Madrid Open announces wildcards with WTA teen sensation and returning Olympic champion among recipients
The Madrid Open has announced its wildcard picks for the 2022 tournament with WTA teen sensation Linda Fruhvirtova and 2016 Olympic singles champion Monica Puig among them.
The news comes after it was also announced that former world number one Andy Murray has reversed his decision to skip the clay season and will return in Madrid after taking a wildcard there.
British youngster Jack Draper and 2019 Australian Open semi-finalist Lucas Pouille join Murray as wildcards in the men’s main draw, while former world number one Naomi Osaka and Ukrainian world number 52 Marta Kostyuk join the women’s main draw.
Puig is a notable inclusion, the Puerto Rican former world number 27 currently without a WTA ranking having not played competitively since Roland Garros 2020, sidelined by injury and taking up tennis broadcasting.
After management group IMG acquired the Madrid Open late last year, its wildcard entries reflect the new ownership.
Both Draper and Fruhvirtova are managed by IMG, with the Czech 16-year-old making waves at the Miami Open in March, the group’s other flagship tennis event.
Madrid wild cards:
Note 1: Murray isn’t skipping the clay season after all
Note 2: You can see this is now an IMG event
Note 3: No wild cards for Romanians, end of an Era pic.twitter.com/3sZazz65W7— José Morgado (@josemorgado) April 20, 2022
The Madrid Open is one of six of the combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events, where both men and women compete either concurrently or on overlapping schedules at the same event.
Alexander Zverev is the defending ATP champion while Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion on the WTA tour.
Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Italian Open, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open are the other five combined events, though the Canadian Open famously takes place across two venues in Toronto and Montreal, with the ATP and WTA events alternating locations at each edition.
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