Preview: Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open

Preview: Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open
City: Madrid, Spain
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 1000
2008 Singles Champion: Andy Murray
2008 Doubles Champions: Mariusz Frystenberg and Marcin Markowski

Andy Murray will be on hand to defend the title. He won the tournament last year, but the tournament had previously been an indoor hardcourt event. This year and from now on, the tournament will be played on clay.

Now that the tournament is on clay, there is no doubt that Rafael Nadal is the hands-down favorite. He is having another great year and posting ridiculous stats along the way. The million-dollar question is whether anyone else will step up and beat him. On clay, even Djokovic, Murray, and Federer have yet to really challenge him. We shall see this week.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Malfeasance
Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs. Juan Monaco (ARG)
Nicolas Kiefer (GER) vs. Tommy Robredo (ESP)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. Marat Safin (RUS)
Mario Ancic (CRO) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)

And The Qualifiers Are . . .
Guillermo Canas (ARG) def. Flavio Cipolla 4-6 6-3 6-3
Teumuraz Gabashvili (RUS) def. Dusan Vemic (SRB) 4-6 6-4 7-6(5)
Eduardo Schwank (ARG) def. Evgeny Korolev (RUS) 6-2 6-2
Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-3
Marco Crugnola (ITA) def. Ivan Navarro 1-6 6-2 6-1
Fabio Fognini def. Alberto Martin 1-6 6-3 7-6(9)
Tommy Haas (GER) def. Pablo Andujar (ESP) 6-3 6-4

Singles First Round
Tommy Robredo (ESP) def. Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 3-6 6-2 6-2
Sam Querrey (USA) def. 15 Radek Stepanek (CZE) 7-6(2) 5-2 ret - left knee
WC Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) def. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-3 4-6 6-4

Monday’s Order of Play

Watch Live
The Tennis Channel – 4:00 AM EST

(Image: Getty Images)