The 2020 Mutua Madrid Open will be played from 12 to 20 September, as announced by the ATP and WTA on Wednesday. After the impossibility of holding the competition as planned from 1 to 10 May as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has been given a place on the new calendar unveiled this afternoon by the governing bodies. The staging of the nineteenth edition of the tournament will mean the return of elite tennis to Europe with the first combined event to take place on the Old Continent since the suspension of the tour as a result of COVID-19. It is Europe’s only combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA Premier Mandatory.
The 2020 Mutua Madrid Open, which will start on Saturday 12 September with the qualifying phase and continue with the main draw, will bring the tours’ biggest stars to Madrid to fight for the title in a season in which only the first three months of competition tennis were able to be completed, as tennis, like other sports, suffered a string of cancellations and postponements all around the world.
“It’s very good news that the Mutua Madrid Open can be played in September”, said Feliciano López, the tournament’s director. “It means that the hugely complicated situation we have been in over the last few months is improving, little by little. The return to normality has given us this chance to be able to play the tournament, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it has all the necessary safety measures to guarantee the health of all the participants. By going ahead with the tournament, we are sending a positive message from one of the areas worst affected by the virus”, he added. “We have to thank the city of Madrid and all the sponsors of the tournament for their help, which is key to the staging of the 2020 Mutua Madrid Open. We are confident that the situation will have improved even more in September and that will allow us to have fans in the stands”.
“We have been through some very difficult times, but the staging of the tournament in September is a small victory because it means that we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel”, said Manolo Santana, the tournament’s honorary president. “We’re going to work with the care and attention required to make this edition an unforgettable tournament”, he continued. “I am sure it will be”.
The details of the conditions under which the 2020 Mutua Madrid Open will be held (possibility of spectators, ticket sales and other questions related to the tournament that may undergo changes due to the current situation) will be announced soon after a thorough analysis in close collaboration with the competent authorities.
