The 32nd edition of the Marseille Open is set to be a barnburner, and the draw for the tournament was recently released.
All the top eight seeds at the event are ranked in the world's Top 50, including three players in the Top 20. These will be Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov and Karen Khachanov. The trio will be among the main favorites to lift this ATP 250 tournament.
The draw has certainly thrown up a plethora of exciting matches from the opening round. The top four seeds receive a bye in the first round, but the rest of the field don't have that luxury.
In the top half, where defending champion Hurkacz is positioned, he is slated to meet either Benjamin Bonzi or Alexander Shevchenko - the 23-year-old who switched allegiance from Russia to Kazakhstan very recently.
Hurkacz is on a collision course with Lorenzo Musetti in the last eight. But whether the Italian one-hander gets there is doubtful. Musetti must beat Fabian Marozsan in his opening match, which is far from straightforward, and then wait for the winner of the match between Tomas Machac and Andy Murray.
Murray has been winless since the start of 2024 and faces an in-form Czech player on the rise. The odds are stacked against him, and it would be a shock if he managed to navigate that challenge. However, he has vowed not to give up on his career.
Fourth seed Ugo Humbert could draw Denis Shapovalov in the second round in an interesting battle of the lefties. But the Canadian, who returned to winning ways in his previous tournament, will need to see off a qualifier in his opening match.
Humbert and Hurkacz are projected to meet in the semis if the seeds hold. Elsewhere, in the bottom half of the draw, second seed Grigor Dimitrov has a tough draw. He could play Sebastian Korda in the second round, provided the American doesn't encounter any speedbumps while opening against a qualifier.
If Dimitrov is successful, he could face eighth seed and Adelaide champion Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinal. On paper, the Czech is a favorite to make it that far. He could play two successive matches against qualifiers to reach the last eight.
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime plays French wild card Quentin Halys, who can be a perennial threat on this surface when he is on. There will be a veteran's first-round clash when Richard Gasquet meets Roberto Bautista Agut. The winner will play Karen Khachanov in the second round.
The complete draw for the 2024 Marseille Open can be accessed below.
2024 Marseille Open ATP Draw:
| 1 | Hubert Hurkacz (1) |
| 2 | BYE |
| 3 | Benjamin Bonzi (WC) |
| 4 | Alexander Shevchenko |
| 5 | Tomas Machac |
| 6 | Andy Murray |
| 7 | Maximilian Marterer (Alt) |
| 8 | Lorenzo Musetti (6) |
| 9 | Ugo Humbert (4) |
| 10 | BYE |
| 11 | Qualifier |
| 12 | Denis Shapovalov (WC) |
| 13 | Emil Ruusuvuori |
| 14 | Luca Van Assche |
| 15 | Gregoire Barrere |
| 16 | Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (5) |
| 17 | Felix Auger-Aliassime (7) |
| 18 | Quentin Halys (WC) |
| 19 | Zhizhen Zhang |
| 20 | Alexandre Muller |
| 21 | Roberto Bautista Agut |
| 22 | Richard Gasquet |
| 23 | BYE |
| 24 | Karen Khachanov (3) |
| 25 | Jiri Lehecka (8) |
| 26 | Qualifier |
| 27 | Qualifier |
| 28 | Arthur Rinderknech (Alt) |
| 29 | Sebastian Korda |
| 30 | Qualifier |
| 31 | BYE |
| 32 | Grigor Dimitrov (2) |
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