With the memory still fresh Manolo Santanathe event’s flagship for so many years, the Mutua Madrid Open breaks into the competitive calendar of the circuit plagued by normality and encouraged by the return to the courts of Rafael Nadaldue to continuity in the circuit Novak Djokovic and waiting for the repercussion generated by Carlos Alcaraz.
The poster of the tournament is unbeatable. They are practically all in the list of registered for this Masters 1000, the second on land and the fourth of the season. only the russian Daniel Medvedev and the italian Matteo Berrettini, both injured, have fallen out of the contest. The rest of the top twenty in the world are part of the individual main draw.
After two atypical years due to the pandemic, one of suspension and the other conditioned by health requirements, the Madrid Masters 1000 recovers its essence despite the political and social shocks that currently subject the population. There are no vetoes or conditions in Madrid. The tournament starts with Russian and Belarusian representation, although without a flag, and without extreme health requirements. Because of the covid.
The Magic Box recovers the pulse. It hosts the twentieth edition of a great event that in its beginnings, in the first seven years, was played on a hard court. As of 2009, he settled on the clay of this tennis center, established as one of the best on the calendar.
The incentives are piling up this time. The presence of Rafael Nadal As the player with the most Grand Slam titles in his history, he is again the main claim. Especially for the fact of seeing him in action again. The Balearic started the season like a shot. And to the success achieved at the Australian Open he added the titles of Melbourne and Acapulco. He had an impeccable Nadal season until in the Indian Wells final, against the American taylor Fritza crack in the ribs deprived him of a new success and separated him from the competition.
Rafael Nadal He has chosen to reappear, after six weeks of recovery, in the Masters 1000 in Madrid, which he has won more times than anyone -five- along with three more finals.
This time it will mean the Balearic beat a new record. With nineteen appearances in Madrid, he will be the player with the most appearances in the same Masters 1000. No other player has reached that much in the same tournament.
The number four in the world did not go through the quarterfinals in his last participation, eliminated by the German Alexander Zverev who defends the title in the midst of a crisis. “I’ve hit rock bottom, I want to apologize to the fans,” the German assumed after falling to the young Dane Holger Runes in the first round of the Munich tournament. Finalist in Montpellier, he has not achieved any success so far in 2022 the Hamburg tennis player who has triumphed twice in the Caja Mágica.
It is a good opportunity for the German but also, especially, for Novak Djokovic who will play his fourth tournament of the season in Madrid. The third in a row. Something important for the number one in the world, who needed hours on the track to recover his level on the circuit.
The refusal to be vaccinated against covid has affected the course of the Belgrade player. He was unable to play the Australian Open and missed the American leg. He played in Dubai in February but did not get past the quarterfinals. From there directly to the ground. He fell with the Spanish Alexander Davidovich in his debut at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 and reached the final in Belgrade last week but lost to the Russian Andrew Rublev.
The Serbian has completed the first third of the exercise without prizes. Something unusual in his seasons. With only eight games played. Five won. Three lost.
What has been seen so far of the number one in the world is not usual, but he is always a man to keep in mind. Madrid is good at Djokoviccrowned three times, the last in 2019.
The state of form and the performance of the Balkan who faces the appointment as a starting point for his settlement in the season and dispel doubts about his moment is unknown.
However, a new incentive breaks into the tournament: Carlos Alcázar. The great illusion of Spanish tennis faces his second presence in the Caja Mágica but nothing to do with his only presence, a year ago. So, the Murcian arrived as a guest, as a great promise but outside the top one hundred in the world.
Now, the 18-year-old tennis player is included among the top seeds, number nine in the ATP ranking, the best of his career, and with four titles under his belt, three this season: Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and, above all, the Miami Masters 1000. Three trophies that he joins with that of Umag in 2021, where he started it all.
With the memory of the duel with Nadal in the last edition, the first between both. The mentor and the student. Now they coincide in the table, both as applicants, as rivals for success. A duel between the two Spaniards is something that the Madrid public yearns for.
Are Nadal Y alcaraz the props of the representation of the ‘Armada’ that shines in this section of the course. Will also be Alexander Davidovichfinalist in Monte Carlo, and Pablo Carreno, runner-up in Barcelona. Y Robert Baptist and the rest of Spaniards with whom the public turns.
and the greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fifth player in the world is another one who pays off at the Caja Mágica although the title has eluded him. Finalist in 2019, beaten by Djokovicis bidding for Madrid with the bonus obtained by winning the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo for the second consecutive year.