Murray, Nadal Set To Battle In Barcelona

Andy Murray is wasting no time getting back on the clay after his third-round exit from the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The Scot has accepted a late wild card into the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell and will be the top seed at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament this week.

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Murray joins an already must-see field in the Spanish city. Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal will be going for his 10^th title, and World No. 9 Dominic Thiem and Monte-Carlo semi-finalist David Goffin also will be looking to hone their games on the red dirt. #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev will be making his second appearance in Barcelona after also accepting a late wild card.

Murray won’t have to worry about Nadal until the final but Thiem has been drawn in Murray’s half. The World No. 1 could meet Aussie Bernard Tomic or “Hot Shot Machine” Dustin Brown in the second round, and a third-round meeting against 16^th seed Feliciano Lopez could await.

In the quarter-finals, one of two Spanish clay-court mavens could meet Murray, either Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who has reached the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final, or sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The fourth-seeded Thiem is the on-paper favourite to meet Murray in the semi-finals.

Nadal could face compatriot and longtime friend David Ferrer in the third round. Barcelona fans could see Nadal face Zverev in the quarter-finals, which would be their third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this season and fourth overall. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-0.

The fifth-seeded Goffin could meet 11^th seed Pablo Cuevas in the third round. Both players are coming off strong runs in Monte-Carlo, with Goffin reaching his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final and Cuevas knocking off World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka before falling in the quarter-finals.