ST. PETERSBURG Open has been one of the few tournaments to benefit from the COVID-19 period with other cancellations allowing the Russian tournament to upgrade from an ATP 250 event to a prestigious ATP 500 event. Whilst the same draw of 32 players on indoor hard courts will remain, there will be more points on offer in the tournament which was rescheduled from the final week of September to the second week in October.

There are currently seven top 20 players set to take to the courts in Russia, led by home nation heroes, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. The trio hold different formlines heading into the tournament, with Rublev reaching the quarter finals of Roland Garros after an equal finish at the US Open, and then won at Hamburg.

While Medvedev defeated Rublev at Flushing Meadows, he went down to eventual winner Dominic Thiem in the semis and has now lost three consecutive matches, with losses at Hamburg and Paris to Ugo Humbert and Marton Fucsovics. Meanwhile Khachanov also has had some inconsistent form of late, two sets to one up against Alex de Minaur in New York before going down in five in the Round of 32, before going one better in Paris, either side of a shock first round loss in Hamburg.

The US Open form is perhaps the key indicator of performance given the players will have to quickly switch back from clay to hard – something that Medvedev could not be more grateful for – and makes it tricky for any competitor. The third seed in Russian will be Italian Matteo Berrettini who went down to German qualifier Daniel Altmaier in the third round at Roland Garros. He did reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows before falling to Rublev in four sets.

A couple of Canadians in Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic have signed up and will come in as seeds, with Shapovalov reaching a quarter final at Flushing Meadows with hard-fought victories over David Goffin and Taylor Fritz there before going down to Pablo Carreno Busta. A semi-finals appearance in Rome was impressive before a disappointing second round exit in New York.

A late inclusion to the St Petersburg entry list was world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas who is expected to be late withdrawal depending on how he pulls up after his semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic in Paris. Alongside him, Carreno Busta, Grigor Dimitov and Borna Coric are among the top players to enter the event, with Goffin initially expected to take part but returned a positive COVID-19 test and will miss the tournament.

Among the three wildcards announced for the tournament are rising star Italian young gun Jannik Sinner, as well as Russian Evgeny Donskoy and Israel’s Dudi Sela. Other danger men in the draw are Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic and if he can find a way into the draw via withdrawals, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.

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