Rotterdam boasts star-studded field for first ATP 500 of the season

James Richardson 11 Feb 2023 6:12 PM

The Rotterdam Open boasts a star-studded 32-man field for the first ATP 500 event of the season.

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime returns to defend his title but the bulk of the top seeds are European players in the top 10.

Auger-Aliassime will start his defence against Italian journeyman Lorenzo Sonego.

The top five seeds for the Dutch event are ranked in the top ten with Stefanos Tsitsipas earning a top seeding.

Tsitsipas has a tricky first round assignment in the shape of rising Finnish star Emil Ruusuvuori.

At the opposite end of the draw, 2021 champion Andrey Rublev is the second seed.

Rublev will have to battle beyond Australian No 2 Alex de Minaur to book a place in the last 16.

Montpellier finalist Jannik Sinner misses out on a seeding and will face Benjamin Bonzi in the first round having been bracketed to face either Tsitsipas or Ruusuvuori.

Stan Wawrinka has used a protected ranking to gain entry to the main draw and will face the enemy of tennis rackets, Alexander Bublik in the opening round in Rotterdam.

Seventh seed Pablo Carrena Busta also hasn’t been granted any real advantage as he has to get beyond France’s Richard Gasquet.

Holger Rune might have been given the kindest draw of all the seeds.

Fourth-seeded Rune will start his tournament against a qualifier as he finds himself in the middle of the top half of the draw.

Eighth seed Alexander Zverev also in the top half of the draw.

Zverev will be faced with a big test from South Korea No 1 Soonwoo Kwon as he continues to try to build momentum in his return from injury.

Sixth-seeded Daniil Medvedev has been placed on a semi-final collision course with compatriot Rublev.

Medevdev is at the top of the bottom half of the draw anchored by Rublev.

Botic van de Zandschulp is the leading Dutch hope, but he has a tough first round match in Borna Coric who was a Masters champion last season.

The other Dutch hopes in the field so far are there by virtue of the three wildcards dished out for Gijs Brouwer, Tallon Griekspoor and Tim van Rijthoven.

No Dutch players won in the first qualifying round meaning the four players will carry the home hopes in Rotterdam.

Fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz also has an unkind draw as he is set to face Roberto Bautista Agut in his opening assignment.

Should the Pole put away Bautista Agut he could be faced with a second round clash against Grigor Dimitrov.