After last week’s announcement that Lara Arruabarrena and Sara Sorribes will be playing in the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament thanks to the invitations they received from the Mutua Madrid Open, today the tournament announced 3 wildcards for another 3 Spanish players who will now be able to compete in the Masters 1000 tournament that kicks off in just 17 days.
The sixteenth Mutua Madrid Open will enjoy the participation of Nicolás Almagro, Tommy Robredo and Guillermo García López, the organisers having confirmed these three invitations for the ATP main draw. With just 20 days until the tournament gets underway, the three Spanish players have confirmed their presence in the Caja Mágica as of 6 May.
Nicolás Almagro has not missed a single Mutua Madrid Open since his first in 2007. When the tournament moved to the Caja Mágica clay, he started to play a more important role in the tournament’s history. So much so that in 2010 he played Rafael Nadal for a place in the final, although he was unable to get past the future champion. Moreover, early this season he reached the quarter-finals in Doha, but an untimely injury at the Australian Open hampered his progression. The arrival of the clay-court season, a surface where he stands out as the active Spaniard with the third-highest number of wins (272) promises to be a trampoline for a return to his best. “I’m very grateful to the Mutua Madrid Open for the invitation to play in one of the most prestigious tournaments on tour. It is also very exciting to know that we are playing at home!”, said the player from Murcia.
For his part, Tommy Robredo is another of the players long associated with the Mutua Madrid Open. He and Feliciano López are the only active Spanish players to have taken part in the tournament’s first year, reaching the second round, where he bowed out to Jiri Novak. Since then he has played in the tournament ten times, with his best performance coming in 2004, where he reached the quarter-finals before Andre Agassi put a stop to his run. The Catalonian will arrive shortly after one of his best results of the year, reaching the quarters in Marrakech, after knocking out number one seed Grigor Dimitrov. “At the Mutua Madrid Open I have had great moments and after a year that was made difficult by injuries, I would like to thank the tournament for remembering me and granting me this invitation. I hope to repay them by playing well at the Caja Mágica”, stated the player from Olot.
Finally, Guillermo García López celebrated the arrival of the clay season with his recent qualification for the main draw in the ATP Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, where he came through the qualifiers. Season after season he has demonstrated his commitment to the Mutua Madrid Open, where he has not missed the main draw since the tournament was first played on the Caja Mágica clay. It was on this stage in 2011 when he played one of his best matches, seeing off Stan Wawrinka in the first round to later produce one of his best results to date, reaching the last sixteen, repeating the result from the previous year. In each of his eight participations he has bowed out to a player who knows what it is to be in the top 10. “I would like to thank Manolo Santana and Alberto Berasategui. I am very happy and very content, as this invitation is a great help, as my ranking does not allow me to play in the main draw because of injuries from last year. I will try and make the most of it, as I’m currently in good form and I’ll try and play my best tennis again in front of the home crowd”, the La Roda native said in Monte Carlo.
