After Monday’s draw ceremony at the Mutua Madrid Open the main draw is now set at the Caja Mágica, where the stars of the ATP Tour will be bidding for one of the most sought-after trophies on the calendar. After a ceremony that was attended by Jaume Munar, who pulled out the tokens, and tournament director Feliciano López, the clay of the spectacular Manolo Santana Stadium now awaits the best tennis players in the world.

Carlos Alcaraz will start his campaign for a third consecutive trophy in the Caja Mágica on a route that is plagued with danger. The champion of the last two editions, who opens against Alexander Shevchenko or Arthur Rinderknech, shares a sector with Lorenzo Musetti, whom he may meet in round three. Players with experience of ATP Masters 1000 finals on clay, such as Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune, could provide a genuine threat for the Spaniard en route to the semi-finals. The possibility of an unprecedented achievement at the Mutua Madrid Open is in the hands of the Murcia native as he embarks on his campaign at one of the key events of the clay swing.

In the same half of the draw, two-time champion Alexander Zverev will be bidding to earn back a crown he has won convincingly in the past. The German will deploy his game in a sector replete with Latin American talent, with Facundo Díaz Acosta, Francisco Cerúndolo and Tomás Martín Etcheverry as his possible opponents early in the tournament. American Taylor Fritz, who recently played the first final on clay of his career, or Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, whose service will be frighteningly quick at the altitude of the Spanish capital, will ensure the player from Hamburg will have to be at his best if he is to succeed.

Jannik Sinner arrives in Madrid with new-earned respect. The player to beat so far in the 2024 season, who is the number one seed in the main draw for the first time, will have to negotiate a draw full of obstacles as he entertains the Spanish capital. The Italian could open against his compatriot Lorenzo Sonego and is faced with a sector packed with high-calibre players of the likes of the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Norway’s Casper Ruud, who is flying high after the biggest trophy of his career in Barcelona.

Also in the top half of the draw, Daniil Medvedev will continue to build on his clay game on a special stage. At the highest-altitude clay tournament in Europe, the ball speed of the number three seed promises to be a stumbling block for many of his opponents. The defending champion in Rome will attempt to adjust his shots to the brick dust in a sector where five-time champion Rafael Nadal could appear in the quarter-finals. The Mallorcan will play his first match against Darwin Blanch and face Alex de Minaur again in the second round. The shadow of Stefanos Tsitsipas, the champion of the year’s first Masters 1000 on the surface, looms large in a tough looking sector. Medvedev, who has never progressed from the last sixteen in the Spanish capital, could play his opener against Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi or the Australian Christopher O’Connell.