Madrid Open 2022: 5 favorites to win the men's singles title, featuring Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal

The ATP tour heads to Spain this week with main-draw action from the Madrid Open set to begin on 1 May.

Daniil Medvedev and Matteo Berrettini, who are recovering from their respective surgeries, are the only players from the top 30 who will miss the Masters 1000 event.

World No. 3 Alexander Zverev is the defending champion, but the German suffered a shock second-round loss to Holger Rune at the BMW Open this week. He'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to win consecutive titles in Madrid, a feat achieved by only one player so far, Rafael Nadal.

Speaking of the King of Clay, he will return to action at the Madrid Open after spending over a month on the sidelines due to an injury. Arch-rival Novak Djokovic is also participating, making it the first time this season that the duo are competing in the same tournament.

Andy Murray, who had earlier decided to skip the clay season, reversed his decision and will participate in Madrid as well. The former World No. 1 is a two-time champion at the tournament.

With plenty of big names present and aiming for glory, here's a look at the favorites for the title:

#5) Casper Ruud

Casper Ruud has emerged as one of the best claycourt players of his generation. Having won six titles on the surface already, he's always a threat to in clay tournaments.

Ruud has already won a title on the red dirt this year, at the Argentina Open in February. His European clay season has been decent at best. He reached the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the quarterfinals at the Barcelona Open. But the Norwegian is capable of a lot more, especially on this surface.

Ruud reached the semifinals of the Madrid Open on his debut last year and will be aiming to better that performance this time around.

#4) Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic returned to action at the Monte-Carlo Masters, but couldn't get past the first hurdle as he lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in three sets. The World No. 1 then competed at the Serbia Open, where he received a bye into the second round.

Djokovic staged a comeback from a set down in each of his three matches to reach the final. He defeated Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic and Karen Khachanov to make the title round of a tournament for the first time this year. Up against Andrey Rublev in the final, he lost the first set yet again but won the next in a tie-break. However, the exhausted Serb wasn't able to stage a comeback, losing 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-0.

Still, Djokovic can take a lot of positives from his run in Belgrade. He's slowly inching towards his best. A three-time champion at the Madrid Open, he knows what it takes to go all the way here and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him lift the trophy once again.

#3) Rafael Nadal

The King of Clay is all set to make his comeback at the Madrid Open. Rafael Nadal started the year with a bang. He won three titles, including his 21st Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open. His unbeaten start to the season, however, came to an end against Taylor Fritz in the final of the Indian Wells Open. The Spaniard was then out of action for a few weeks due to a rib injury.

Nadal missed the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open and will now be playing his first match on clay this season in Madrid. There's bound to be some rust after a month away from the tour, but the former World No. 1 can shake that off with a couple of wins.

Nadal is the most successful player in the history of the Madrid Open, winning five titles and reaching another three finals. No matter the circumstances, count him out at your own peril.

#2) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters

Stefanos Tsitsipas started the clay season by successfully defending his title at the Monte-Carlo Masters. En route to the title, he defeated Fabio Fognini, Laslo Djere, Diego Schwartzman, Alexander Zverev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He dropped only one set during the entire tournament, against Schwartzman in the quarterfinals.

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Tsitsipas then competed at the Barcelona Open, where he was the runner-up in 2021. He started off with a three-set win over Ilya Ivashka, then scored an easy win over Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. But the Greek fell to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, marking his third consecutive loss against the teenager.

Tsitsipas is a former finalist at the Madrid Open, having reached the title round in 2019. He lost to Novak Djokovic on that occasion in straight sets. The World No. 5 is an excellent player on clay. He has already notched up some good results on the surface this season and will aim to continue his momentum in the Spanish capital.

#1) Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz has firmly established himself as a leading contender for big titles with his results this season. He won the Rio Open in February and then claimed the biggest title of his career at the Miami Open.

The teenager stumbled at the Monte-Carlo Masters, going down to Sebastian Korda. However, he bounced back in style by winning the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz defeated World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, then saved a couple of match points in his semi-final win over Alex de Minaur. He defeated compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets to win the title.

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Following his latest title, he made his debut in the top 10 of the ATP rankings, peaking at No. 9. Alcaraz made his debut at the Madrid Open last year and lost to Rafael Nadal in the second round. He returns as one of the favorites to reign supreme at Caja Magica this time around.

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