Andy Murray could meet Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Geneva Open this week; you can watch all the action from the Geneva Open exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Tuesday 21 May 2024 18:06, UK
Andy Murray could face world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round of this week's Geneva Open should he defeat German Yannick Hanfmann on Monday.
Djokovic, who suffered a shock defeat to in-form Chilean Alejandro Tabilo at the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome last week, will try to get back on track in Geneva, where he is making his tournament debut.
If he faces Murray, it will be the pair's 37th meeting, which the Serbian leads 25-11.
Djokovic leads the field in Geneva where he will chase his 99th tour-level title, with two-time champion Casper Ruud also competing. Third seed Taylor Fritz and fourth seed Ben Shelton are also playing.
Ruud will open against Australian Rinky Hijikata or a qualifier. The Norwegian owns a 9-1 record at the ATP 250 event and last year lost in the quarter-finals to Nicolas Jarry.
Third seed Fritz will begin his tournament against fellow American Alex Michelsen or a qualifier.
Another American, fourth seed Shelton, will play Flavio Cobolli or Aslan Karatsev in the second round.
There's a first-round clash between sixth seed Tallon Griekspoor and Christopher Eubanks.
The Dutchman is the first seeded opponent Djokovic could face in the quarter-finals.
Third seed Fritz and eighth seed Jack Draper, who faces Tomas Machac in the first round, are also in the Serbian's half of the draw.
The Geneva Open has become the most prestigious ATP 250 tournament in the calendar, attracting 11 of the world's top 50 players.
"I am very surprised Djokovic and Ruud are playing a week before the start of the French Open," said former British No 1 Tim Henman. "But obviously Roland Garros is the best of five sets so you want to keep your energy levels at 100 per cent but they obviously feel as though they need more matches.
"I don't necessarily feel like Djokovic needs to play any more and Ruud made the final in Monte-Carlo and won Barcelona - it is a surprise. It goes to show that these guys want more competition."
Annabel Croft said: "It's slightly weird because a lot of these top players use the early rounds as their way in. It's a lot of tennis they have to play and he knows how to win matches. He can flick a switch and get it right back on track. He's just played a lot less tennis this year and he's coming in without a single win.
"Maybe he's gone away and thought 'I want to get a bit more positive about it' going into the French but what you don't want is a massive amount of matches and physical issues. He knows his body and his mind better, but it's an interesting one."
"At least he's had that match time. It didn't look like Andy was moving particularly well [in his defeat to France's Gregoire Barrere at a Challenger event in Bordeaux] fluently," said Henman.
"He looked a little bit uncomfortable at times. Fingers crossed this gives him something to work on going into Geneva and hopefully Roland Garros."
In the run-up to the second Grand Slam of 2024 - the French Open at Roland Garros from May 26 - you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the clay-court season.
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