Jannik Sinner looks to close gap for world No. 1 in Madrid; Nadal draws 16-year-old Blanch

With Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the Mutua Madrid Open over the weekend, Jannik Sinner finds himself seeded No. 1 at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.

As for home favorite Rafael Nadal, he’ll face off against a competitor 21 years his junior.

Sinner begins his campaign against countryman Lorenzo Sonego or a qualifier to be determined. The Australian Open title holder is 25-2 on the year and can continue closing Djokovic's lead in the battle for the No. 1 ranking with no points to defend here.

GOING IN:

• Djokovic: 9,990 points (no points dropping)
• Sinner: 8,660 points (no points dropping)

Among the challengers in Sinner's quarter include incoming Barcelona champion Casper Ruud. The No. 5 seed leads both tours with 29 wins this season. Ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov, 16th seed Karen Khachanov and 17-year-old wild card Joao Fonseca are also here.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev and 25th seed Sebastian Korda will meet in the third round if both claim their openers. The two have split their prior four clashes—with Medvedev edging out a three-set victory at Indian Wells last month—though have never battled away from hard courts.

But the in-form player of the second quarter is sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek won his first 10 matches of the European clay-court season, highlighted by a third Monte Carlo crown, before Ruud got revenge on Sunday.

Nadal is floating in this part of the draw, where he’ll go up against 16-year-old Darwin Blanch. The American recently made his tour-level debut in Miami and upon seeing the news, reacted, “Guys I play nadal wtf,” in a Snapchat post.

The winner advances to take on 10th seed Alex de Minaur. The Australian defeated Nadal last week, 7-5, 6-1, after the Spaniard made a victorious return from injury against Flavio Cobolli. Nadal has stood in the winner's circle on five occasions, with four of those triumphs coming at the Caja Magica when the event transitioned from an indoor hard to clay-court stop.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz, 12th seed Taylor Fritz and 15th seed Tommy Paul all landed in the third quarter. Zverev, a two-time winner here, could get 2023 semifinalist Borna Coric to kick off his bid if the Croatian advances past a qualifier. Paul’s name in the field is an encouraging sign after this year’s Dallas champion rolled his ankle at the Miami Open and immediately retired from his contest with Martin Damm.

In draw slot No. 128: two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz. The world No. 3 is yet to play on red dirt this spring, having pulled out of Monte Carlo and Barcelona with a right arm injury. Alcaraz launches his quest for a three-peat against Arthur Rinderknech or Alexander Shevchenko.

While Andrey Rublev is Alcaraz’s projected quarterfinal opponent, the seventh seed finds himself on a four-match losing streak. Eleventh seed Holger Rune and 13th seed Ugo Humbert are the next-highest ranked possibilities, but don’t forget about 23rd seed Jan-Lennard Struff—last year’s runner-up who arrives with his first ATP title in hand from Munich.