The best tennis players in the world will be strutting their stuff at the Mutua Madrid Open once again this year in an edition that will include former champions of the Caja Magica such as Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek.

The 21-year-old Spaniard will again be one of the biggest draws on the Madrid clay, a stage where he already has claimed two titles (2022-23). Alcaraz, who reached the quarter-finals last year, has a 15-2 record at a tournament where he will be trying to match the trophy haul of legends Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The Serb will be among the names to have signed up to the event in the Spanish capital who did not compete there last year. The three-time Mutua Madrid Open champion will be returning for the first time since 2022, and he will do so as the player with the most ATP Masters 1000 match wins in history, having surpassed Rafael Nadal’s 410 in Miami.

Among the names in the tournament’s winners circle is that of Alexander Zverev, who was crowned the king of Madrid in 2018 and 2021, as well as Andrey Rublev, the defending champion. The pair are the only two players to have won in the Caja Magica without having been a world No. 1.

Of all the stars in the men’s competition, some clay specialists will be hoping to take advantage of the surface, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, the runner-up in 2019; Casper Ruud, a two-time finalist at Roland Garros; and consolidated Top 10 players like Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur.

In the WTA event, all eyes will be on the frenetic rivalry that has developed in recent seasons in Madrid between the two best players in the world; No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek. The pair have clashed in the two most recent finals at the tournament, with one victory apiece.

Sabalenka, a two-time champion, has a 17-2 record at the tournament since the start of her foray to the title in 2021. Her game is a perfect match for the clay of Madrid and she will be the player to beat. However, Swiatek proved she has what it takes to do just that last year when she completed her collection of the titles on the surface

Beside their tete-a-tete, the USA’s Top 10 players; Coco Gauff, a former French Open finalist and also a runner-up in the doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open; Jessica Pegula, the 2022 finalist; and Madison Keys, who reached the semifinals last season, will all have a good chance of going deep.

Local hopes lie firmly on the shoulders of Paula Badosa, who is vying to become the first home player to win the women’s singles in the Caja Magica after Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa became the first Spaniards to do so in the doubles in 2024. The Catalan, who is back among the tour’s elite, reached the semifinals in 2021.

Young talents such as Mirra Andreeva, who has already won two WTA 1000 tournaments this season at the age of 17, and the ATP Tour’s big sensation, Joao Fonseca cannot be forgotten either. The 18-year-old Brazilian won his first title in February at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires.

Now that the 2025 Mutua Madrid Open entry list is official, the stage is set for the first balls to be hit in anger in the Caja Magica, from 21 April to 4 May.