All You Need To Know...Madrid
A premier clay event with a habit for making headlines
By Stephen Higgins | 19 April 2021
Along with Monte-Carlo and Rome, Madrid is the most eminent clay court event before Roland Garros.
Simultaneously an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000, the Madrid Open now takes place over a fortnight in May.
The competition is owned by Ion Tiriac, a Romanian businessman and former player. Feliciano Lopez, he of the outstanding lefty serve, is tournament director.
Location
The Caja Mágica (Magic Box) in Madrid, which has three clay courts with retractable roofs. The main stadium - Court Manolo Santana - seats 12,500.
Prizemoney
In 2019, the last event before the Covid-19 pandemic, each singles champion received €1.2 million.
Hard Beginnings
Launched in 2002, Madrid is the youngest of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
While now a staple of the European clay swing, it actually started life as an indoor hard event (Madrid replaced Stuttgart in the October slot).
Initially a men’s event, the Madrid Masters took place at the multi-purpose Madrid Arena, at Casa de Campo.
Andre Agassi was its first champion. Unfortunately, the American claimed the inaugural title via walkover over an injured Jiri Novak.
Agassi was succeeded by Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003) and Marat Safin (2004) before a young legend-to-be arrived on the scene.
In his fifth Masters 1000 final of the season, 19-year-old Rafael Nadal captured the 2005 Madrid trophy with a five-set win over Ivan Ljubicic.
Roger Federer joined the fray the following year, earning his 12th Masters 1000 thanks to a straight sets victory over Fernando Gonzalez.
The final years as an indoor event saw David Nalbandian (2007) and Andy Murray (2008) emerge victorious.
Nalbandian’s triumph has a special place in tennis history.
To date, he is the only player to have beaten Roger Federer (final), Rafael Nadal (quarter-final) and Novak Djokovic (semi-final) at an event.
