Without Djokovic and Nadal. Who will play in the fourth ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament?

The series of nine events that are the most valuable on the tour after the Grand Slams and the ATP Finals continues this week and next on the clay in Madrid. Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublyov triumphed at the previous three thousand this year. Are they favourites here too and who will be their main challengers?

Carlos Alcaraz

The world number two is the biggest title contender at the Madrid Open. Taking into account tournaments on Spanish soil, the home tennis player can already boast 15 matches won in a row. Last year, he became the only player in history to beat both Nadal and Djokovic in the same clay tournament here.

Last week, he dominated the Barcelona tournament without losing a set and was truly magnificent here. His final opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas, complimented him by making him a role model for all tennis players, even the older ones. Some commentators have already christened the tournament in the Spanish capital the Carlo Alcaraz Show.

Daniil Medvedev

If it were up to him, there wouldn’t be a single clay tournament left on the circuit. The 27-year-old Russian openly admits that. His game does not suit this traditional surface, he has to change his baseline strokes slightly. As he says himself, on a hard surface after mistakes he at least knows what he did wrong.

Antuk tournaments are not his most frequent destination. His top result at the Madrid Masters is the eighth round in 2021. This year will be the second event of this type for him here. In the first one, he finished in the third round on Holger Rune’s racket.

It should be added that he has been excellent at other tournaments this year, having already played five tournament finals and taken the winner’s trophy four times. Only Carlos Alcaraz in Indiana Wells has prepared him for a final defeat.

Casper Ruud

Attention! We’re doing a 180. Nora is sometimes said to be able to achieve success only on a crushed brick surface. And he has no problem with that assessment. He acknowledges the enormous importance of clay in the history of world tennis. And he understands it. Of his ten titles, nine are on clay.

This year, the world number four has already won the Estoril tournament in neighbouring Portugal. But he had to say goodbye to the next two events in the eighth round. He lost to Germany’s Struff and Argentina’s Cerundolo respectively. In both cases he was the favourite and did not win a single set.

Andrey Rubljov

The second Russian in our list and the world number six Andrey Rubljov presents a third view of the Spanish Masters surface. He says clay is the surface on which real tennis is played, but he doesn’t have a favourite surface. Let’s admit that he proves this fair view with his long-term results. The Russian’s tournament triumphs are evenly split between clay, hard surface and indoor.

The 25-year-old improved on his lesser results from earlier this year at Indiana Wells, where he only succumbed to Medvedev twice in the final 6-2. Since switching to clay, his game has picked up even more and the Moscow native has won eight of his nine duels. The only defeat against Serbian Lajovic came a few days ago in the final of the tournament in Banja Luka. Now, Andrey Rubljov will face an ATP event two levels higher.

Holger Rune

A few days after defending his triumph in Munich, the young Dane will be making his debut in Madrid. A big challenge! He will celebrate his twentieth birthday during the event in the Spanish capital. It is realistic that he will give himself a real present here.

Like Rubljov, the Gentofte native has only recorded one defeat on clay this year. And that was against the five years older Russian. Rune lost after a 7-5,2-6,5-7 battle in the final in Monte Carlo and may meet him in the semi-finals here in Madrid.

Alexander Zverev

The 26-year-old German won here two years ago. Last year, he was beaten in the final. Carlos Alcaraz beat him 6-3, 6-1. The Hamburg native was able to avenge his defeat at the French Open, but three days later he was injured in his match against Nadal. He did not play for half a year after that.

This year is a year of return to the courts for Zverev. His best result so far is the Indian Wells semi-final in March. There, as well as a month later in Monte Carlo, he finished on Medvedev’s racket. On both occasions, the German won the first set and the next two literally slipped through his fingers.

His form is questionable, having lost his opening match to Australia’s O’Connell in Munich last week. He is ranked 81st in the rankings. The fate is not easy for the defending champion. He may meet Carlos Alcaraz in the eighth round. So the show in Madrid can begin, will it really be the Alcaraz show?

Source: ATP, Mutuamadridopen, Tennishead