Nadal heads star-filled line-up for Barcelona's Conde de Godo tennis tournament

MADRID - World number 2 Rafael Nadal heads what promises to be a star-studded line-up for the Barcelona Open-Conde de Godo tennis tournament which was officially presented to the press on Wednesday.

Fitness issues permitting, the tournament to be held in Barcelona between April 21st and 29th, will have the presence of 5 players currently in the Top-10 of the ATP World ranking.

Nadal will be the home favorite, but he will be accompanied in the draw by World number, Grigor Dimitrov (4), Dominic Thiem (6), David Goffin (7) and Kevin Anderson (9), as well as three other players currently ranked in the Top-20. These are the Spanish duo, Pablo Carreno (14), Roberto Bautista (16) and the 17th ranked Argentinean, Diego Schwartzman.

Tournament Director, Albert Costa said he was "proud" and "very happy" of the level of the 2018 Conde de Godo and added that 2014 and 2015 winner, Kai Nishikori, who has dropped to number 25 in the rankings after missing 5 months with a wrist injury during 2017, will also compete in Barcelona as he looks to return to form and fitness.

Costa also looked to the future, saying that this year could also see also see some members of the so-called 'Next Gen" announce their presence among the elite.

"Players such as Andrey Rublev, Hyeon Chung or Karen Khachanov are all going to be among the 10 best players on the circuit in the future," he said.

Finally the President of the Royal Barcelona Tennis Club, Albert Agusti, explained the 2018 Conde de Godo will pay special homage to Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni Nadal, who stopped coaching Rafael at the end of last season to work at his nephew's tennis school in Mallorca.