The biggest stars on the women’s tour now know what the draw has in store for them at the Mutua Madrid Open. On Tuesday morning the main draw ceremony took place in the Caja Mágica, where one of the most prestigious titles on the calendar is up for grabs. The WTA 1000 on the clay of the Spanish capital will welcome the best players in the world to a tournament that promises to be a thriller.
Two-time champion Simona Halep, the queen of the 2016 and 2017 editions, was the ‘innocent hand’ for the draw. The Romanian, who also reached the final in 2019, will once again be one of the favourites for glory in Madrid.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is on a hot streak as she arrives in Madrid. The Pole has won her last 23 matches on tour and will be looking to bring her form to the Spanish clay. Having claimed four titles on the trot (Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart), she is currently the circuit’s player to beat. Her campaign could open with a mouth-watering second-round clash against Petra Kvitova.
Garbiñe Muguruza will be the big home hopeful in the top half of the draw. Conchita Martínez’s understudy will be bidding to find her A-game in the Caja Mágica, where she enjoys huge affection from the fans every year. She will need to be well prepared for her tournament opener against the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
Fourth seed Maria Sakkari faces a tough opener against the American Madison Keys. In a section of the draw that is packed with big names, Japanese player Naomi Osaka will open against a qualifier.
In the bottom of the draw, Paula Badosa will start her assault on the title against Veronika Kudermetova in a tournament where expectations are high. After reaching the semi-finals last year, the best ever result for a Spanish woman, the world No. 2 will be looking to entertain the Caja Mágica fans once again.
Badosa could face a huge challenge in the second round, where she will take on the winner of the tie between Romanian Simona Halep and Chinese player Shuai Zhang.
Further down the line, she may meet some of the tour’s biggest players. The Tunisian Ons Jabeur is one of her possible quarter-final opponents in a bottom half of the draw that also contains defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and big-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova, a dangerous player at the altitude of the Spanish capital.
The rest of the home players will also have enticing debuts. Castellon native Sara Sorribes will take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while the Granada-born Nuria Párrizas will test her mettle against Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
The WTA main draw at the Mutua Madrid Open gets underway on Thursday 28 May.
