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The men's tour will next head to the capital city of Spain for the 2024 Madrid Open. This year's edition will be held from April 23 to May 5.
Rafael Nadal, who holds the record for most Madrid titles, with five, will continue his comeback. He initially returned to the tour in January at the Brisbane International but sustained another injury that sidelined him for another three months.
Nadal resumed his comeback at the Barcelona Open, where he was eliminated in the second round by Alex de Minaur. While he's still trying to gather some momentum, one cannot completely rule out the King of Clay on his home turf.
Alexander Zverev, another former champion at the venue, is a dark horse to win the title but is yet to make an impact during this clay swing. Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune and Grigor Dimitrov are some of the other in-form players to look out for.
However, there are a few other players who have better odds of hoisting the trophy in two weeks' time. Here's a look at the leading title contenders for this year's edition of the Madrid Open:
#5 - Casper Ruud
After an underwhelming 2023 season, Ruud has stepped up this year. He reached a couple of finals in February, at the Los Cabos Open and the Mexican Open, but lost both.
Ruud's clay season commenced at the Estoril Open, where he was the defending champion. He was one of the favorites to win the title but fell to Pedro Martinez in the semifinals.
Ruud reached his third final of the season at the Monte-Carlo Masters and ousted World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. However, he faltered in yet another significant final, as he was outplayed by Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Ruud is now participating in the Barcelona Open, where he's a semifinalist. He takes on Tomas Martin Etcheverry for a spot in the final on Saturday (April 20). He's making some waves this clay season, and a title at the Madrid Open would be the icing on the cake.
#4 - Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz started the season with a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open. The South American clay swing didn't go as per his plans. His title defence at the Argentina Open concluded in the semifinals before he retired from the Rio Open after getting injured in the first round.
Alcaraz finally had his moment of triumph with a successful title defence at the Indian Wells Masters. It marked his first title since his victory at last year's Wimbledon, but his momentum came to a halt with a quarterfinal exit from the Miami Open.
It all went south from that point on, as another injury reared its ugly head. Alcaraz withdrew from the Barcelona Open, where he was a two-time defending champion.
The young Spaniard is the two-time defending champion at the Madrid Open as well. If he's whipped himself into top shape, another title isn't out of bounds. But if he's still not at his best, an early exit won't be surprising.
#3 - Novak Djokovic
Djokovic has competed quite well this season, but a title remains out of his grasp. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the Monte-Carlo Masters, with a third-round exit from the Indian Wells Masters squeezed in between.
Djokovic is a three-time champion at the Madrid Open, winning in 2011, 2016 and 2019 and has a 30-9 record. He hasn't competed here very often in recent years, though.
Since Djokovic's previous title, he has played in Madrid just once, in 2022, making it to the semifinals. The Serb remains one of the most formidable players on clay. So it's only a matter of time before he captures his first title of the season, and it could happen here.
#2 - Jannik Sinner
Sinner's red-hot start to the season saw him pick up where he left off last year. He captured his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and followed it up with another title in Rotterdam.
His unbeaten run came to an end at the Indian Wells Masters as Carlos Alcaraz handed him his first loss of the season in the semifinals. He immediately got back on track, though, winning the Miami Open.
Sinner's clay swing commenced at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he suffered his second loss of the season, as Tsitsipas eliminated him in the semifinals. Nevertheless, the Italian has set the bar quite high this year.
Sinnner hasn't performed too well at the Madrid Open and hasn't made it past the third round. However, he hasn't lost before the semifinals this year, so he's got a great shot at making a deep run this time.
#1 - Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas' average results saw him drop out of the top-10 of the ATP rankings for the first time in five years. The Monte-Carlo Masters proved to be a turning point for him, as he claimed his third title in four years at the venue. His win over Ruud in the final was also his milestone 100th victory on clay.
Tsitsipas' success at the tournament also pushed him back into the top-10. He continued his good run of form at the Barcelona Open, where he reached the semifinals.
Tsitsipas has a good record at the Madrid Open. He finished as the runner-up in 2019, made the semifinals in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals last year. Clay has been the Greek's best surface over the years. Given his current form, a title is well within his reach.
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