– With so many players already eliminated, and so many players who couldn’t get in in the first place, there are playing ops at (nearly) the WTA Tour level in this second week of Madrid. WTA 125s in Saint-Malo and Lleida, Spain help fill out the calendar. Iga Swiatek may have a pesky one in Madrid, against the relentless Sara Sorribes Tormo. But the world No. 1 should have too much for her. ATP Madrid – Monday OOP (Madrid, Saint-Malo and Lleida are 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor Clay Category: WTA 1000 (Jo ..read more

– Officially, Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime has made it to the second week – which is something he fell far short of a year ago both in Madrid and Rome, even with the first-round byes he had back then as part of the top 10. He gets a kid, Jakub Mensik, who’s a neophyte on clay at the ATP level. Which has to help him. And that other guy, Rafa … something, is looking for the fourth round and has a winnable match. WTA Tour – Monday, April 29, 2024 (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor Clay Category: ATP ..read more

– Alcaraz and Zverev and Rublev on the main stadium Sunday, with just eight matches on the docket. Zverev will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov, into the third round on the strength of two solid wins against two very good clay-courters. They’ve played … a lot! Zverev leads 5-3, but Shapovalov has won three of the last five. It’ll be only their second meeting on clay, though; the first one, six years ago in the Madrid semifinals, was a routine win for the German. WTA Madrid – Sunday results (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid ..read more

– No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No. 4 Elena Rybakina get the Manolo Santana stadium slots Sunday, as they look for spots in the round of 16. An all-American dubs clash between the pickup team of Gauff and Townsend (in on a wild card after Jessica Pegula withdrew from Madrid) and Miami Open champs Mattek-Sands and Kenin could certainly feature some Olympics-bound players. There are still eight days to go in the event, but the number of matches is already significant cut down. ATP Madrid – Sunday results (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open L ..read more

– Rafael Nadal had a pretty cake draw in the first round, facing a young teenager outside the top 1000 who was clearly overwhelmed. But Saturday, he faced the top Aussie who defeated him in Barcelona, Alex de Minaur. The veteran Spaniard had no expectations about winning this match. But on the plus side it appeared Friday that he went through a full off-day practice. And after winning a pretty critical first set in a tiebreak, Rafa got roaring and is into the third round. As for Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, he relocated from the big big stadium to Court 4 as he looks for an upset over No. 1 ..read more

– The seeds who weren’t upset in the second round began to meet. And it turned out that Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who just squeezed into the last seeded spot at No. 32, had the draw gods smiling upon her. The bottom eight seeds – 25 through 32 – could have been drawn against any of the top eight seeds in the third round. In the end, Fernandez got the “best” outcome, the No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur. Putting aside the fact that Jabeur is really struggling of late. In the end, though, she fell just short as the Tunisian showed off some vintage form in coming back from being down in the third set. ATP ..read more

– We got a better idea of what kind of physical shape Carlos Alcaraz is in, as he took the court for the first time in Madrid. He’s the defending champion; he faced the talented – but inconsistent – Alexander Shevchenko. And had no problem rolling over him. Also on court Friday was Alexander Zverev. As well, the struggling Andrey Rublev. Both got through. And Canadian Denis Shapovalov took on Tomas Martin Etcheverry for a spot in the third round. And made it. WTA Madrid – Friday results (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid ..read more

– No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 6 Zheng Qinwen were among the top players making their entrée into the Madrid tournament on Friday. Rybakina rolled, Sabalenka struggled through, and Zheng didn’t make it through before retiring with an injury. Also, Danielle Collins made her European clay-court debut. The No. 13 seed, who was unseeded when she won in Miami, is on a roll from her titles there on hard court, and Charleston on the green Har-Tru. The last match on Manolo Santana was second on after an 8 p.m. night-session start. So it took until after 12:30 a.m. for Colli ..read more

– Leylah Fernandez made her 2024 Madrid debut late in the day, and she didsn’t have a pushover opponent in Russia’s Anastasia Potapova. But after a slow start, the Canadian started producing some quality tennis, and will play Ons Jabeur in the third round. Cana-Kiwi Erin Routliffe, who isn’t playing with regular partner Gabriela Dabrowski this week, teamed up with young American Ashlyn Krueger this week but went down to Miami Open champs Mattek-Sands and Kenin in a tough one. Players like Naomi Osaka, Donna Vekic, Sloane Stephens and more had to back to back, having played their first-round ma ..read more

– As the women wrap up qualifying AND start their first round on the two big courts, the men – whose final is a day later – will only finish up the qualifying on this second day in Madrid. Dominic Thiem, who somehow escaped a loss to Meligeni Alves in the first round, will try to get to the main draw with a win over Thanasi Kokkinakis. And a battle between former top Spaniards Bautista Agut and Ramos Viñolas is a throwback, with big stakes. WTA Madrid – Tuesday OOP (Madrid is 6 hours ahead of EDT) ************************************ Mutua Madrid Open Location: Madrid, Spain Surface: Outdoor ..read more