After Angelique Kerber and Carla Suarez Navarro became the first two WTA players to accept the challenge of trading their racquets for a video game controller in the innovative Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro, Eugenie Bouchard, Kristina Mladenovic, Kiki Bertens and Fiona Ferro joined the 16-player draw of the reinvented Madrid tournament.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no regular Mutua Madrid Open this year, rather, tennis players will compete on a Playstation 4 from the comfort and security of their homes. The event will take place from April 27th to 30th and fans will be able to follow the action online, on television and on social media. So far, Madrid is the only tournament who refused to accept a complete cancellation and came up with this virtual solution.
The 2019 Madrid champion Kiki Bertens said:
I will certainly miss not playing in Madrid this year as I really like the tournament but I will do my best to compete from the couch at home in the Tennis World Tour game. I will try my best to perform as well in the virtual game this year as I did last year on-court in Madrid.
Ten more WTA players will join the 16-women draw. On the men’s side, players confirmed so far are: Andy Murray, Lucas Pouille, Rafael Nadal, John Isner, David Goffin, and Karen Khachanov.