There is a significant change to the Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome this year. They are now two-week tournaments instead of one and the draw sizes have increased to 96 (the 32 seeds get byes in a bracket of 128). Yes, that means they are on par with Indian Wells and Miami. It also means Madrid is starting a week earlier than usual so that both Masters 1000s can finish in time to have the normal week in between Rome and Roland Garros (when 250s in Geneva and Lyon are played).
Unfortunately for this new and improved event, year one in its new format will be missing significant star power. Both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are out, as is Jannik Sinner. Nonetheless, the field remains strong thanks to Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and many more.
With no further ado, it’s time to break down the Madrid Masters.
Where: Madrid, Spain
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 7,705,780 Euros
Points: 1,000
Top seed: Carlos Alcaraz
Defending champion: Carlos Alcaraz
Draw analysis: Alcaraz successfully defended his Barcelona title last week and there is no reason to think he won’t do the same in Madrid with Djokovic, Nadal, and Sinner already out of the way. The 19-year-old’s draw isn’t the easiest one with Monte-Carlo winner Andrey Rublev and two-time Madrid champion Alexander Zverev in the same quarter, but it shouldn’t matter.
Elsewhere in the top half of the draw, No. 3 seed Casper Ruud faces a tough road to the semis. Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz are more likely semifinal participants, and even Lorenzo Musetti is playing better than Ruud these days. Add Alejandro Davidovich Fokina into the mix and there is a whole host of players in this section who could make a deep run.
On the other side of the bracket, rivals Medvedev and Tsitsipas are on a collision course for the semifinals. While Tsitsipas should have little trouble getting there in a relatively soft section, Medvedev—who has made no secret of his disdain for clay—has his work cut out for him. The second seed could meet Jiri Lehecka in the third round, Munich runner-up Botic van de Zandschulp in the fourth round, and a red-hot Taylor Fritz in the quarters.
First-round matchups worth watching in Madrid are Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Ugo Humbert, Quentin Halys vs. Alexei Popyrin, Stan Wawrinka vs. Maxime Cressy, Jason Kubler vs. Banja Luka champion Dusan Lajovic, and Dominic Thiem vs. Kyle Edmund.
Hot: Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Lorenzo Musetti, Francisco Cerundolo, Miomir Kecmanovic, Roberto Carballes Baena, Quentin Halys
Cold: Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Borna Coric, Pablo Carreno Busta, Denis Shapovalov, Sebastian Korda, Benoit Paire, Dominic Thiem, Kyle Edmund, Alexander Bublik, David Goffin, Aslan Karatsev, Diego Schwartzman
Quarterfinal predictions: Carlos Alcaraz over Andrey Rublev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina over Lorenzo Musetti, Stefanos Tsitsipas over Francisco Cerundolo, and Taylor Fritz over Daniil Medvedev
Semifinals: Alcaraz over Davidovich Fokina and Fritz over Tsitsipas
Final: Alcaraz over Fritz
who ya got?
Alcaraz over Tsitsipas
Most of us in challenge have gone for Al defeats Med. One for Al defeats Tsit. Wonder who that could possibly be…;)
I am Watching Andy Murray play this Italian, Vavassori. The Italian had won the first set easily, 6-2 but Any fought like heck to get even and get to a tiebreak. Andy is down 5-6 in the TB, and Andy has to hold here.
Ah, no, Andy missed a drop shot. Yes, Vavassori missed his first match point; it was 6-6.
7-8 now to the Vavassori wins the set, and Andy is in good spirits… Friendly handshake at the net.
Vavassori (I should have looked him up), But I would have picked Andy anyway.
Vavassori will play Medvedev next. Vavassori plays ITF and challengers; he has not been ambitious about moving ahead. He is good, though I doubt Vavassori gives Meddy much trouble.