Murray, Wawrinka, Thiem Lead Shock Entrants at Challenger in Bordeaux

| by Alex Waite

Three former Grand Slam champions, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, and Dominic Thiem, will enter the BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux ATP Challenger event in May 2023.

The three high-profile entrants come as a shock for the Challenger event and the trio will be looking to use the competition to build form and fitness ahead of the 2023 Roland Garros. Thiem has had a poor start to the 2023 campaign, crashing out in the first rounds at the Australian Open and Indian Wells, while Wawrinka has also struggled for form in the opening stages of this season.

But Murray's entry to the Paribas Primrose Bordeaux is perhaps most surprising after the British player admitted that he was considering skipping the remainder of the clay season entirely following a straight-set first-round loss against Alex de Minaur. After the defeat, Murray's downbeat response suggested he might not return on clay again in 2023.

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“I was feeling good and I’d actually been moving pretty well in practice, so I was optimistic, But it was pretty demoralising and I’ve not felt like that many times in my career on the court. It was really tough.”

But the three ATP stars are not the only renowned players to be entering this season's Challenger event in Bordeaux. Overall, 28 players within the current ATP top 100 will feature at the clay surface competition, which takes place between May 14 and 20, just three weeks before the start of the French Open and during the second week of the 2023 Italian Open, as players want to give themselves a chance in case of an early exit.

Some of the other competitors who will take part in Bordeaux include world number 24, Dan Evans. The likes of Richard Gasquet, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Luca van Assche, who are all ranked inside the top 100, are also set to compete at the tournament.

If you're interested in what may be one of the most prestigious ATP Challenger events ever, be sure to check out the full entry list for the 2023 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux below.

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2023 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux ATP Challenger Entry List:

Seed Name  Current Ranking Entry Ranking
1 Daniel Evans 24 24
2 Yoshihito Nishioka 34 34
3 Bernabe Zapata Miralles 42 42
4 Richard Gasquet 43 43
5 Adrian Mannarino 46 46
6 Mikael Ymer 50 50
7 Andy Murray 52 52
8 Roberto Carballes Baena 53 53
Gregoire Barrere 56 56
Tomas Martin Etcheverry 59 59
Albert Ramos-Vinolas 60 60
Constant Lestienne 62 62
Jason Kubler 63 63
Corentin Moutet 64 64
Jan-Lennard Struff 65 65
Quentin Halys 66 66
Ilya Ivashka 69 69
Cristian Garin 73 73
Nuno Borges 74 74
(WC) Dominic Thiem 93
(WC) Gael Monfils 322
(WC)
(SE)
(SE)
(Q)
(Q)
(Q)
(Q)

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