Clay-Court Circuit Moves To Madrid: The fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year is in Madrid, where 19 of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings will descend on the Spanish capital. The Mutua Madrid Open has been staged on clay since 2009 and is held at the Caja Magica, with Spaniards winning the title five times since the inaugural edition 15 years ago. Four-time champion Rafael Nadal leads the home charge and is joined by fellow former winners Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Murray is the top seed, with Djokovic seeded second, Stan Wawrinka third and Nadal fourth. 10 THINGS TO KNOW IN MADRID 1) Big 4 Domination: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger...
Novak Djokovic enters this week's Mutua Madrid Open in a situation unlike any he has experienced during the past decade. The defending champion arrives at the Spanish capital after having severed ties with his long-time team of coach Marian Vajda, fitness coach Gebhard Phil Gritsch and physiotherapist Miljan Amanovic. But Djokovic, who announced the split on his website last week, said he's excited about this new phase of his career and is energised by the challenge of returning to the top of the ATP World Tour. “It was not an easy decision, neither for my team nor for me... This team has been there with me ever since I started a professional career. So it's been 10 fantastic, successful years,”...
Although Rafael Nadal has been garnering the most attention so far this clay-court season, World No. 1 Andy Murray expects to generate headlines of his own at the Mutua Madrid Open. The top seed will open his campaign against a wild card in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Marius Copil. After defeating Rafael Nadal to win the 2015 Madrid title and finishing runner-up last year to Novak Djokovic, he believes the environment at La Caja Mágica offers everything he needs to have another big week at this event. “It's a great city, beautiful city. The venue is great for the fans. You have some really good courts. There's lots of fans watching the practices,” said Murray. “We have a lot of space...
David Goffin exacted revenge on Karen Khachanov in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday. Less than two weeks after falling to the #NextGenATP Russian in Barcelona, the ninth seed notched a 6-2, 7-6(8) victory at the Caja Magica. Khachanov survived two match points while serving to stay in the match at 6-5, but was unable to deny a third in the ensuing tie-break, falling after one hour and 42 minutes. He was making his Madrid debut. Goffin, who reached the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters last month, is looking continue his strong run of form in the Spanish capital. He will face either Marcel Granollers or Florian Mayer next, with Istanbul finalist Milos Raonic and...
