Brisbane International declared wide open

Rafael Nadal is on a collision course with defending champion Milos Raonic at a tournament the leading men’s contenders agree is wide open.

With five top-10 players, the Brisbane International features the strongest men’s field ever assembled.

Raonic, who upset Roger Federer in the 2016 final, is top seed this week but there’s no outright favourite according to world No.5 Kei Nishikori and eighth-ranked Dominic Thiem, who both strongly felt it was an open tournament.

“There’s too many (top) players here,” third seed Nishikori said.

In fact, Canadian Raonic is highly likely to meet main drawcard Nadal, flying in late from Abu Dhabi, in what looms as a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash.

With the depth of quality in the field, Thiem rated it among the strongest ATP 250 tournaments of the year and also pointed to the lack of a form gauge.

“It’s more than one month after (everyone’s) last match and nobody is 100 per cent safe,” he said.

World No.9 Nadal, in his maiden Brisbane appearance, has a tricky opening encounter against popular Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov while second seed Stan Wawrinka – the reigning US Open champion – will meet either Victor Troiki or a qualifier in the second round.