Nightmare draw ahead for many players at China Open including Norrie, Murray and Paul

Tuesday, 26 September 2023 at 14:00

Several players are facing a nightmare draw at this year's China Open as the field is filled with the top ranks of the sport.

The ATP 500 event, held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, is filled with Top 10 and Top 20-ranked players, so much so that multiple opening rounds will see players in the Top 30 of the ATP Ranking face off against each other.

This means that several highly ranked players outside of the Top 10, such as Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, and Tommy Paul may struggle to achieve a deep run at the tournament, with Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitisipas, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, and Casper Ruud all taking to the court at the China Open.

Difficult opening rounds for many players

World No. 13 Paul finds himself against second seed and World No. 3 Medvedev in the first round in Beijing. They have only faced each other once before, with the Russian having come back from a set down in their Round of 64 clash at the 2021 Roland Garros to win in four sets.

Paul will have some momentum from competing at the Laver Cup over the weekend, where he helped Team World to a landslide victory. However, Medvedev recently defeated Alcaraz to finish as runner-up at the US Open, suggesting that he is on form and likely to take the win.

Meanwhile, the three British players at the tournament will face a challenge in their opening matches. World No. 17 Norrie is set for a clash with World No. 6 Rublev, the latter of whom recently made it to the US Open quarter-finals and won the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS). However, their head-to-head is currently at 2-2, with Norrie having defeated the 26-year-old earlier this year at the Indian Wells.

Moreover, Evans is set to face World No. 7 Sinner, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open in August. The players have never faced each other before but the Italian's strong attacking game is likely to make trouble for Evans. Nevertheless, the Brit's versatility and backhand slice could help him out here.

Murray just makes it into main draw

Another indication of how stacked the field is at this year's China Open is that former World No. 1 Andy Murray only made the draw after several withdrawals from other players. The three-time Grand Slam champion will face the difficult task of taking on World No. 12 Alex de Minaur in the opening round.

Murray previously stated that he hoped to have a good end to the season on the Asian Swing. However, things did not go as planned at the Zhuhai Championships this week after he was ousted by Aslan Karatsev in the second round.