Sinner Could Face Pospisil In Sofia Final Rematch
#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner will begin his Sofia Open title defence against either Canadian Vasek Pospisil or a qualifier, it was revealed at the ATP 250’s draw ceremony on Saturday.
The 20-year-old, currently 11th in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, defeated Pospisil in last year’s Sofia final, their only previous ATP Head2Head meeting. If Sinner can reach the quarter-finals, he is seeded to play Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who is starting his campaign against Benoit Paire.
Alexander Bublik is the fourth seed and arrives having enjoyed a run to the semi-finals on home soil in Nur-Sultan. The Kazakhstani could face #NextGenATP star Lorenzo Musetti in his opening match if the Italian can overcome wild card Dimitar Kuzmanov in the first round. Musetti will be targeting a strong end to the season as he aims to qualify for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
[FOLLOW ACTION]Fifth seed Filip Krajinovic will be Bublik’s opponent in the quarter-finals if both men make it that far. The Serbian will be aiming to snap a four-match losing streak in his first-round match against Bulgarian wild card Alexandar Lazarov.
In the bottom half of the draw, Metz semi-finalist Gael Monfils is the second seed and will face either Winston-Salem champion Ilya Ivashka or Pablo Andujar in the second round. The Frenchman holds a 4-0 ATP Head2Head lead against Andujar and is tied at 1-1 with Ivashka.
Australian Alex de Minaur is seeded to meet Monfils in the semi-finals and will begin his quest for his third tour-level title of the season against either American Marcos Giron or Spaniard Jaume Munar.
In other action, sixth seed Adrian Mannarino begins against Italy’s Gianluca Mager, while eighth seed John Millman faces Mikael Ymer.