Nadal, Murray Vie for ATP Barcelona Crown; Budapest; ATP Previews

BARCELONA OPEN BANC SABADELL
Barcelona, Spain; surface: red clay
ADHEREL
Seeds: Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta, Alexander Zverev, Richard Gasquet, Albert Ramos Vinolas, Pablo Cuevas, Philipp Kohlschreiber, David Ferrer, Mischa Zverev, Joao Sousa, Feliciano Lopez, Benoit Paire

Floaters: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, (WC) Tommy Robredo

Notes: Three of the Top 10 in attendance despite the late withdrawal of Kei Nishikori…Not a whole lot of floating talent, and all 16 seeds receive opening-round byes…Potential tough starts for (16) Lopez vs. G-Lo, and (9) Gasquet vs. (WC) Robredo…Wildcards were awarded to Murray, Robredo, Zverev, Albert Montanes, and Mikael Ymer…Pulling from the event were Nishikori (wrist), Tomas Berdych, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Donald Young…Ferrer is 0-4 in Barcelona finals…Former champs in the field are the nine-time winner Rafael Nadal (2016,’13-11,’09-05) and Robredo (2004).

GAZPROM HUNGARIAN OPEN
Budapest, Hungary; surface: clay

Seeds: Lucas Pouille, Ivo Karlovic, Fabio Fognini, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Paolo Lorenzi, Viktor Troicki, Diego Schwartzman

Floaters: Borna Coric

Notes: A first-time event on the ATP World Tour…No Top 15 players in the field…What is Verdasco doing in Budapest rather than Barcelona?…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Tough opener for (1) Pouille vs. Coric…Wildcards were awarded to Italy’s Fabio Fognini and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics…Alexandr Dolgopolov withdrew from the field.