Simona Halep etched her name in Madrid Open history by winning the title in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017.
Halep holds two records in Madrid thanks to her brilliant performances on the Spanish clay between 2014 and 2019.
The former world number one made her debut at the tournament in 2012, when the Madrid Open was played on blue clay.
As the 2026 tournament gets underway, Halep has reflected on her very first match at the Madrid Open, which came against Venus Williams.
Simona Halep looks back on her match with Venus Williams
Halep entered her first Madrid Open unseeded in 2012, and she was awarded a tough first match against Williams.
Williams was a wild card entrant, but she was really made to work to earn her place in the second round of the Masters event.
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The American eventually took the match with a tie-break decider, but it did not discourage Halep too much.
On Instagram, Halep wrote: “Madrid always felt like home to me. I don’t know how to explain it, but every time I came back here, I just felt good. The people, the organization, everyone knew me and I knew them.
“When you keep coming back year after year and go deep in the tournament, you become part of the place somehow.
“I was sitting and thinking about this today and I went all the way back to 2012, my very first match in Madrid. It was on blue clay that year, which was… an experience.
“I played Venus Williams in the first round and lost 6-7 in the third. It was a marathon. But I remember walking off that court thinking I can’t wait to come back here next year.”
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Halep believes the experience of that match helped her go on to achieve brilliant things at the Spanish event.
“Then I knew I would be capable of winning big matches here. The altitude, the surface, the balls. I always felt the ball so well in Madrid. The game was faster and I loved that.
“And when they closed the roof on the center court, it felt even faster. Those two titles meant a lot. After each one, I left thinking Roland Garros was just one more step. Same opponents, similar conditions. Madrid always gave me that belief.”
Halep retired from tennis in 2025, but she is expected to return for one final match in her home country this June.
Simona Halep’s record at the Madrid Open
It’s no surprise that Halep reflects on her time at the Madrid Open fondly, as she retired with a sensational record at the Spanish event.
Her two victories at the tournament proved to be her second-best performing Masters event, behind the Canadian Open, which she won three times.
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Halep holds a 30–9 win-loss record at the Madrid Open, which equates to an impressive 77% winning rate.
That is her third best win rate at a Masters event, behind the Canadian Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Halep’s last appearance in Madrid came in 2022, where she exited at the quarter-final at the hands of Ons Jabeur.
She defeated Shuai Zhang, Paula Badosa, and Coco Gauff before falling at the quarter-final stage.
