One of the biggest clay courts events of the season gets underway in Madrid with both the elite men and women converging on the Spanish capital. The Madrid Open is an event steeped in history and is often one of the most dramatic events on the calendar with a multitude of different winners having picked up both the male and female trophies. Here are our Madrid Open betting tips.
Tournament History
The Madrid Open is one of the newer events on the calendar having been on the schedule since 2002 for men and 2009 for women. Despite the relatively short history of both events, they have quickly established themselves as important competitions on both the WTA and ATP tours. The Madrid Open is an ATP Masters 1000 event and a WTA Premier Mandatory event – meaning they are events of the highest prestige on both tours.
Format
The men’s event in Madrid is a 56 player draw with the top 8 seeds receiving first round byes whilst the women’s competition is a 64 player draw – with no byes for the big names.
Venue
The Madrid Open originally launched as a hard court event back in 2002 and was played at the Madrid Arena. In 2009 however it became one of the premiere clay court events in the world and is now played at the Caja Magica.
Dates
Saturday 4th May 2019 – Sunday 12th May 2019
Previous Winners (Men’s)
The Madrid Open has been dominated by the ‘big 4’ that have had a hold on the ATP Tour for the past decade or so. Rafael Nadal has won the event on 5 previous occasions, with the Mallorcan known for his clay court prowess at this time of the year. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have all won the event two times each with Alexander Zverev ending that dominance with his tournament win in Madrid last year.
Previous Winners (Women’s)
Over the past decade, some of the most decorated players in the women’s game have picked up the Madrid Open trophy. Defending champion Petra Kvitova has the most tournament wins with 3 whilst fellow giants of the game Serena Williams and Simona Halep have both picked up the trophy in the Spanish capital on two previous occasions each.
2019 Tournament Preview (Men’s)
Despite not possessing the best record at the Madrid Open (in relation to his records in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and at Roland Garros), Rafael Nadal will once more be the man to beat. His defeat to the in-form Dominic Thiem in Barcelona makes the Austrian one of the favourites this week in the Spanish capital. Roger Federer will be making one of his very few clay court appearances in Madrid and could cause an upset whilst Novak Djokovic will be looking to assert himself as world number one.
2019 Tournament Preview (Women’s)
Defending champion Petra Kvitova has been in supreme form all season and will be looking to return to Madrid in style following her win in Stuttgart last time out. Simona Halep tends to play her best stuff on clay and will have one eye on Naomi Osaka at the top of the rankings too. Karolina Pliskova has also enjoyed a good year on the WTA Tour and will be looking to go deep as will Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber.
2019 Madrid Open Tournament Preview
Women’s Outright Winner Odds:-
The European clay court swing has been thrilling thus far on the WTA Tour and the Madrid Open promises to provide even more drama.
Here are some of our favourites for the Madrid Open title:-
Petra Kvitova – 7/1 (Bet365) –
Czech superstar Petra Kvitova continues to blaze a trail at the top of the women’s game and her win in Stuttgart last time out demonstrated her versatility across the WTA Tour. She has a game well suited to all surfaces and will be hoping to defend her trophy here.
Simona Halep– 15/2 (Ladbrokes) –
Arguably the best female clay court player in the world, Simona Halep is a two time winner in Madrid and will be relishing the chance to pick up a third trophy in the Spanish capital. The Romanian is the reigning French Open champion and needs to find form before her trophy defence in Paris.
Naomi Osaka – 9/1 (Betsafe) –
World number 1 Naomi Osaka is going for a third straight Grand Slam title at Roland Garros at the end of the month but she will first have to prove herself on clay. She has all the skills to be a real threat on the dirt but is yet to prove it at the highest level as yet – she could be a little overpriced here.
Kiki Bertens – 11/1 (Royal Panda) –
Hard hitting Dutch woman Kiki Bertens arrives in Madrid in reasonable form following a run to the semi-finals in Stuttgart last time out. Another player who would arguably recognise clay as her favoured surface and from the number 7 seeding in the draw, she could have a good week here.
Ashleigh Barty – 13/1 (888sport) –
Australian superstar Ashleigh Barty continues to produce the goods on the WTA Tour and her Miami Open defence last time out demonstrated her multiple qualities. She probably wouldn’t place clay as her favoured surface but her huge variety within her game could be an asset on the dirt.
Angelique Kerber – 16/1 (Guts) –
Wimbledon Angelique Kerber had a strong run to the quarter finals in Stuttgart last week before falling to an in-form Kiki Bertens. She would prefer to play on quicker courts than the notoriously ‘sticky’ ones in Madrid but could hurt people from her 6th seeding in the draw.
Sloane Stephens – 25/1 (Betsson) –
Last year’s French Open finalist Sloane Stephens has endured a tricky 12 months but still finds herself very much in the world’s top 10 players. Her powerful game mixed with her exquisite touch play makes her an ideal candidate on clay courts and she looks to have a decent draw.
Johanna Konta – 66/1 (Bet365) –
British number 1 Johanna Konta reached her first ever clay court final last time out in Rabat as she attempts to climb the rankings once more. She has had her struggles over the past 12 months and has never got past the second round in Madrid but could be an outside punt here.