Toronto draw hides pitfalls for Carlos Alcaraz

• Tennis News
• Inside Tennis

With the Masters 1000 in Toronto, it's officially begins the challenge to understand who will end the season at the top of the world rankings, if the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz or the Serbian Novak Djokovic. It starts from the Canadian Open and here the Spaniard needs to score points, taking advantage of the absence of his Balkan rival, who will only return to the field in Cincinnati.

It should also be remembered that after that, there will be the US Open, and Nole will have the opportunity to gain points and ground on his rival, the defending champion. For Alcaraz the draw is anything but simple and he will start immediately against probably the home idol Ben Shelton, favorite on his debut against Zapata Miralles.

Eventually Alcaraz will face Hubert Hurkacz in the 3rd round, with the Polish tennis player who has to defend last year's final. It must be said that not even the debut will be easy for Hubert, given the match against the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

From a complicated eighth to the umpteenth series of clashes against young talents for the young Murcian. In the quarter-finals Carlos Alcaraz could in fact face the Danish Holger Rune. It must be said that the Nordic talent is not in excellent physical condition and his presence on the court remains to be evaluated.

Toronto draw hides pitfalls for Carlos Alcaraz

In the event of Holger's early knockout for Alcaraz, there could be a match against Tommy Paul, one of the home idols and still annoying. In the semifinals the eventual clash with our Italian number one, Jannik Sinner.

It must be said that the presence of the Italian in semis is all to be evaluated given the previous clashes with Matteo Berrettini and above all in the quarterfinals against Stefanos Tsitsipas. The final is undoubtedly the most awaited and, thanks to the absence of Novak Djokovic, many are expecting the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

This hard-courts season is very welcome to the Russian, and after past bitter defeats, there is curiosity to understand how Daniil will try to stop the young Spanish star. After Toronto, the Tour will move to Cincinnati for the Western & Southern Open.