SOFIA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Jannik Sinner of Italy, currently No. 11 in the ATP rankings, will be the top seed in the seventh edition of the ATP 250 Sofia Open here in the Arena Armeec Hall.
Sinner, who won the tournament in 2020 and 2021, will enter directly in the second round, according to the draw that was held on Saturday.
The 534,555-euro (nearly 522,000 U.S. dollars) event also attracted the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (World No. 14), Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria (No. 23), and Lorenzo Musetti of Italy (No. 30).
Former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland (currently No. 284), who has won three Grand Slam titles and 16 more in ATP tournaments, also entered the Sofia Open.
Bulgarian player Dimitar Kuzmanov, who entered the tournament as a wild card, said after the draw ceremony that the event is "extremely strong." According to him, "all the players are very good," and "the matches will be very tough."
Qualifying matches will begin on Sunday. According to the agenda, the semifinals will be played next Saturday, and the final on Sunday, Oct. 2.
Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain won the first edition of the tournament in Sofia in 2016, Grigor Dimitrov in 2017, Mirza Basic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018, and Daniil Medvedev of Russia in 2019. ■
