The 68th edition of the prestigious Trofeo Conde de Godo in Barcelona takes place next week, standing as one of the strongest ATP tournaments outside Majors and the Masters 1000 level.
Placed at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, the oldest Spanish tennis club, the first edition was held in 1953 when the American Vic Seixas went all the way. In 1970, Barcelona became a part of the ATP calendar, having the best-of-five finals until 2006.
Manolo Santana, Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Manuel Orantes, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Carlos Costa, Thomas Muster, Marat Safin, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya and Kei Nishikori have won the title here, with one player standing above them all.
Rafael Nadal has won 11 Barcelona crowns so far at one of his favorite tournaments, with the center court carrying his name despite the fact he is still an active player. Nadal will be the top seed, facing stern tests en route to the title, with all 16 seeds ranked inside the top-30.
Rafael Nadal, Cristian Garin, Karen Khachanov and David Goffin lead the top quarter, with the home favorite kicking off the campaign against Adrian Mannarino or a qualifier in the second round. Nadal will face Kei Nishikori or Cristia Garin in the third round, with David Goffin as the most likely rival in the quarter.
Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Daniel Evans and Fabio Fognini are the top-ranked players in the second quarter, with the young Spanish gun Carlos Alcaraz facing Frances Tiafoe in the first round ahead of a possible Schwartzman duel. Roberto Bautista Agut, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud are the players to beat in a thrilling third quarter. The bottom quarter is also very strong, containing Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov!