The 2024 Belgrade Open is one of the final two ATP 250 tournaments of the season, and the entry list has been released.
Running from November 3rd to 9th, the Belgrade Open and the Moselle Open in France take place the week before the ATP Finals. Results at those two tournaments could decide the final qualifying spots for the year-end tournament.
The Belgrade Open has only been held once before, in May 2021, as an outdoor clay-court event. Home hero Novak Djokovic won the only iteration of the tournament by defeating Alex Molcan in the final.
This year's edition will be played on an indoor hard court, and several great players are on the entry list for the event's debut as an indoor tournament.
Alex de Minaur is the highest-ranked player on the entry list. However, it is unclear whether the Australian will compete in Serbia because of a hip injury he has been battling for months since Wimbledon.
De Minaur was forced to withdraw from his quarterfinal at Wimbledon and missed the Olympics and the opening weeks of the North American hardcourt season. Despite that, he confounded expectations by making the US Open quarterfinal but has not played since.
The 25-year-old's injury issues are particularly unfortunate because he was in a great position to qualify for the ATP Finals. De Minaur is one place below Novak Djokovic in the last qualifying spot, and the 24-time Grand Slam champion could be further ahead of him after the Shanghai Masters.
Tommy Paul is the another notable name on the 2024 Belgrade Open entry list. The American has an outside chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals, but his hopes of making the final eight are slim at 11th.
The American was knocked out in the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters by Tomas Machac. While that is not a bad result, he needs excellent performances during the indoor hardcourt season to have a chance of making it to the ATP Finals in Turin.
Frances Tiafoe is the third highest-ranked player to sign up. Hopefully, he can avoid further controversy after launching a furious rant at the umpire after losing in the round of 32 against Roman Safiullin.
To Tiafoe's credit, he swiftly made a statement apologizing for his actions and acknowledged they were unacceptable. Owning up to his mistake should help him move on more quickly from the incident.
The watchable Lorenzo Musetti is another man on the 2024 Belgrade Open entry list. The Italian has played some outstanding tennis in recent months, but a slow start to the year cost him any chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic is the only Grand Slam titlist on the entry list. The 36-year-old became the lowest-ranked ATP title winner at the Hangzhou Open last month.
The presence of those players should make the first iteration of the Belgrade Open in three years terrific to watch, especially if the race for the ATP Finals is still live by the time the tournament is played.
2024 Belgrade Open ATP Players' Entry List:
| Seed | Name | Entry Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex de Minaur | 11 |
| 2 | Tommy Paul | 13 |
| 3 | Frances Tiafoe | 17 |
| 4 | Lorenzo Musetti | 18 |
| 5 | Alejandro Tabilo | 23 |
| 6 | Sebastian Baez | 26 |
| 7 | Flavio Cobolli | 30 |
| 8 | Francisco Cerundolo | 31 |
| Nuno Borges | 32 | |
| Tomas Machac | 33 | |
| Jiri Lehecka | 34 | |
| Brandon Nakashima | 35 | |
| Tomas Martin Etcheverry | 37 | |
| Mariano Navone | 38 | |
| Tallon Griekspoor | 40 | |
| Luciano Darderi | 42 | |
| Fabian Marozsan | 48 | |
| Marin Cilic | 21 (PR) | |
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