Dubai Tennis Championships draw: Dominic Thiem and David Goffin on course for quarter-final clash

All 16 seeded players receive byes to second round, including Stan Wawrinka who attended the draw ceremony

Dominic Thiem will be the top seed at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Getty Images

Top seed Dominic Thiem will face a qualifier in his opening assignment at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after the draw was made for the ATP 500 event on Saturday.

World No 4 Thiem and the other 15 seeded players have all been handed byes into the second round of the 48-player tournament, so the Austrian will take on the winner of a first round match between two qualifiers. The qualifying rounds will be completed on Sunday.

Thiem's first test could come in the third round against Serbian 14th seed Filip Krajinovic, while a packed section including Belgian fifth seed David Goffin, Croatian 10th seed Borna Coric, Japan's former world No 4 Kei Nishikori, and big-serving American Reilly Opelka could provide the US Open champion's quarter-final opponent.

At the opposite end of the draw, second seed Andrey Rublev will take on either Australia's Jordan Thompson or a qualifier in his first match in the second round. Should he advance, the Russian will await American Taylor Fritz or Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round.

Meanwhile, Canadian third seed Denis Shapovalov could be set for a tough second round clash against Jan-Lennard Struff if the German world No 37 gets past a qualifier in the first round.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who won the 2016 Dubai title and attended the live draw, was slated to play Australia's John Millman or a qualifier in his first match, but the Swiss announced his withdrawal just hours later.

Instead, Italy's Lorenzo Sonego was promoted to 17th seed and replaced Wawrinka in his place in the draw. Sonego's place near the top of the draw will be filled by a lucky loser.

Arguably the most exciting first round match-up sees popular Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga face local favourite Malek Jaziri of Tunisia. In more normal times, that would be an occasion that would generate a great atmosphere inside Centre Court.

This year, though, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will be held without fans in attendance as part of strict health and safety measures aimed at limiting the risk of Covid-19.