Alcaraz Leads Spanish Armada Into Mutua Madrid Open

Carlos Alcaraz, Mutua Madrid Open
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Mateo Villalba/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, April 23, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

It’s been 16 years since the Mutua Madrid Open switched from being an ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event to one contested on red clay. One year, in 2012, the tournament even experimented with blue clay – with the idea that it would improve television visibility and make the tennis ball easier to see. It didn’t work – safety became a concern – and by the next year, red clay was back and has been here to stay.

Staged at the Caja Mágica, noted for its design that incorporates steel, aluminum, concrete and glass, the Mutua Madrid Open is a favorite of Real Madrid footballers, who frequently can be seen sitting court side on the 12,442-seat Manolo Santana Stadium cheering for their favorites.

Not surprisingly, Spaniards have dominated the event and won the singles title eight times since the inaugural edition in 2002. First, Rafael Nadal lifted the trophy a record five times – in 2005, 2010, 2013-14 and 2017 – and more recently, Carlos Alcaraz has won it twice, in 2022 and 2023.

Last year, going after a three-peat, Alcaraz was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Russia’s Andrey Rublev, currently ranked World No. 8, who went on to win the title by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

While Nadal has retired after winning Madrid five times and compiling 59 wins – and making a record 20 appearances – World No. 3 Alcaraz is seeded second and is the highest-ranked of seven Spaniards featured in the 96-player singles main draw, which began play on a picture-perfect sunny day Wednesday in the Spanish capital city.

Alcaraz, who turns 22 the day after the final, is featured in the bottom half of the draw along with World No. 5 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is a three-time winner at Madrid (2011, 2016, 2019). The two Top-5 foes could meet in the semifinal round. At the top of the draw is two-time (2018, 2021) Madrid winner Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Coming into Madrid, Alcaraz has already performed well on clay. Earlier this month, he won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title and followed it up by reaching the final in Barcelona last week. Following a first-round bye, he will begin against either No. 74 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan or No. 50 Zizou Bergs of Belgium later this week and could meet last year’s semifinalist, No. 26 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, in the third round.

Joining Alcaraz in the armada of Spaniards are: No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who is seeded 28th; No. 48 Pedro Martinez, No. 53 Jaume Munar, No. 55 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 96 Pablo Carreño Busta and 148th-ranked wild card Martin Landaluce.

Borges rallies to win, Bautista Agut masters Munar

Among the Spaniards featured on Opening Day of the men’s draw on Manolo Santana Stadium, Bautista Agut faced Munar and wild card Carreño Busta, who is on the comeback trail after being injured, took on No. 41 Nuno Borges of Portugal.

As it happened, Borges rallied from a set down to beat Carreño Busta 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-3, in two hours and 32 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium to become just the second Portuguese player after Joao Sousa to win a main-draw match in Madrid. It was his first win after losing in the opening round each of the past two years.

The 28-year-old Portuguese No. 1 saved a match point while serving at 4-5 (30-40) in the second set after losing a tough first-set tie-break to Carreño Busta. Not only did Borges go on to win the second set in a tie-break, he came out strong in the final set and took control of his first-round match. Borges broke the Spaniard to go ahead 4-2 and never looked back.

By the conclusion, Borges had accumulated 42 winners and benefited from 27 unforced errors by Carreño Busta. Borges outpointed his opponent 106-99.

“I had to trust that my serve was going to give me a good chance,” Borges said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I know Pablo doesn’t give you many unforced errors, especially in important moments like this. I just had to trust my game. After such a big battle in the first set, I thought I deserved a little more of a chance in the second. It was all about trust me in the moment. I tried to stay as calm as possible.

“You learn trust as you play. Sometimes, the bigger the stage, the more you feel. Obviously, playing on a center court it feels like there’s more to feeling pressure. But it’s a good thing. If you learn how to enjoy it and embrace these moments, it’s special.”

Next, Borges (15-11 this season) will face another Spaniard, No. 28 seed Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

Soon, after Borges-Carreño Busta ended came the featured afternoon match, which was an all-Spanish battle on Manolo Santana Stadium, between Bautista Agut and Munar.

After splitting the first two set, Bautista Agut made all the right moves against Munar in the decider and won, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, in two hours and 17 minutes, It was his 421st career ATP Tour win – most of any active Spaniard player. Bautista Agut improved to 9-2 in opening rounds in Madrid and Wednesday’s win broke a two-year seven-match losing streak against Spaniards.

The 37-year-old from Castellon de la Plana, 10 years senior in age to Munar, converted his fifth service break in six opportunities to go ahead 5-3 in the final set and served out the victory – just his fourth triumph in 14 outings this season. Bautista Agut struck his 37th winner to close out a pleasing and emotional win for the experienced Spaniard. He outpointed Munar 80-78.

“For a Spanish player, to play this kind of match in Madrid is a dream,” Bautista Agut said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I’ve been playing for many years and I still enjoy playing on this court, in this kind of atmosphere and it’s very special for me to win today and to have another opportunity to play another match.”

Next, Bautista Agut will face top seed World No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany in the second round. The Spaniard knows he has his work cut out for him.

“He’s very good playing on this kind of surface, doing very good results – winning last week in Munich – but I have another chance to play another good match that I will enjoy a lot,” Bautista Agut said of Zverev. “I hope I can play a good match against him.”

Around the Caja Magica

• NextGenATP Italian Federico Cina, ranked 373rd, won his debut at Caja Mágica with a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over Coleman Wong of Hong Kong to advance to the second round against 23rd-seeded American Sebastian Korda. The 18-year-old wild card from Palermo, who reached the second round in his ATP Masters 1000 debut in Miami last month, hit 19 winners and converted two of four break points against the 169th-ranked wild card Wong. He outpointed is opponent 67-54.

• No. 70 Francisco Comesana of Argentina struck 41 winners and upset No. 48 Pedro Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 48 minutes on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 victory. He improved to 3-5 against Top-50 opponents on clay and will play No. 13 seed Arthur Fils of France in the second round.

• No. 85 Mariano Navone of Argentina, a finalist on clay last year in Rio de Janeiro and Bucharest, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 upset win over No. 37 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, in one hour and 24 minutes, to advance against Munich finalist Ben Shelton of the United States, who is seeded 12th. Navone saved the only break point he faced and outpointed his opponent 69-53.

• No. 76 Arthur Rinderknech of France reached the second round at Madrid for the first time after defeating No. 73 Roman Safiullin of Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-1, in an hour and 21 minutes. The Frenchman won 88 percent of his first-serve points and outpointed Safiullin 69-53. Next, Rinderknech will face No. 14 seed Casper Ruud of Norway.

• Also advancing to the second round were: No. 36 Flavio Cobolli of Italy, No. 42 Gaël Monfils of France, No. 62 Benjamin Bonzi of France, No. 71 Laslo Djere of Serbia, No. 75 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, No. 87 Christopher O’Connell of Australia, 119th-ranked American qualifier Ethan Quinn, 126th-ranked Argentine qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo, No. 153 Sebastian Ofner of Austria, and 160th-ranked qualifier Harold Mayot of France.

New stadium coming to Caja Mágica

On Tuesday, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Coco Gauff of the United States were guests of the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, at Madrid’s City Hall to view the project for a new stadium coming to Caja Mágica, designed by French architect Dominique Perrault.

When in Spain … enjoy the cuisine!

Wednesday’s Mutua Madrid Open results

Thursday’s Mutua Madrid order of play

By the numbers

The 23rd edition of the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open begins with four former champions in the 96-player draw: No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev (2018, 2021), No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz (2022-23), No. 5 seed Novak Djokovic (2011, 2016, 2019) and reigning champion Andrey Rublev.

“Quotable …”

“I’m really excited to be here. I want to enjoy every match. Everyone is playing really well. The conditions are a bit different to what I’m used to playing in all year. We’ll see how this week goes in practice.”

– World No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, seeded 28th, as quoted by the ATP Tour website. The Spaniard will face No. 41 Nuno Borges of Portugal in the second round later this week.

 

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