Winston-Salem Open devoid of top 20 talents

James Richardson
Tallon Griekspoor Winston-Salem Open
Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands returns a shot to Germany's Alexander Zverev

The Winston-Salem Open will get underway on Monday with no top 20 talents in the field.

Top seed Borna Coric is set to tumble 13 places down the rankings and won’t be the highest-ranked player in the field for the event.

Tallon Griekspoor, who will be the world No 25 next week, will be the player who holds the strongest position according to the rankings.

With the US Open following hot on the heels of the event in North Carolina most of the top players have opted to head straight to New York to begin preparations for the year’s final Grand Slam.

Being a 48-player main draw, the top 16 seeds all enjoy a bye into the second round of the ATP 250 event.

There are still some intriguing first round matches at the Winston-Salem Open with Jack Draper set to feature and take on Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the first round.

Should Draper oust the Portuguese player he will face second seed Griekspoor in the second round.

Alternate Dominic Thiem got into the main draw thanks to withdrawals and will face Arthur Rinderknech in the opening round with the winner going on to meet eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp.

Coric sheds the points he won in claiming last season’s Cincy title but still holds the No 1 seeding and a first round bye.

The Croatian will start his tournament against either Alternate Rinky Hijikata or a player who has fought their way through qualifying.

Wildcard and third seed Sebastian Korda is the top home hope in terms of ranking but he is far from alone in the draw with plenty compatriots about.

Korda is seeded to face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the Round of 16 but he will first need to get beyond either Alexandre Muller or Benjamin Bonzi who meet in an all-French opening round match.

Serbian Laslo Djere rounds off the top four seeds and he will start his campaign against either Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta or Quentin Halys of France.

French star Gael Monfils had accepted a wildcard into the draw but has since withdrawn with his spot in the main draw taken by an alternate.

Late withdrawals have seen American prospects Alex Michelsen, and Michael Mmoh earn places in the main draw.

Michelsen will face Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas in the opening round while Mmoh will battle a qualifier in his first assignment.

Unseeded Brandon Nakashima and No 13 seed Marcus Giron bring to five the number of Americans in the main draw.

A further four Americans are still alive in the qualifying tournament that concludes this evening.

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