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With the imminent start of the Barcelona Open, it seems right to put together a Barcelona Open 2024 preview for you to digest. The following preview highlights the biggest names set to compete for the crown this year. And I’ve covered additional details regarding the event schedule, prize money, defending champions, and more.
To give further substance to this Barcelona Open 2024 preview, I’ve supplied my predictions for the tournament, too. This way, you can make a couple of outright wagers to go with the range of tips supplied via our tennis predictions today page – the ideal combo!
Anyway, that’s all secondary to the breakdown I want to give you for the Barcelona Open 2024, so let’s get started.
Barcelona Open 2024 preview – key tournament information
Contents
Don’t you just love the clay court season? For me, this is the most exciting time of year as far as the ATP 2024 schedule goes. It’s a time where underdogs produce big upsets against the greats of the game, and it’s a period where ‘clever tennis’ dazzles us all. As for the Barcelona Open 2024 preview, while some top level clay court tennis is guaranteed, there’s a few extras you need to know.
Event schedule
The main draw for the 2024 Barcelona Open begins on Monday, April 15th. As for the tournament as a whole, matches will run from April 15th to April 21st, which is when we will get to find out who the 2024 champion will be.
Let me break down the schedule into a day-by-day overview now:
- First rounds – April 15th & 16th
- Second rounds – April 16th & 17th
- Round of 16 – April 18th
- Quarter-finals – April 19th
- Semi-finals – April 20th
- Finals – April 21st
Regarding the start times for each individual day, things won’t start until 11 AM local time, which is 12 PM in the UK.
Defending champion
It was Carlos Alcaraz who wowed us all last year and dismantled the entire draw en route to the 2023 Barcelona Open title. But following the injury struggles of Monte Carlo, where he had to withdraw before playing his opening round, he’s withdrawn from the 2024 Barcelona Open.
This puts Andrey Rublev as the highest seed in the draw, and he needs a big week to make up for the points he lost in Monte Carlo.
Prize money
The total prize commitment this year for the Barcelona Open is €2,782,960. Now, that’s a pretty sizable prize pool, yet this is distributed among all of the competing players. As for what the winner is set to take home in this event, this figure stands at €488,390. This represents a marginal increase on last year’s prize money of just over 2%.
Location, format, and playing surface
Obviously, the Barcelona Open is played in Barcelona! It’s a 500-level clay court event that draws many of the big names in each year since it is sandwiched between Masters 1000 level tournaments. More specifically, the tournament is played at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, which is quite a picturesque place for such a great event to be played.
As for the format, the main draw consists of 48 players – 16 seeds, 6 qualifiers, and 4 wildcards. Let’s not forget that Rafael Nadal is officially playing the tournament too, which adds a spicy dynamic to this Barcelona Open 2024 preview.
Barcelona Open 2024 preview – top seeds and draw analysis
For any tennis tournament, the most exciting part relates to the draw. The draw shows who is playing who, where the seeds are located, and much more. Therefore, it makes sense for me to include this in my Barcelona Open 2024 preview.
Top seeds
The Barcelona Open main draw consists of 16 seeds this year, although the top seed, Carlos Alcaraz recently withdrew from the event through injury. As for the remaining seeds and where they are in the draw, I’ve listed them below:
Top half
- Alex de Minaur (4)
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (5)
- Ugo Humbert (6)
- Lorenzo Musetti (10)
Bottom half
- Andrey Rublev (2)
- Casper Ruud (3)
- Karen Khachanov (7)
- Sebastian Baez (8)
Barcelona Open draw analysis
There’s plenty of hype surrounding the Barcelona Open draw this year for obvious reasons. Alcaraz might have pulled out, but a true legend has stepped in to almost cushion the blow of such a loss – Rafael Nadal. Tennis fans are understandably pumped about Rafa’s return, as I am too.
Additionally, there’s a very interesting dynamic involving Tsitsipas and Ruud following their clash in the finals of Monte Carlo last week. All of this makes my Barcelona Open 2024 preview rather exciting, and I’ve supplied a range of great matches for you to watch over the coming days below:
- Nadal vs Cobolli – round one
- Khachanov vs Bautista Agut – round two
- Schwartzman vs Lajovic – round one
- Nadal vs de Minaur – possible round two
- Marozsan vs Van Assche – possible round two
- Tsitsipas vs Musetti – possible round three
Outright predictions – Barcelona Open 2024 preview
Following Alcaraz’s withdrawal, the Barcelona Open 2024 is wide open. Of course, the big guns are all coming to town for a shot at the title. But only one man can walk away with the spoils. With that in mind, I’ve given my thoughts on the most likely winner and a possible ‘alternative winner’ below.
Men’s outright winner – Stefanos Tsitsipas
Following his success in Monte Carlo last week, it would seem crazy to not shortlist Tsitsipas as a red hot title contender. He finally reversed his fortunes with that statement crown in Monte Carlo, and he took out the likes of Sinner and Ruud to do so. For me, this shows he’s one of the best in the world right now on clay, and he will be extra motivated since he lost in the finals in 2023.
Alternative winner – Casper Ruud
As you probably know, it was Casper Ruud who came second to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo last week. Sure, he didn’t play great in the final, but he looked like he believed in himself again. When you combine belief with the kind of talent Ruud possesses on the clay, he’s always got a chance in the sport’s biggest clay court events, so he is my alternative choice.
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