Andy Murray's favourite athlete during his teenage years was Barcelona forward Ronaldinho (Image: Getty)
“Andy Murray is set to confront a challenging first-round matchup in the upcoming 2023 Paris Masters, as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have also discovered their respective opponents.”
Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray will face Alex De Minaur, who has been a nemesis for him this year in particular, in his first match at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Murray has lost all five of his encounters with the Australian (including one Laver Cup match) and has been beaten three times by the world No 13 in 2023.
De Minaur crushed Murray 6-1, 6-3 at the Monte Carlo Masters in April and, before earning an equally dominant 6-3, 6-1 win at the Queen’s Club Championships in June.
Murray the faced the 24-year-old in a much closer battle at the China Open in Beijing last month and fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-7(8) after leading 5-2 and holding three match points in the third set.
While it is a very challenging first round draw for the 2016 Paris champion, the 36-year-old should be encouraged that he can get the better of De Minaur after coming so close last time.
If he can come through that, the Brit would meet either Benjamin Bonzi or a qualifier in the second round. He could then play No 4 seed Jannik Sinner in the third round, before a potential quarter-final clash with Andrey Rublev in a strong top half of the draw.
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Djokovic is also in the top half in Paris and will face either Miomir Kecmanovic or Tomas Martin Etcheverry in his first match in the second round – with the top eight seeds all receiving a bye.
The world No 1 could then take on rising American star and 15th seed Ben Shelton in the third round in a rematch of the pair’s fiery US Open semi-final last month.
The Serbian could then meet No 6 seed Holger Rune, who recently teamed up with his former coach Boris Becker, in the quarter-finals for a rematch of last year’s Paris final – in which Rune downed Djokovic in three sets.
Djokovic would then face the player to come through the section containing the likes of Sinner, Rublev, De Minaur, Tommy Paul and Murray in a potential semi-final.
The second and third seeds – Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev – are both in the bottom half of the 56-player draw at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz will play Alexandre Muller or Cameron Norrie in his opening match, before a potential third round meeting with No 16 seed Karen Khachanov.
The 20-year-old Spaniard could then take on Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev in the last eight, before a potential last four showdown with Medvedev.
Medvedev will face either Lorenzo Musetti or Grigor Dimitrov in the second round in a carbon copy of the draw at this week’s Vienna Open. Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe are the other seeded players in the Russian’s section.
The Paris Masters will take place at the Accor Arena in Paris from 30 October to 5 November 2023.
