Madrid Open 2023: Women's draw, schedule, players, prize money breakdown & more
The leading stars of the WTA tour have arrived in Spain for the first WTA 1000 tournament of the clay swing, the Madrid Open. It will be held from April 25 to May 7, 2023.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek leads a loaded draw, which includes all of her fellow top 10 players. She defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart over the weekend. Having kicked off her clay season with a bang, Swiatek will be aiming to continue the momentum in the Spanish capital.
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu returns to action for the first time since sustaining an injury at the Miami Open. Emma Raducanu, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova are some of the other well-known names in the mix. Elina Svitolina, who's currently on the comeback trail, received a wildcard to compete.
With plenty of in-form players in the draw, the tournament is bound to have a ton of must-see matches over the next fortnight. On that note, here's all the necessary information about the Madrid Open:
What is the Madrid Open?
The tournament started off as a men's only event and opened its doors to the WTA tour in 2009. It also experimented with blue clay back in 2012, but reverted back to the red dirt from the following year once again. Petra Kvitova holds the record for most titles here with three.
Starting this year, the draw has been expanded to accomodate 96 players instead of the original 64 player draw. This is on par with the other WTA 1000 events - the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open.
Venue
The Madrid Open will be held on outdoor clay courts at La Caja Majica in Madrid, Spain.
Players
All seeded players have received a first-round bye. Iga Swiatek leads the top half of the draw and could potentially meet Emma Raducanu in the second round. The Pole's nemesis Elena Rybakina is also in this half of the draw and could face her in the quarterfinals.
Bianca Andreescu, Barbora Krejcikova, Jessica Pegula and Victoria Azarenka are some of the other notable names in the top half of the draw. Some interesting first-round matches in this section include Elina Svitolina against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and Sloane Stephens taking on Jaqueline Cristian.
Aryna Sabalenka headlines the bottom half of the draw. She could be up against Sorana Cirstea, who knocked her out of the Miami Open, in the second round. Defending champion Ons Jabeur is also in this half of the draw, along with Coco Gauff, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia.
The official draw can be accessed here.
Prize Money
The total prize money for this year's edition of the Madrid Open is €7,652,174. The winner will receive a cheque worth €1,105,265 along with 1000 ranking points. Here's a detailed breakdown of the prize money and ranking points:
Schedule
The qualifying rounds will take place from April 24-25, with first-round matches also commencing on the latter day. The singles final is set for Saturday, May 6 at 6:30 pm local time, while the doubles final will take place on May 7 at 3:30 pm local time.
The full schedule can be found here.
Where to watch
Viewers in the US, Australia, UK and Canada can watch the Madrid Open live on the following channels and sites:
USA: All matches will be broadcast on Tennis Channel.
UK: Fans in the UK can watch the proceedings live on Amazon Prime Video.
Australia: All matches will be telecast on beIN Sports.
Canada: Viewers in Canada can watch all the matches on TSN & TVA.
For more information regarding the broadcast of matches, click here.