DIEGO Schwartzman will return to the ATP Tour in the second consecutive event at Cologne, following a well-earned rest after a hectic Grand Slam schedule. Having reached the final at the Rome Masters and again impressing at Roland Garros, the diminutive Argentinian returns to the court as second seed at the ATP 250 event.

With the withdrawal of French world number 11 Gael Monfils, Schwartzman looms as a danger man to home nation hero, Alexander Zverev who will be hard to beat in Germany. The in-form Denis Shapovalov and up and comers, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz join Jan-Lennard Struff and Adrian Mannarino as other seeds at the indoor event. Marin Cilic earned the ninth seed following the late withdrawal of fourth seed, Roberto Bautista Agut.

Struff has had a terrible few weeks and will be looking to turn it around here with the quality of the draw dropping off after the top six. Along with Monfils, Benoit Paire and Filip Krajinovic both withdrew from the tournament, allowing Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, and American Steve Johnson automatic entry into the tournament. John Millman and Jordan Thompson will lead the Australian charge at Cologne, whilst Frenchman Gilles Simon earned a place at the event.

Italian Jannik Sinner has earned a wildcard at the event and has a huge first-up match with Hurkacz, whilst the ever-dangerous Daniel Altmaier hopes to continue his good form of late by taking on Belarusian Egor Gerasimov in the first round. After reaching the last four of the Cologne Indoors event, Serbia’s Danilo Petrovic earned a special exemption, as did finalist, Marco Cecchinato. With the top four ranked players – Zverev, Shapovalov, Schwartzman and Auger-Aliassime – earning byes in the first round, there are still a number of other matches to keep an eye on.

Millman will take on the wily Fernando Verdasco for a crack at Zverev in the second round, whilst Thompson will take on Frenchman Gilles Simon. There are a number of French players in the draw, with another Australian-French clash between lucky loser Alexei Popyrin and eighth seed Mannarino. Cecchinato taking on the out-of-sorts Struff promises to provide plenty of excitement, whilst Petrovic and Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak‘s clash should also be a tight one.

The Cologne Championships will run throughout this week with Zverev and Schwartzman the standout favourites, though Auger-Aliassime and Sinner loom as danger men, as do Shapovalov and Millman on the hard courts.

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