Stunning photos from Madrid as the games biggest names battle it out on the red clay
The Madrid Open always provides an incredible backdrop to the World’s best male and female players as they attempt to win once of the biggest tournamwnts of the year
This year has proved no different with the ‘Big 3’ men, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer playing for the first time since 2016 and most of the top female players including World No.1 Naomi Osaka, World No.2 Petra Kvitova and World No.3 Simona Halep on show
Ashleigh Barty from Australia overcame her compatriot Daria Gavrilova in the first round then went on to beat the very competitive American Danielle Collins in round 2
Juan Martin del Potro was in Madrid for a highly publicised return after another long injury break but unfortunately for his adoring Argentinian fans his return was short lived as he lost in his first match in 3 sets to the young Serbian Laslo Djere
Roger Federer was making his first appearance in Madrid since 2015 and the hype was warranted as he won his first match and then faces Gael Monfils today in his next encounter.
Simona Halep is the reigning French Open champion and highly fancied for the Madrid women’s singles this year. Halep surprised a lot of people with the ease of her first round victory winning 6-0, 6-0
Rafael Nadal is many peoples favourite to win in Madrid this year even though his clay court season hasn’t been anywhere near as dominant as normal. His first match saw him overcome the rising star from Canada Felix Auger Aliassime in their first ever encounter, 6-3 6-3
Petra Kvitova is ranked 2 in the world and seeded 2 in Madrid. She faced tough opposition from French player Kristina Mladenovic in the first round but managed to battle through for a 2 set victory, 6-3 7-6
David Ferrer played his last ever match on the ATP Tour when he lost to defending champion Alexander Zverev in the second round. But it was an emotional and fitting send off for one of the ATP Tour’s greatest ever players. It was Ferrer’s 1,111th match on tour and he’d won over 700 of those matches. Farewell Ferru
World no.1 and reigning US Open and Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was hoping to add the Madrid title to her growing trophy cabinet and she started convincingly with a win over Spanish wildcard Sara Sorribes Tormo
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
To read more amazing articles like this you can explore Tennishead magazine here or you can subscribe for free to our email newsletter here
