MURCIA, April 7, 2019
The draw has been made for the inaugural Murcia Open, an ATP Challenger 80 event with a total prize money of €46,600. The tournament will be held from 8 to 14 April on the clay courts of the Murcia Club de Tenis 1919 in Spain.
Local favourite and former World No. 9 Nicolas Almagro will return to the courts for the first time since the Szczecin Open in September last year, as the 33-year-old Spaniard struggled with a left knee injury. Currently unranked Almagro has won 13 ATP Tour titles from 23 finals, all on clay, and he has played just 10 ATP Challenger events after 2006, winning five titles at this level but none since Genova in 2015. The Murcia native will play the last tournament of his career, opening his home campaign against fellow Spaniard Mario Vilella Martínez.
🎾 Sorteo cuadro final ATP Challenger Murcia Open 🏆
📸 @fotomurciaa pic.twitter.com/cS2P8Q2MeH— Murcia Club de Tenis (@MurciaClubTenis) 6. April 2019
15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz Garfia was also born in Murcia and also received a wild card into the main draw. The teenager, protégé of former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, secured his first ATP Challenger match win in Villena last week against Italian youngster Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz Garfia will take on Frenchman Gleb Sakharov in the first round.
The field of the Murcia Open is led by World No. 103 Pedro Sousa. The 30-year-old from Portugal will start his title bid against the winner of the all-Spanish encounter between Gerard Granollers and ITF-entry David Peréz Sanz.
No. 2 seed Roberto Carballés Baena will play either Federico Gaio of Italy or German Tobias Kamke after a first-round bye. Thiago Monteiro of Brazil and veteran Lukas Rosol from the Czech Republic are seeded third and fourth.
