There will be unmissable first round matches at the Swiss Indoors Basel. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will start his campaign against #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper, while second seed Casper Ruud will open against former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.
Both clashes will be unprecedented on the ATP Tour. Alcaraz will face Draper in what could be the first meeting of a long-running rivalry. Alcaraz is set to compete in his first Nitto ATP Finals, while Draper will make his Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals debut.
The left-back, with a versatile game, will try to prevent his Spanish rival from finding a rhythm in Switzerland. The last time Ruud competed in Basel, in 2019, the Norwegian lost in the second qualifying round. He is now No.
3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and will seek his fourth title of the season. Ruud has demonstrated his success in Switzerland, lifting four of his nine ATP Tour trophies in this country. It won’t be easy against Wawrinka, the local favorite seeking his first title in Basel.
The two-time semi-finalist, who recently advanced to the round of the last four in Metz, will try to overcome Ruud’s heavy groundstrokes at the ATP 500. The battle between seventh seed Alex de Minaur and Holger Rune could also provide plenty of entertainment. .
De Minaur is one of the fastest players on the ATP Tour, but he will also try to bring the action to Rune to prevent the Dane from controlling the game with his big baseline game. Felix Auger-Aliassime, seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will start against local favorite Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray will play Roman Safiullin. Murray was originally scheduled to face American Sebastian Korda, who withdrew due to injury. In addition, the Spanish Pablo Carreño Busta, fifth seeded this week, will debut against the Argentine Sebastián Báez, against whom he has a 1-0 record after winning this year in Monte Carlo.
Alcaraz wants to win all his tournaments
Carlos Alcaraz has issued something of a warning for the rest of the tour, confidently declaring his big goal as the end of the season approaches. «My goal is to win all the tournaments and remain number 1,» said Carlos Alcaraz.
“I was training with Casper Ruud and I was able to see both the surface and the stadium first hand. I felt pretty good and I’m looking forward to the first game”, said Alcaraz.
