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.