Sofia talking points
  • The fifth edition of the Sofia Open, which was originally scheduled in September, is the last tournament before the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London, which begins next Sunday.
  • The Top 3 seeds are players who would have qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, which was originally scheduled for this week. But due to COVID-19, the tournament was cancelled this year. Overall there are six Next Gen players in the main draw.
  • Leading the way are Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime. It’s the first time the 21-year-old Shapovalov is the No. 1 seed in an ATP Tour tournament and it also marks the first time in the ATP Tour era (since 1990) the Top 2 seeds are Canadians. Shapovalov is ranked No. 12 and he has an opportunity to finish in the Top 10 with a strong week.
  • No. 3 seed Alex de Minaur, who is the No. 1 Australian in the FedEx ATP Rankings at No. 25, is a two-time finalist in the Next Gen ATP Finals. Last year he lost to Italian Jannik Sinner, who is making his Sofia debut.
  • Two of the wild cards are 19 years old. Jonas Forejtek of the Czech Republic was the No. 1 junior last year, winning three Grand Slam titles (US Open singles and Australian Open & Wimbledon doubles). In 2018, Bulgarian Adrian Andreev was the No. 2 junior and won the US Open doubles crown.
  • In doubles, there is one spot remaining for the Nitto ATP Finals and it will be determined between Jurgen Melzer/Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski. They are the No. 1 and 2 seeds. Melzer/Roger-Vasselin will qualify by reaching the final and they can also qualify if Murray/Skupski do not reach the championship match.