Madrid Preview

Power House Draw Features All Top 30 Players

The eighth ATP Masters Series tournament of the season begins Sunday at the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid with a star-studded line-up featuring every player in the Top 30 South African Airways ATP Rankings. There are four former winners in the field, led by defending champion David Nalbandian (pictured) , World No. 2 Roger Federer (2006), World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (2005) and wild card Marat Safin (2004)

There are four singles positions remaining to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Last year Nalbandian came into Madrid No. 33 in the ATP Race and he captured the title along with Paris to finish No. 9. The Argentine is in a similar position this year, coming into Stockholm tied for No. 26 in the ATP 2008 Race. He’s in Sunday’s final. While four spots are up for grabs, the Top 4 of Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have already secured a place in next month's year-end championship.

Nadal is playing in his first tournament since reaching the semifinals at the US Open last month (l. to Murray). But the Mallorca native did appear in the Davis Cup semifinals three weeks ago, leading his country to the final with wins over Sam Querrey and Andy Roddick. The 22-year-old left-hander could wrap up the year-end No. 1 ranking in Madrid, depending on his and Federer's results. Nadal, who enters with an ATP-best 77-9 match record (27-4 in ATP Masters Series play) and eight titles, takes on the winner of Nicolas Kiefer-Ernests Gulbis in his opening round match. The first seed he could face is No. 15 Richard Gasquet in the third round (Nadal leads 5-0). In the quarterfinals, Nadal could meet No. 6 David Ferrer (Nadal leads 6-3) or No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka (Nadal leads 3-0).

In the second quarter of the draw, No. 3 Djokovic is coming off a semifinal appearance last year (l. to Nalbandian). The 21-year-old Serb trails No. 2 Roger Federer by 22 points in the ATP 2008 Race and could overtake the Swiss by the end of the season. Djokovic opens against the winner of Dmitry Tursunov and a qualifier and the first seed he could play is No. 14 Ivo Karlovic (Djokovic leads 1-0) in the third round. In the quarterfinals, Djokovic could face No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko (Davydenko leads 1-0) or No. 11 James Blake (Djokovic leads 1-0). Davydenko could meet countryman Marat Safin for the second week in a row. Safin, who beat the top Russian in the quarterfinals of Moscow, opens with Michael Llodra.

In the bottom half of the draw (third quarter), No. 4 seed Murray, who won the last ATP Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati in August (d. Djokovic), opens with the winner of Nicolas Almagro and a qualifier. The British No. 1's first seeded opponent is No. 13 Fernando Verdasco in the third round (Murray leads 3-0). In the quarterfinals, he could encounter No. 8 Andy Roddick (Murray leads 4-2) or No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez (tied 1-1). Gonzalez has an 8-6 career mark in Madrid, reaching the final two years ago (l. to Federer) and quarterfinals in 2005 and last year. Roddick is 2-4 lifetime in Madrid.

In the last quarter of the draw, No. 2 Federer attempts to win his first ATP Masters Series title of the year. He is is 14-3 lifetime in Madrid, winning two years ago and reaching the final last year. He faces the winner of Juan Monaco (Federer leads 1-0) and Radek Stepanek (Federer leads 5-2) in his opening round match. Federer could face No. 16 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round (have never played). In the quarterfinals, Argentines Nalbandian (Federer leads 9-8), the defending champion, and Juan Martin del Potro (Federer leads 2-0), the No. 7 and 9 seeds, respectively, are looming. Nalbandian has a tough draw, having to face the Rainer Schuettler-Tomas Berdych winner and then possibly his countryman (Nalbandian leasd 1-0) in the third round. Nalbandian is trying to become the first player to defend his title in the tournament's short history (since 2002).