Author: Barkha Roy
The Mutua Madrid Open is a men’s and women’s clay-court event, classified as an ATP Masters 1000 event for men and a WTA 1000 event for women. The tournament in Madrid was played on hard courts until the 2008 edition, after which it became a clay competition.
This edition will mark the first time the event will be held over two weeks for the men’s competition, following an announcement by the ATP in June 2022 that the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, Shanghai and Rome would become 12-day events, just like the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. Following the announcement, the event was expanded to individual draws for 96 players, the largest outside of the main tournaments.
Similarly, the WTA event will also be increased from 64 to 96 participants, while taking place alongside the ATP competition. The qualifiers are therefore scheduled for April 24 and 25, while the first round of the main draw is set to begin on April 26. The final will take place on May 7, with the winning prize for the individual champion being €1,105,265, for both sexes. Meanwhile, for the champions of the doubles events, the prize will be €319,570 for both male and female players.
Local favorite and five-time champion Rafael Nadal will miss the season after continuing his rehabilitation from the hip injury that has sidelined him since January. The current men’s world number one, Novak Djokovic, is another player who won’t be seen taking part in the event, while Marin Cilic and Nick Kyrgios are also out with their respective injuries suffered earlier.
Thus, defending champion and compatriot Carlos Alcarez is expected to lift the title once again, especially after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Barcelona yesterday. Bolivian star Hugo Dellien is also expected to miss the tournament and will be replaced by Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, who could face an opponent in the first round. He remains the only Brazilian to take part in the men’s race.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek was seeded in the women’s competition. Defending champion Ons Jabeur was named in the draw, but could be an injury doubt after withdrawing from her semi-final clash at the Stuttgart Open. The women’s event also features a Brazilian, with Beatriz Maia set to face the winner of the first round between Mirra Andreeva and Leylah Fernandez.
This event will serve as a good practice ground for the clay-based Grand Slam of the year – the French Open, which is scheduled to start on May 28.