Rafael Nadal, Reilly Opelka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Lloyd Harris will be the top seeds in the ATP 250 tournament that will be staged in Melbourne from the 3rd of January.
Tennis Australia decided to schedule the ATP Cup, and 2 ATP250 (Melbourne and Adelaide) in the first week of January.
The tennis fans in Melbourne had the fantastic news that they would see Rafael Nadal back to competitions after he decided to take a prolonged break after suffering a foot injury in 2021. Curiously, Rafael Nadal decided not to play the ATP Cup to compete instead in this ATP250 event.
Entry list
This is the entry list in Melbourne
6 RAFAEL NADAL
26 REILLY OPELKA
28 GRIGOR DIMITROV
31 LLOYD HARRIS
36 ALEXANDER BUBLIK
39 DAVID GOFFIN
46 BENOIT PAIRE
47 KEI NISHIKORI
48 ILYA IVASHKA
54 DOMINIK KOEPFER
55 MACKENZIE MCDONALD
57 BOTIC VAN DE ZANDSCHULP
61 ALEXEI POPYRIN
65 TALLON GRIEKSPOOR
66 MARCOS GIRON
71 ADRIAN MANNARINO
75 JORDAN THOMPSON
76 FACUNDO BAGNIS
77 JAUME MUNAR
78 STEFANO TRAVAGLIA
80 KEVIN ANDERSON
Rafael Nadal in 2021
Now ranked no.6, the Spaniard played his last match on the 5th of August when he was overcome by world no.31 Harris Lloyd 6-4 1-6 6-4 in the 3rd round in Washington (draw).
This season Rafael owns a compiled 24-5 match record. Nadal clinched 2 titles in 2021 in Barcelona and in Rome.
Reilly Opelka in 2021
At the moment ranked no.26, Reilly played his last match on the 26th of November when he was overcome by world no.27 Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 7-6(4) in the Rubber 1 of the Davis Cup (draw).
This year Opelka achieved a composed 21-23 match record. Reilly Opelka’s best accomplishment of the year was reaching the final in Toronto.
Rafael Nadal and Reilly Opelka fought against each other only once. The head to head is 1-0 for Nadal. When they played, Rafael Nadal won 6-4 6-4 in the semifinal in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) on the 15th of May 2021.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Grigor Dimitrov in 2021
At the moment ranked no.28, Grigor played his last match on the 4th of November when he lost to world no.3 Alexander Zverev 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 6-3 in the 3rd round in Paris (draw).
Currently, during this year Grigor has a 24-18 match record. Grigor Dimitrov’s best accomplishment of this year was reaching the semifinal in San Diego and Indian Wells.
Lloyd Harris in 2021
Ranked no.31 (career-high), Harris played his last match on the 26th of October when he surrendered to world no.8 Casper Ruud 7-5 7-6(2) in the 1st round in Vienna (draw).
This season Harris has a 32-22 match record. Lloyd Harris’s most significant achievement of the present season was getting to the final in Dubai.
Grigor Dimitrov and Lloyd Harris played each other once. The head to head is 1-0 for Harris. When they played, Lloyd Harris won 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) in the 1st round in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open) on the 3rd of May 2021.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Rafael Nadal, Reilly Opelka, Grigor Dimitrov and Lloyd Harris |
| Embed from Getty Images |