This season will see the ninth edition of the Under-16 Mutua Madrid Open since its inauguration ten years ago (the event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). From 3 to 7 May, a total of 32 young guns under the age of 16 will be bidding for the Caja Mágica crown.

16 male and 16 female players will square off in a tournament they qualified for in one of 16 heats held all across the Spanish territory.

The competition started on 10 June 2022 at the Academia Tenis Ferrer in La Nucía, where Charo Esquiva and Andrés Santamarta were the first to book their tickets to the final stage. The second heat took place at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid from15 to 17 July. There, Marina Gatell and Theodor Matei Ene sealed their places.

A week later, the Club de Tenis Málaga witnessed Lorena Solar Donoso and Rubén Fernández Ruiz claim the title, while the fourth event took place at the Real Club de Tenis San Sebastián from 2 to 4 September, when Meritxel Teixidó and Enzo Pereira Flores triumphed. A few days later, at the Real Zaragoza Club de Tenis, Idoia Razquin Anaut and David Muñoz Botia came out on top.

From 21 to 23 October, the Club de Tenis Jávea – Academia David Ferrer proved lucky for Laia Tarazona Peyro and Eric Maestre Gómez, while the Real Club Jolaseta (Bilbao), from 11 to 13 November, crowned Eugenia Menéndez Soto and Bautista Durrels Rojo.

Also in November, from the 18th to the 20th, the Club Río Grande in Seville provided the stage for the victories of Irene Serrano Maestre and Ángel Fonseca García, before Adriana Tirado Marín and Iván Menéndez Soto took the spoils from the 25th to the 27th at the BTT Tennis Academy in Valldoriex.

The final heat of 2022 took place at the Ciudad de la Raqueta in Madrid, from 16 to 18 December, and was won by Julianna Giaccio and Yurii Hoida. The new year was seen in by the Club de Tenis Almería, from 20 to 22 January, where Wozuko Mdlulwa and Sergi Fita earned their places in the final stage.

February was a busy month, with visits to the Sporting Club de Tenis in Valencia, from the 3rd to the 5th, where Julianna Giaccio and Theodor Matei Ene became the first players to win two heats. From the 17th to the 19th, the tour stopped at the Murcia Club de Tenis, with wins for Gabriela Cynthia Paun Lazar and David Muñoz Botia, who claimed his second trophy. The month was closed out at the Rafa Nadal Academy, from the 24th to the 26th, where victory went to Sorana Matis and Xavier Palomar.

Finally, the last two heats were played out in March. The first took place at the Cercle Sabadellés, from the 10th to the 12th, when Marina Quesada and Valentín González Galiño-Ortuño qualified, while the second was held at the Caja Mágica, where Marta Picó and Yurii Hoida, with a second crown, brought ten months of passionate competition to an end.

In the girls’ competition, the final place in the draw of 16 – because there was a two-time champion – went to the leader of the consistency ranking: Sofía Fernández Figueras. Meanwhile, in the boys’ event, three extra tickets, by the same means, went to: Pablo Pérez Navarro, Nicolás Juan Maño and Augusto Pardo Cano.

We now know the identities of all the players who will be bidding to put their names alongside those of the superstars playing in the Caja Mágica as they compete in the Final Stage of the Under-16 Mutua Madrid Open, from 3 to 7 May.

Results of the 16 qualifying heats

Boys’ Under-16 Mutua Madrid Open winners
2022 – Luis GARCÍA
2021 – Alejandro JUAN
2020 – No se celebró por la incidencia del covid-19
2019 – Alejandro MANZANERA
2018 – Mario MANSILLA
2017 – Jaime CALDES
2016 – Nicolás ÁLVAREZ
2015 – Miguel DAMAS
2014 – Eduard GÜELL

Girls’ Under-16 Mutua Madrid Open Winners
2022 – Ruth ROURA
2021 – Marta SORIANO
2020 – No se celebró por la incidencia del covid-19
2019 – Victoria JIMÉNEZ
2018 – Ane MINTEGI
2017 – Leyre ROMERO
2016 – Lucía CORTEZ
2015 – Marina BASSOLS
2014 – Marta HUQING