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After the Australian Open and the Davis Cup, it's time to turn our attention to the ATP World Tour once more as a series of tournaments are lined up every week in February. Not only will these events help a player to build on his performance in the Australian swing, but a positive result in these will also give him a lot of confidence before the North American hardcourt swing kicks off with the prestigious Indian Wells Masters.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is a prime example of such a player. The 20-year-old captivated the world with his poise, maturity and self-belief that led to the highly talked-about four-set upset of Roger Federer in Melbourne. In the process, he became the youngest man to make it through to the last-four of a Major since the 15-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic at the US Open in 2007.
All eyes will naturally be on the World No. 12 Greek, who is now definitely one of the leaders of the Next Gen players. Tsitsipas is seeded second behind the top seed and World No. 11 Karen Khachanov, another leading light of ATP's Next Gen.
The Russian is coming to this tournament straight after helping his country beat Switzerland in the Davis Cup Qualifier where he got a vital couple of singles victories. It would be interesting to see if the Davis Cup, even though in a lighter format this time, has any effect on his fitness levels when matches get tighter.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev, ranked 16th in the ATP World Rankings, will hope to win an ATP title for the first time this season after losing the final at Brisbane last month.
Fourth seed and World No. 18 Roberto Bautista Agut began the 2019 season in a stunning fashion by winning the Qatar Open and building a nine-match winning streak until his loss to Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals at Melbourne. He would be looking to produce that form once more and get one more title against his name.
Unseeded Stan Wawrinka, as always, could be one dangerous floater for anyone in the draw as he aims to get back to the top echelons of the sport after his injury battles.
Here is all you need to know about the tournament:
Tournament name: Sofia Open
Date: February 4-10, 2019
Category: ATP 250
Location: Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria
Surface: Indoor hard
Year it started in: 2016
Defending champion: Mirza Basic
Where to Watch Details:
Channel: No live telecast in India; global coverage on Diema Sport from February 4-10
Live Streaming: Tennis TV
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