Andy Murray reverses decision to skip clay season, headlines Madrid Open wildcards alongside Naomi Osaka
Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka and Andy Murray have been given wildcards for this year's Madrid Open, which starts on 26 April.
Murray initially planned to skip the entire clay season but has now accepted a wildcard in Madrid, where he is a two-time champion.
Osaka, meanwhile, will kick off her clay season in the Spanish capital. Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, 16-year-old Czech Linda Fruhvirtova, who is fresh off a surprise fourth-round finish in Miami, World No. 52 Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine and Qinwen Zheng from China are the other wildcard recipients on the women's side.
Madrid wildcards https://t.co/UVw30HAXGN
Murray, who underwent a career-saving hip surgery in 2019, stated in February that he would focus on his preparations for the grasscourt season.
However, BBC stated that the Brit had been practicing on the red dirt in Florida and came to the conclusion that over two months without match practice would hinder his chances at Wimbledon.
He joins 20-year-old countryman Jack Draper, Lucas Pouille of France and World No. 363 Carlos Gimeno of Spain as wildcards in the men's section.
Naomi Osaka hopes to gain momentum ahead of Roland Garros
Naomi Osaka is eyeing an improvement on her round-of-32 finish in last year's edition of the Madrid Open. She was beaten in three sets by Karolina Muchova.
Osaka participated in just three clay tournaments last season, the last of which was at Roland Garros where she withdrew due to mental health struggles.
But following a run to the Miami final this year, the World No. 35 said that she wanted to "take the claycourt season seriously".
"Clay and grass is something I really want to tackle this year. So I'm willing kind of to do whatever it takes to get good results. Not that results are everything, but I really want to do well," Osaka said during her post-final press conference in Miami.
"I would say it's definitely really interesting. Like last year, I didn't really care about my ranking at all. But this year I find myself wondering if I went to the top 50 or the top 40 and stuff like that. My main goal is to be seeded at French Open now," she added.