STARNBERG, October 3, 2022
It will be a star-studded week of action on the ATP Tour, with ATP 500 events taking place in Astana and Tokyo.
Current World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and former World No. 1s Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Daniil Medvedev from Russia lead the way at the Astana Open. Alcaraz is competing in his first ATP Tour event since winning the US Open and Djokovic is fresh off his third title of the year in Tel Aviv.
“To end [the year as No. 1] is my goal,” said Alcaraz as he prepares for his debut at the ATP 500 event in Kazakhstan. “From now until the end of the year, I have some good tournaments ahead and [my goal] is to show the best of myself in those tournaments and to be able to end the year as No. 1.”
The 19-year-old Spaniard will start his title bid against Belgian lucky loser David Goffin. No. 2 seed Medvedev plays Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round. Third-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on local wild card entry Mikhail Kukushkin. Fourth favourite Djokovic opens his campaign in Central Asia against Cristian Garin of Chile.
ATP500 Astana Open main draw pic.twitter.com/yfowtsoXFs
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) October 1, 2022
World No. 2 Casper Ruud headlines the field at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, where the Norwegian will pursue his first hard-court crown of 2022.
Other players to watch in the draw include 2016 champion Nick Kyrgios of Australia and recent US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe from the United States, the fourth seed.
ATP500 Tokyo main draw pic.twitter.com/5cBjGoWIAk
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) October 1, 2022
