STARNBERG, April 26, 2023

The clay-court season continues with the fourth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz leads the way at the Mutua Madrid Open, which begins Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Spaniard will try to claim his second trophy in as many weeks after triumphing in Barcelona. But a determined field will try to stop Alcaraz and make its own mark at the Caja Magica.

The second seed is Daniil Medvedev from Russia, the recent Miami champion. Casper Ruud of Norway is seeded third and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has won two Masters 1000 titles on clay (both in Monte-Carlo), is seeded fourth.

And the ATP draw looks like this 👇🏻@atptour | @ATPTour_ES | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/RpFlkfzc7q

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 23, 2023

With Novak Djokovic missing Madrid due to injury, Alcaraz and Medvedev will look to maintain pressure in the battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Alcaraz, who is defending 1,000 points from last year’s title run, is currently 365 points behind Djokovic and can position himself well to retake No. 1 after Rome.

Andrey Rublev of Russia captured his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown earlier this month in Monte-Carlo, where he defeated recent Munich champion Holger Rune from Denmark in the final. The 25-year-old backed that up with a run to the championship match at the Srpska Open in Banja Luka. With confidence high, the fifth seed will aim to win his 14th tour-level title in Madrid, where he reached the quarterfinals last year.

After reaching the stage of the last eight in Monte-Carlo, Tsitsipas started to find his best level in Barcelona, where he reached the title match. The 2019 Madrid finalist, who has lifted four trophies on clay, will look to build on that in the Spanish capital and clinch his third ATP Masters 1000 crown.