The draw of the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters, the season’s first clay court Masters, was announced on Friday. Rafael Nadal, who is the defending champion, will enter the 64-man draw as the tournament favourite.

The fourth seed, who defeated Gael Monfils in the 2016 final, is vying for an unprecedented 10th title.

The World No 5 has been placed in the second-half of the draw. He could play either Dan Evans or Kyle Edmund in the second round and could have a rematch of his Australian Open third round with 14th seed Alexander Zverev, and could meet eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-final.

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Joining Nadal in the bottom-half as his likely semi-finalist is World No 2 Novak Djokovic. Monte Carlo marks the return of the Serbian, after he pulled out of the Miami Open with a right elbow injury. The two-time former champion has been seeded second, with World No 1 Andy Murray, also returning from an elbow injury, headlining the draw.

Djokovic will open either against Gilles Simon or Malek Jaziri in the second round. He could face 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the pre-quarter-finals, with a possible quarter-final encounter against eighth seed Dominic Thiem.

Meanwhile Murray, who had also withdrawn from the Miami Open, will play against either Gilles Muller or Tommy Robredo in the second round. Fifteenth seed Albert Ramos Vinolas, who reached the Marrakech Open quarter-final recently, has been drawn as his likely third round opponent. Likewise, Murray could face fifth seed Marin Cilic as a possible opponent in the quarter-final.

Third seed Stan Wawrinka, who is Murray’s potential rival in the semi-final, will open against either Mischa Zverev or Jiri Vesely. Sixteenth seed Pablo Cuevas could take on the Swiss in the third round, while seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could take on the 2015 French Open champion in the quarter-finals.