Madrid will be the most exciting and open tournament in years
As ATP Masters 1000’s on clay go, the Madrid Open 2019 is lining up to be an intriguing event beyond comparison in recent times with multiple sub plots and the best players on the planet all wanting to show they are the best
The current entry list includes no fewer than 44 of the best 45 players in the world with only the unfortunately injured Milos Raonic missing from this list. The tournament also sees the return to clay of none other than the GOAT himself, Roger Federer, after an absence from the clay of Europe for over 2 years. Can he surprise some doubters and win again on a surface that he’s avoided in the past?
This ATP Season has seen so many one time winners that probably only Dominic Thiem can consider himself to have a slight psychological advantage thanks to his stunning form last week in Barcelona. None of the other usual candidates are showing anything like the standard they have in the past coming into this event.
World No.1 Novak Djokovic is on a very poor run of results that started as soon as he won the Australian Open. He’s failed to get past the quarter final in any of his last 3 tournaments.
‘King of Clay’ Rafa Nadal has yet to lift a trophy this season including worrying losses on clay to Fognini and Thiem.
The reigning Madrid champion, Alexander Zverev, is struggling to find the consistency that saw him triumph last year during an outstanding clay court season.
Other top 10 players such as Kevin Anderson, Juan Martin del Potro, and John Isner have all been battling injuries and are also never that confident on clay.
Madrid also sees the return to action of mercurial talents such as Stanislas Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios. Both capable of toppling the best when on their best physical and mental game.
The exciting batch of young players coming through are in general showing great intent. Young talents such as Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex De Minaur, Dennis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev and Borna Coric could all cause some damage to more established names.
This all adds up to an absolutely fascinating prospect in Madrid where literally anyone could win the tournament and multiple players have the chance to upset higher ranked players and go deep in such a big tournament.
We can’t wait for the action to start.
You can read our in-depth preview to the 2019 Madrid Masters here
Look ahead to 2019 with our guide to every tournament on the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour and the ITF Tour
If you can’t visit the tournaments you love then do the next best thing and read our guide on how to watch all the ATP Tour matches on television in 2019
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