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The crème de la crème of women's tennis has descended on the Spanish capital, with the Mutua Madrid Open scheduled to be held from April 28 to May 7. It is the first of two WTA 1000 tournaments set to be held on outdoor red clay ahead of Roland Garros next month.
The irrepressible World No. 1 Iga Swiatek leads a packed field that will have 19 of the 20 top players. Former Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu are also part of the draw, which makes for a highly exciting 10 days of action in Madrid.
Without further ado, let's take a look at all the information you need to know about the highly-anticipated Madrid Open:
What is the Madrid Open?
The Madrid Open is the first of two WTA 1000 events that will be held on outdoor red clay, followed by the Italian Open in Rome.
It started off as a men's-only tournament in 2002 and was part of the ATP Masters 1000 series until 2008 when it used to be held on an indoor hardcourt at the Madrid Arena.
The tournament was shifted to La Caja Magica in 2009 and expanded to include a premier women's event. The surface was altered to clay as well.
In 2012, experimental blue clay was used, which was widely criticized from all quarters. Top stars such as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic threatened to boycott the tournament following which the Madrid Open returned to its original red clay in 2013, which has been in use ever since.
Since 2021, the women's event has become a two-week tournament.
Petra Kvitova is the most successful woman in Madrid, having lifted the trophy in 2011, 2015 and 2018. World No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka edged Ashleigh Barty to win last year's title.
Venue
The Madrid Open will be held on outdoor red clay at La Caja Magica or the Magic Box in the Spanish capital. The state-of-the-art facility has three courts with mobile covers.
Players
The Madrid Open features a 64-player singles draw, with no first-round byes.
World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek will bring her sizzling 23-match winning streak to Caja Magica as she targets a fifth title on the trot. The Pole has looked invincible in the past few months, lifting titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Stuttgart. She will start off her campaign in Madrid against a qualifier.
New World No. 2 and home favorite Paula Badosa is the second seed. The Sydney champion comes into this tournament on the back of a semi-final run in Stuttgart.
Badosa, who was stopped by Barty last year in the semis of her home tournament, will be keen to go all the way this time around. However, the Spaniard will be put to the test by Istanbul runner-up Veronika Kudermetova in her opener.
Third seed Aryna Sabalenka begins her title defense against Amanda Anisimova. After a disappointing few months, the Belarusian rediscovered her form in Stuttgart last week as she finished as the runner-up. Sabalenka will be eager to build on that performance in Madrid.
World No. 5 Maria Sakkari, who made a tearful exit from Stuttgart last week due to a gastrointestinal illness, will be back in action in Madrid as the fourth seed. The Greek has had a solid season so far, with final appearances in Indian Wells and St. Petersburg.
Last year's Roland Garros semifinalist gets her title challenge underway against Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys.
Karolina Pliskova, Danielle Collins, Garbine Muguruza and Ons Jabeur round out the top eight seeds.
Emma Raducanu, Jelena Ostapenko, Belinda Bencic, Jessica Pegula, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka, and Elena Rybakina comprise the rest of the top 16 seeds.
Two-time champion Simona Halep will also look to shake up the draw and make a deep run. Other players who could make an impact are Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, Liudmila Samsonova, Maria Kostyuk and Leylah Fernandez.
Schedule
The qualifying rounds in Madrid will be held on Tuesday, April 26 and Wednesday, April 27. The main draw action kicks off on Thursday, April 28.
The matches will start at 11 am local time on the first few days before shifting to a noon start.
The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, May 4 and Thursday, May 5 respectively. Both the singles and doubles finals will be played on Saturday, May 7.
Prize Money
The prize money for the upcoming edition of the Madrid Open is €6,744,165, with the winner set to earn 1000 points and €1,041,570.
Where to watch
Viewers from the US can catch all the action at the Madrid Open live on the Tennis Channel, while fans in the UK will be able to see it live on Amazon Prime Video. Canadians can watch the matches live on TSN, DAZN & TVA Sports. In Australia, one can view the action on beIN Sports.
Fans in Spain will get extensive coverage on DAZN, TVE & TV3.
