Raonic, Nadal Could Meet In Brisbane QFs
Raonic, Nadal Could Meet In Brisbane QFs
The 2017 ATP World Tour season should start much like the 2016 season finished – with blockbuster match-ups.
At the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, the first tournament of 2017, top seed Milos Raonic will try to repeat as champion Down Under. The right-hander won his lone title of 2016 in Brisbane.
But the World No. 3 could face a fellow Top 10 player before he even makes the semi-finals. Rafael Nadal, No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will await Raonic if the two progress to the quarter-finals.
Raonic has a first-round bye and a potential second-round match-up with Argentine Diego Schwartzman or American Sam Querrey. The Canadian will be making his debut with new coach Richard Krajicek.
The fifth-seeded Nadal faces Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round and could meet a qualifier or German Mischa Zverev in round two. The Spaniard hasn’t played a match since the Shanghai Rolex Masters in October (left wrist). Nadal also made some coaching news this off-season by adding former World No. 1 Carlos Moya to his team.
In the bottom half of the bracket, second seed Stan Wawrinka could collide with third seed Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals. The Swiss star receives a first-round bye and will face a qualifier or Serbian Viktor Troicki in round two.
Wawrinka might play rising Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the quarter-finals. Pouille, the sixth seed, opens against countryman Gilles Simon and could play a qualifier or #NextGen player Kyle Edmund of Great Britain in the second round.
Nishikori, who receives a first-round bye, will meet the big-serving lefty Gilles Muller of Luxembourg or a qualifier in round two. The Japanese player could meet eighth seed David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.
Fourth seed Dominic Thiem could meet seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals if the seeds play out. Thiem, who made his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals debut in November, leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0 (2016 Acapulco). Main draw play starts on Sunday in Brisbane.