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We’ve reached the point in both the WTA 2024 schedule and the ATP 2024 schedule when the clay court swing moves into full flow. In fact, we’ve already had a top level event on the men’s side in the form of the Monte Carlo Masters. But the WTA Tour has yet to include a 1000 level tournament for the 2024 clay court swing – until now!
Of course, that’s exactly why I’ve spent time putting together a comprehensive Madrid Open 2024 preview. This is a huge event that’s set to be played from April 23rd – May 5th. And as I’m sure you are aware, the tournament is significant in terms of the build-up to the 2024 French Open.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the key details for this Madrid Open 2024 preview.
Madrid Open 2024 preview – key tournament information
Contents
This is the 22nd edition of the Madrid Open for the men, yet it’s just the 15th edition of the tournament for the women. However, the tournament is just as prestigious for the WTA Tour as it is for the ATP Tour. Specifically, it’s a 1000-level tournament for both tours, and both draws have 96 players involved in the singles event.
Like other 1000-level tournaments, there’s also a doubles tournament running alongside the singles events in Madrid. But since the focus is on the singles events for this Madrid Open 2024 preview, let me get into the specifics now.
Event schedule
As referenced above, the 2024 Madrid Open is set to kick off on April 23rd. It will then continue through to the final day of the event, which is May 5th. This means plenty of top-level tennis is on the cards for the coming days, and I’ve detailed the schedule for each individual day here:
- 1st rounds: April 23rd – 25th
- 2nd rounds: April 25th – 27th
- 3rd rounds: April 27th – 29th
- 4th rounds: April 29th – 30th
- Quarter-finals – April 30th – May 2nd
- Semi-finals – May 2nd – 3rd
- Finals – May 4th (WTA) & May 5th (ATP)
Note that for each day of play, there is a day and night session. As for the scheduled start times, on most days (until the late rounds) play will start at 11 AM local time, which is 10 AM UK time.
Defending champions
In 2023, it was Carlos Alcaraz who claimed glory at the Madrid Open for the men’s event.
On the women’s side, however, it was Aryna Sabalenka who won the tournament. Both of them are back to defend their titles for the 2024 Madrid Open.
Prize money
One of the most exciting parts of my Madrid Open 2024 preview is the money involved in this year’s tournament. That said, the total financial commitment is €15,503,525, which is the total combined prize money for the WTA and ATP events. As for what the winners will receive, the winner’s cheque is set to be €963,225 this year.
Location, format, and playing surface
As you’ve probably gleaned from the information supplied so far in this Madrid Open 2024 preview, this is a 1000-level clay court event. The tournament is played in Spain’s capital city at the Park Manzanares, and it always attracts top level athletes from around the country to come and watch the tennis. As for the format, both singles events have 96 players competing in total, and matches are played using the ‘best of three’ format.
Concerning the breakdown of these 96 players, 32 of them are seeds, 12 are qualifiers, and 8 of them are wildcards. Note that there’s also players who have gained entry through protected rankings and special exemptions too, as seen with Rafael Nadal in the men’s event.
Finally, should there be any last-minute withdrawals, we will have some lucky losers entering the main draw to top things off.
Madrid Open 2024 preview – top seeds and analysis of the draw
Looking closely at the draw for the 2024 Madrid Open, there are many big names who rank as some of the top seeds. These are the favourites to win the tournament on paper, and it’s important to know who they are so you can track them. That said, I’ve covered the top players and some of the most exciting potential matches for the 2024 Madrid Open in the following sections.
Main seeds for ATP and WTA Madrid Open
For each of the events covered in this Madrid Open 2024 preview, there are 32 seeds. This means there are 32 seeds for the men’s event and 32 seeds for the women’s event. And due to the structure of the tournament, the top 8 seeds are split evenly into the top and bottom halves of each draw. As for who these seeds are, I’ve outlined them all below:
ATP top seeds
- Jannik Sinner (1)
- Carlos Alcaraz (2)
- Daniil Medvedev (3)
- Alexander Zverev (4)
- Casper Ruud (5)
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (6)
- Andrey Rublev (7)
- Hubert Hurkacz (8)
WTA top seeds
- Iga Swiatek (1)
- Aryna Sabalenka (2)
- Coco Gauff (3)
- Elena Rybakina (4)
- Maria Sakkari (5)
- Qinwen Zheng (6)
- Marketa Vondrousova (7)
- Ons Jabeur (8)
Mouthwatering match-ups
I’ve taken a full look at the recently released Madrid Open 2024 draw for both the men and women. Of course, since it’s a 1000-level tournament for both the ATP and WTA Tours, the big names are all involved. And there are some potential early blockbusters on the cards, meaning matches that could materialize in the first few days of the event.
To cut right to it, I’ve highlighted these matches below:
- Nadal vs De Minaur – possible round two
- Rybakina vs Kostyuk – possible round three
- Evans vs Rublev – possible round two
- Badosa vs Ostapenko – possible round two
- Ruud vs Sinner – possible quarter-final
- Collins vs Sabalenka – possible round four
Outright predictions – Madrid Open 2024 preview
To conclude this Madrid Open 2024 preview, as promised, I want to give you a couple of tips for the tournament as a whole. Specifically, I wish to provide my two cents on who I feel has the best shot of lifting the title in Madrid this week. Note that my tips here can be backed alongside any of our updates for tennis predictions today throughout the event, although that’s entirely up to you.
Anyway, let me get to my predictions now for both the ATP and WTA events in Madrid:
ATP Madrid Open outright winner – Casper Ruud
There are two guys who everyone is talking about right now – Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Of course, Tsitsipas won the Monte Carlo Masters by beating Ruud, and Ruud won the Barcelona Open last week by beating Tsitsipas. So these two are leading the pack without question, and I think that Ruud could lift the title in Madrid based on his recent clay court form.
WTA Madrid Open outright winner – Iga Swiatek
It seems crazy to me that people are doubting Iga Swiatek following her loss in the Stuttgart Open last week. For starters, that was an indoor clay court event, which is very unusual, and it enables those who aren’t best suited to clay to get a shot. But on outdoor clay courts, in my opinion, Swiatek is heads and shoulders above the rest on her day.
Therefore, she is my pick to win the WTA event, and she is the top seed – adding even more justification for this tip.
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