The ATP Tour makes its first pitstop in China in almost four years with the Chengdu Open, one of four tournaments taking centre stage in the autumnal Asia swing.
28 singles players will vie to lift one of the most lucrative ATP 250s on the calendar, led by Top-10 player Alexander Zverev who is making his first trip to the touristic Chinese city of Chengdu.
There are a handful of perennial hard-court specialists in the draw, and the outright tournament favorite could have his work cut out especially if he is not operating at 100% after picking up a muscle injury in his US Open defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
The top four seeds at the tournament have a bye in the first round. So Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov, and Daniel Evans will learn the identity of their opponents after the first round of action is concluded.
In Zverev's case, he'll open up against one of Daniel Elahi Galan or a qualifier, while Dimitrov, who features in the top half with German, will most likely play number seven seed Miomir Kecmanovic. The Serbian is a massive favorite to win his opening match against a qualifier.
Fresh from his Davis Cup exploits at the weekend, fourth seed Dan Evans will open up against the winner of the clash between Brandon Nakashima and Roman Safiullin. Italy's Lorenzo Musetti features in the bottom half and is the second seed. He is slated to play either a qualifier or Portugal's Nuno Borges.
The most notable first-round matches in Chengdu include Emil Ruusuvuori taking on Arthur Rinderknech, and the all-Australian clash between Max Purcell, sitting at a career-high of 43, facing off against Jordan Thompson.
Alexander Bublik's winless streak on Tour could extend to five matches if he loses to Marcos Giron of the USA. The Kazakh bounced back with two singles wins in the Davis Cup World Group I tie against Bulgaria, but his last match win on the ATP Tour was at Wimbledon.
Belgian wild card Zizou Bergs will look to spring a surprise when he faces Dusan Lajovic. The Serbian one-hander arrives on the scene after playing a key part in guiding his country to Davis Cup Final 8 last week.
2023 Chengdu Open ATP Draw:
| 1. Alexander Zverev (1) |
| 2. BYE |
| 3. Daniel Elahi Galan |
| 4. Qualifier |
| 5. Tao Mu |
| 6. Corentin Moutet |
| 7. Qualifier |
| 8. Miomir Kecmanovic (7) |
| 9. Grigor Dimitrov (3) |
| 10. BYE |
| 11. Jie Chu |
| 12. Juan Pablo Varillas |
| 13. Christopher O'Connell |
| 14. Qualifier |
| 15. Taro Daniel |
| 16. Aleksandar Vukic (8) |
| 17. Max Purcell (6) |
| 18. Jordan Thompson |
| 19. Zizou Bergs |
| 20. Dusan Lajovic |
| 21. Roman Safiullin |
| 22. Brandon Nakashima |
| 23. BYE |
| 24. Daniel Evans (4) |
| 25. Alexander Bublik (5) |
| 26. Marcos Giron |
| 27. Arthur Rinderknech |
| 28. Emil Ruusuvuori |
| 29. Qualifier |
| 30. Nuno Borges |
| 31. BYE |
| 32. Lorenzo Musetti (2) |
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