Halle Open draw: Alexander Zverev gets nightmare draw, Nick Kyrgios-Jannik Sinner on early collision course

Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem will meet in the first round of the Halle Open with the winner likely to meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final while Nick Kyrgios could meet Jannik Sinner in the second round.

For many players the Halle Open will be their final warm-up tournament on grass before Wimbledon so it is seen as a crucial tournament if you want to get minutes under your belt on the surface.

The bottom half of the ATP 500 event in Germany is fully loaded with second seed Tsitsipas the headline act and he gets his campaign underway against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere and he will meet then either Nicolas Jarry or Corentin Moutet in the second round.

Should Tsitsipas get to the quarter-final then he is projected to meet Zverev, although the ninth-seeded German will first have to get past wildcard Thiem in a rematch of the 2020 US Open final, which was won by the Austrian.

The winner of the Zverev-Thiem clash will then face either Denis Shapovalov or Lloyd Harris before a projected meeting with Tsitsipas.

In an interview with Bild, Tsitsipas was recently asked about the biggest differences between himself and Zverev and replied: “The biggest difference? I gave a lot to look like him for the first time in my career (smiles). Seriously, I think we’re very different.

“He’s someone who likes to play from the baseline and is very strong from there, capable of rallies. I feel more comfortable playing online more. I can be very creative with my slices, top spins, fly balls. It’s not about worse or better. I just grew up with a completely different style of tennis. I think there are more differences than similarities.”

And it doesn’t get much easier after that with fourth seed Sinner likely to await in the semi-final. The Italian, though, faces veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the second round and if he gets through that he will take on either Kyrgios or Lorenzo Sonego in the second round.

Kyrgios is still looking to regain full match fitness after recently returning to action after eight months on the sidelines.

World No 3 Daniil Medvedev, who was stunned in the second round of the Libéma Open by Adrian Mannarino last week, is the favourite in the top half and the top seed will kick off his campaign against a qualifier or lucky loser and will then face either Laslo Djere or Oscar Otte.

Roberto Bautista Agut is the first seeded player that Medvedev is projected to meet, but the eighth seeded Spaniard also needs to get past a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round with either Brandon Nakashima or Mikel Ymer to await in the second round.

Andrey Rublev headlines the bottom bracket and the third seed opens up against Wu Yubing while he is projected to meet sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-final.

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