By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday October 31, 2020
Dominic Thiem has pulled out of next week’s Paris Masters, joining World No.1 Novak Djokovic on the sidelines for 2020’s last Masters 1000 event. Thiem, who fell in the quarterfinals at Vienna to Andrey Rublev on Friday, was experiencing a foot issue and was hobbled during his loss.
Other top players missing are Denis Shapovalov, Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori, but 15 of the ATP’s Top 25 players are signed in, including Rafael Nadal, who will bid for his first title at the event.
Nadal, who owns a 19-5 record at Bercy, last reached the final in 2007, where he fell to David Nalbandian.
Here’s the full draw:
Nadal, who is bidding for his 1,000th ATP win this week in Paris, will face either Filip Krajinovic or Feliciano Lopez in his second round match after a bye, and the Spaniard could face Borna Coric in the third round.
If the seeds hold, Nadal could face Russia’s Andrey Rublev or Alexander Zverev in the semis.
Notable first rounders at Paris include Stan Wawrinka v Dan Evans, Pablo Carreno Busta v Hugo Gaston, Ugo Humbert v Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime v Marin Cilic.
The top five seeds are:
1. Rafael Nadal
2. Stefanos Tsitsipas
3. Daniil Medvedev
4. Alexander Zverev
5. Andrey Rublev