ATP Citi DC Open draw: Andy Murray could face sticky match early on as he starts bid for US Open seeding

The good news for Andy Murray is that he is seeded for the Washington Open and will get a bye into the second round, but the bad news for the three-time Grand Slam winner is he could face the world No 9 quite early.

Murray will return to action for the first time since losing against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round at Wimbledon at the beginning of July and he will be seeded 15th for the ATP 500 tournament.

The world No 42 will square off against either American Brandon Nakashima or Aleksander Vukic from Australia in the second round. Should he get through that then he could face top seed Taylor Fritz in the third round.

After losing in the first round last year, Murray has no points to defend so any win would give his hopes of being seeded for the US Open a boost.

The former world No 1 currently has 1,030 points and needs 1,300-odd points to make it into the top 32 of the ATP Rankings. Reaching the final would basically put him on the verge of qualifying while a title win would all but assure a provisional seeding for the US Open.

But it is no easy draw with several top players taking part and world No 9 Fritz, who takes on either Max Purcell or a qualifier in the second round, will be a big obstacle.

Section 2 of the top half has some interesting matches lined up with seventh seed Adrian Mannarino and Wimbledon quarter-finalist Chris Eubanks featuring.

However, there are two wildcards of note as former US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori will continue his comeback following injury as he takes on South African Lloyd Harris in the first round with the winner facing 11th seed Eubanks.

Meanwhile, former Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson – who came out of retirement just a month ago – takes on Jordan Thompson with Mannarino awaiting the winner.

If the seedings hold, then Fritz is projected to meet Mannarino in the quarter-final.

Frances Tiafoe headlines the bottom half of the draw and the American opens his account against either Aslan Karatsev or a qualifier with Ben Shelton a projected third-round opponent. Shelton, seeded 14th faces Emlio Gómez or a qualifier in his opener.

Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime headlines section 3 and the Canadian takes on Yosuke Watanuki or Wu Yibing in round two and if he gets through that then he is likely to meet 13th seed Ugo Humbert in the third round.

Fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov is projected to meet Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-final, but the Bulgarian faces Michael McDonald or Diego Schwartzman in the second round. Should he get through that, he will likely take on 10th seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round.

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