Madrid Open schedule ft. Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek comes under fire from fans: "Does this make sense to anyone?"

The highly anticipated 2025 Madrid Open, featuring the likes of Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, and others, has finally kicked off. However, tennis fans have an issue with the seemingly strange scheduling the tournament is following.

The European clay swing is underway and has already delivered some scintillating tennis. With some big tournaments like the Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, Charleston Open, and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix coming to their conclusion, tennis has headed to Madrid for its next big clay event. However, the scheduling of the event has left fans confused.

Tennis fans on social media were confused about the scheduling of the Madrid Open and voiced their complaints. While questioning the schedule, a fan also added what he felt tennis fans needed.

"Does this scheduling make any sense to anyone? How many fans are filling the stadia? How many fans are connecting from home to follow these R128 matches? Would it not be better for tennis as a whole to have a good 250-week? More winners, more action in more countries…," the fan questioned.

One fan stated their issue with the fact that the main draw had kicked off, despite the qualification round yet to be completed.

"The Madrid scheduling is one of the most confusing on tour. Why do we have some players already winning through to Round 2 of the main draw whilst Round 2 of qualifying isn't even complete? Make it make sense," the fan stated.

Another fan noted,

"The way Madrid is scheduled now, today still feels more like qualies-plus than the main event," the fan felt.

Here are some other reactions from tennis fans.

"It has to be money. They want crowds in from day 1 and if it's qualies only, they will struggle to put bums on seats. I can't think of any other logic to it...," a fan opined.

"I don't think anyone except the most committed fans takes much notice of these bloated 2-week events until the first weekend," a fan said.

"The scheduling in these elongated Masters/1000 events isn’t easy to follow. Katie Boulter, for example, played in the first round on Tuesday and has had two days to wait before her second-round match on Friday. Seems excessive outside of a grand slam," a fan mentioned.

While many big names are yet to kick off their campaigns in Madrid, some already have, including defending champion Iga Swiatek.

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Iga Swiatek kicks off her campaign at the 2025 Madrid Open by surviving a three-set thriller

Iga Swiatek and Alexandra Eala at the 2025 Madrid Open - Source: Getty

Defending champion and second seed Iga Swiatek kicked off her title defense at the 2025 Madrid Open in some style. The Pole faced Filipino rising star Alexandra Eala, who shocked the world at the Miami Open when she defeated Swiatek, in the second round.

The Filipino looked to be on the verge of yet another unbelievable win when she clinched the opening set. However, the Pole made a remarkable turnaround to kick off her Madrid Open campaign with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Notably, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and some other big names will soon be looking to join Swiatek in the third round.