The clay-court season is off and running, with a whole host of significant tournaments on the upcoming schedule even before the second Grand Slam of 2024 – the French Open – begins next month. Sandwiched in between Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome is an ATP 500 tournament his coming week in Barcelona. Barring a late withdrawal by Rafael Nadal, the Barcelona Open will be headlined by the 37-year-old Spaniard’s comeback to tennis.
Nadal is joined in a strong field by Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur and plenty of other star players.
- Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Casper Ruud
- Andrey Rublev
Tsitsipas finds his footing on clay
Tsitsipas has struggled this season and finds himself outside the top 10 at No. 12 in the world, but a return to his clay-court stomping grounds appears to be just what the doctor ordered. The Greek is a two-time champion in Monte-Carlo (2021, 2022) and as of Friday afternoon, he is back in the semifinals with impressive straight-set wins over Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov.
It is also worth noting that Tsitsipas went all the way to the French Open final in 2021. As for his prospects in Barcelona, Tsitsipas has made five trips to this tournament and has reached the championship match three times (lost to Nadal in all three). He has lost before the quarterfinals just once in those five appearances.
Two-time French Open runner-up Ruud on a roll
Ruud is not exactly a clay-court specialist because his hard-court results have been stellar over the years (the Norwegian is a two-time U.S. Open finalist, for example), but he is without question one of the best clay-court players in the world. He has finished runner-up at each of the last two French Opens and nine of his 10 lifetime ATP titles have come on the red stuff.
As of Friday, Monte-Carlo is going quite well for Ruud. The world No. 10 is through to the quarterfinals and his week includes a straight-set defeat of recent Estoril champion Hubert Hurakcz. Ruud will head into Barcelona with plenty of momentum and confidence.
Rublev looks to emerge from slump
At some point, you have to think Rublev is going to turn things back around in his favor. The world No. 6 is too good of a player to remain in a slump for an extended period. He lost his second match in Indian Wells, his opener in Miami and again right away in Monte-Carlo.
If there is any good news for Rublev, it’s that he is extremely well-rested heading into Barcelona. He has a history of success on clay, too. The 26-year-old reached the Monte-Carlo final in 2021 and won the title in 2023. He also owns one title in two trips to the Hamburg final (an ATP 500 tournament on clay).
In his second Barcelona main-draw appearance last spring, Rublev advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Jannik Sinner 6-2, 7-6(6). With Sinner not in the field this time around, the door could be open for Rublev and others.
