Both the ATP and WTA Mutua Madrid Open will begin in the round of 128 with 96 competitors, as the top 32 ranked male and female players will receive a first round bye. The action began on a red clay surface on Monday April 24 in Madrid, Spain, with the Final matches scheduled to take place on Sunday May 7. Below I’ll provide a preview of both the ATP and WTA brackets in the early proceedings of the Mutua Madrid Open, as well as my predictions for how the tournament will play out.
ATP Preview
Although the #1 ATP ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic, is noticeably absent from the competition; there is still a very stacked field of athletes. Some of the notable competitors is #2 ATP ranked Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, #3 ATP ranked Russian Daniil Medvedev, #4 ATP ranked Norwegian Casper Ruud, #5 ATP ranked Greek player Stefano Tsitsipas, and #6 ATP ranked Russian Andrey Rublev.
The competition is still in the round of 128, but is scheduled to conclude the first round of play on Thursday April 27, with the second round scheduled to begin on Friday April 28. There’s a number of exciting matches in the next few days, but I have my eyes of the matchups between #52 ATP ranked English player Andy Murray (-140) and unranked Italian Andrea Vavassori (+130) on Thursday at 10:30 am EST.
Although he has certainly regressed in the past few years, Andy Murray was once the best tennis player in the world and I think he still has the talent to compete at the highest level. At -140 odds, I think Murray has great odds against his first round opponent.
WTA Preview
The #1 WTA ranked player in the world, Iga Swiatek, returns to the Mutua Madrid Open court after her victory at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany last week. Among the other notable competitors include #2 WTA ranked Russian Aryna Sabalenka, #3 WTA ranked American Jessica Pegula, #5 WTA ranked French player Caroline Garcia, #6 WTA ranked American Coco Gauff, and #7 WTA ranked Kazakhstani player Elena Rybakina.
Like the male tournament, the WTA competition is still in the round of 128, but they are scheduled to conclude the first round on Wednesday April 26 and will begin the second round on Thursday April 27. The action continues play today and although there aren’t any opening round matchups that jump out at me, I will definitely be paying careful attention to the second round match between Carolina Garcia (-195) and unranked Kazakhstani player Yulia Putintseva (+162) on Friday April 28 at 5 am EST. Garcia doesn’t hold the best value, but at -195 odds against a much less experienced competitor in Putintseva, she’s definitely my pick in the opening round matches.
My Predictions
The tournament still has a long way to go in both the ATP and WTA Mutua Madrid Open competitions, but I think that there are already a few early favorites to keep your eyes on. My pick to win the Madrid ATP Open is Danill Medvedev (+1100). The Russian has proven that he is one of, if not the, best tennis players and already has 5 ATP tournament victories in 2023 to prove it. He’s one of the most talented competitors entering the competition and at +1100 odds, he holds great value.
As for my pick to win the WTA tournament, I find it hard to bet against the #1 female player in the world in Iga Swiatek (+200). She’s won 2 of the 5 WTA competitions she’s entered in 2023 and has proven that she is ahead of the rest of the field in terms of talent. There’s still a lot of matches to be played, but +200 odds holds relatively good value considering her recent play.
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