BMW Open draw: Zverev top seed, Fonseca gets tricky draw, Tsitsipas looks to end nightmare run
Top seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev has earned a decent draw at the BMW Open in Munich while rising star Joao Fonseca has a tough job on his hands if he is to reach the business end of the tournament.
Zverev won the tournament for a third time last year when he beat Ben Shelton in the final, but there are still doubts over his participation at his home event as he is still in action at the Monte Carlo Masters.
The German faces second seed Jannik Sinner in the semi-final on Saturday and if he wins that match he will take on either top seed Carlos Alcaraz or Valentin Vacherot in the final on Saturday, leaving him with very little time to recover for the Munich event.
If he does defend his title on home soil, then he will start his campaign against Miomir Kecmanovic while he could face Gabriel Diallo or a qualifier in the second round.
Zverev is projected to meet fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo, who starts against wildcard and 2024 winner Jan-Lennard Struff, in the quarter-final and fourth seed Flavio Cobolli in the semi-final.
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Cobolli faces Marton Fucsovics first up while he is likely to meet fellow Italian and sixth seed Luciano Darderi in the last eight.
2025 runner-up Shelton is the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw and he gets his tournament underway with a match against a qualifier.
A run to the second round will earn him a meeting against either Alexander Blockx or Yannick Hanfmann while he could face Brazilian sensation Fonseca in the quarter-final.
The 19-year-old Fonseca, though, has to get past clay-court specialist Alejandro Tabilo in his opener before a possible encounter against seventh seed Arthur Rinderknech.
If the seeds hold, then Shelton will face Alexander Bublik for a place in the final.
Third seed Bublik, a quarter-finalist in Monaco this week, has a nightmare opener as he faces the big-serving Hubert Hurkacz, who entered using his protected ranking, before a possibhe last-eight clash against eighth seed Tallon Griekspoor.
Dutchman Griekspoor starts against Denis Shapovalov and he also has Stefanos Tsitsipas in his part of the draw, but the Greek has had endured a difficult couple of months.
Former world No 3 Tsitsipas has slumped to No 66 in the Live Rankings following a first-round exit from the Monte Carlo Masters while he also lost in the round of 128 at the Indian Wells Open.
Projected Quarter-Finals
Zverev v Cerundolo
Cobolli v Darderi
Griekspoor v Cobolli
Rinderknech v Shelton