The WTA returns to Madrid for what is one of the highlights of each summer clay season – The Mutua Madrid Open.
Held inside the futuristic Caja Magica tennis complex in the Spanish capital, the Mutua Madrid Open has been Spain’s premier tennis tournament ever since the first edition was held in 1996.
Being a WTA tournament of the highest possible category, the draw for the Mutua Madrid Open is packed with all the big-name players the sport has to offer right now, the only two notable absentees are Jelena Jankovic & Dominika Cibulkova, both of which can’t play due to injury.
On Friday, a 32-player qualifying field got underway to fight for the eight available main draw spots. Victorious players included Germany’s Julia Görges, American Christina McHale, as well as Donna Vekic. The Croatian rising star recently made headlines due to her private life, but the circumstances didn’t seem to affect the young player much, as Vekic battled her way through a hard-fought three-setter against Elena Vesnina.
While qualifying action was in full swing on the outer courts, it was time for some light-hearted fun on center court as the Mutua Madrid Open Charity Day was on Friday’s agenda as well.
A big selection of Spanish celebrities & ATP players was on hand, joined by world #1 Serena Williams, best friend Caroline Wozniacki & Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, who did their best to entertain the crowd.
Tomorrow will be a mixed day of both qualifying play and the start of the main draw, including the first matches of some big-name players, among them Ana Ivanovic.
Check back to Women’s Tennis Blog all week for all the latest live coverage from the Caja Magica in the Spanish capital!
Thanks again for the wonderful batch of photos. My favorites from this selection are the friendship takes of Woz and Serena 🙂 I’m sure I’ll use them in some of my future posts.
Great pictures Jimmie! I especially like Julia’s and Donna’s pictures.