, then Wawrinka reached the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final when Kyrgios conceded. Roberto Bautista Agut and Feliciano Lopez, two of eight Spaniards in the second round, meet for the first time since a three-hour and 16-minute marathon won by Lopez at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.