Berrettini to start title defense on Monday

On Saturday, the draw for the first round of the main draw of the BOSS OPEN at Stuttgart’s Weissenhof took place. The four top seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE), Taylor Fritz (USA), Frances Tiafoe (USA) and Hubert Hurkacz (POL) have a bye in the first round and will enter the competition from Wednesday on.

Jan-Lennard Struff and veteran Feliciano Lopez were among those present at the ceremony and assisting in the "Village" of the BOSS OPEN. Struff, who played the best spring of his career and is currently ranked 28th in the world, will face Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (ATP No. 71) in the first round. Struff won against the Chinese in March at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami in the second qualifying round in straight sets.

With Daniel Altmaier (ATP 79) and Oscar Otte (WC/ATP 120), two more Germans are in the main draw. Altmaier will face Australian Christoper O'Connell (ATP 77) in his first-round match - a highly interesting match, as the two are virtually tied in the world rankings. Otte, who made it to the semifinals of last year's BOSS OPEN and was only defeated in two tie-breaks by eventual tournament winner Matteo Berrettini, will face Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (ATP 58) in the first round. The only duel between the two so far went to the Frenchman last year at the Metz indoor tournament.

Feliciano Lopez, who is giving his farewell performance at the Weissenhof this year and will end his career during the course of the season, will start against a qualifier yet to be determined.

One of the highlights of the first round will certainly be the Italian duel between Matteo Berrettini (ATP 48) and Lorenzo Sonego (ATP 48), who is still unbeaten at Weissenhof after two tournaments. The match is a rematch of last year's quarterfinal, in which Berrettini, the tournament’s number 7, prevailed in three sets. This was also the only encounter between the two Italians at ATP level to date.

Lorenzo Musetti, the No. 6 seed at the BOSS OPEN, is another Italian who will play in the first round. He will face a qualifier. Nick Kyrgios (AUS), the No. 8 seed in the BOSS OPEN, will play China's Yibing Wu (ATP 54) in the opener. American No. 5 seed Tommy Paul will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (ATP 66).