Defending champ Swiatek finds Eala, Ostapenko in her section

The Mutua Madrid Open main draw came out on Sunday, speeding up the countdown to the year’s first WTA 1000 clay-court event.

Madrid: Draws | Scores | Order of play | Tournament info

It is, of course, a packed field, with 29 of the Top 30 players among the seeds (reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova is the missing Top 30 player, due to injury).

View the entire main draw on the WTA website HERE!

Main-draw play begins on Tuesday, April 22. The 32 seeded players all get first-round byes and will start their campaigns on Thursday, April 24.

Here is a breakdown of the draw highlights:

First quarter

Top seeds: [1] Aryna Sabalenka, [8] Zheng Qinwen, [9] Paula Badosa, [15] Amanda Anisimova

Notable first rounds: Emma Raducanu Vs. Suzan Lamens; Veronika Kudemetova Vs. Polina Kudemetova

Two-time Madrid champion Aryna Sabalenka tops the draw, and she will enter in strong clay-court form. This week, she reached her fourth Stuttgart final on indoor clay.

Sabalenka will face a qualifier in the second round, and she might face No. 15 seed Amanda Anisimova in the Round of 16. Anisimova won this year’s first WTA 1000 title in Doha; she also leads Sabalenka 5-2 in their head-to-head.

Top Spaniard Paula Badosa is in this quarter as the No. 9 seed, although her lower back injury issues have caused her to miss or pull out of her last four scheduled events.

If Badosa plays, she is guaranteed to face a Kudermetova sister in the second round. Siblings Veronika, 27, and Polina, 21, will have their first-ever WTA meeting in the opening round.

At the bottom of this quarter is No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen. In her most recent match on red clay, Zheng won the Olympic gold medal at Roland Garros.

Second quarter

Top seeds: [3] Jessica Pegula, [6] Jasmine Paolini, [10] Elena rybakina, [14] Daria Kasatkina, [17] Elina Svitolina

Notable first rounds: Victoria Azarenka vs. Olga Danilovic; McCartney Kessler vs. Bianca Andreescu

World No. 3 Jessica Pegula tops this quarter and will meet either Eva Lys or a qualifier in the second round. Pegula could meet No. 26 seed Ons Jabeur in a rematch of the 2022 Madrid final, which Jabeur won.

Pegula has won more tour-level matches than any player this year (26), although she was ousted in the Stuttgart quarterfinals by Ekaterina Alexandrova, who could be her Round of 16 opponent in Madrid.

The other end of this quarter could pit No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini against No. 10 seed Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16. However, watch out for No. 17 seed Elina Svitolina, who just won the indoor clay-court title in Rouen and lurks in this section.

Also in this quarter, the Rouen runner-up, Olga Danilovic, will meet two-time Madrid finalist and former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the first round.

Third quarter

Top seeds: [4] Coco Gauff, [7] Mirra Andeve, [12] Karolina in a civil, [16] Beatriz Haddad Maia

No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva is at the top of this section, as she seeks her third WTA 1000 title of the year following trophies at Dubai and Indian Wells.

Andreeva had her big breakthrough in Madrid two years ago, when she made the Round of 16 as a wild card on her 16th birthday. Andreeva, who will turn 18 during this year’s edition, will meet either Renata Zarazua or Marie Bouzkova in the second round.

World No. 4 Coco Gauff is at the other end of this quarter. She has tricky potential opponents throughout her section, including Clara Tauson, who is edging closer to a Top 20 debut, and Belinda Bencic, who is already back in the Top 50 after maternity leave.

Fourth quarter

Top seeds: [2] Iga Swiatek, [5] Madison Keys, [11] Emma Navarro, [13] Diana Janet

Notable first rounds: Naomi Osaka vs. Lucia Bronzetti; Katie Volynets vs. Petra Kvitov

World No. 2 and defending champion Iga Swiatek sits at the bottom of the draw. She won her first Madrid title last year, saving three championship points to squeak past Sabalenka in the final.

Swiatek could see a familiar face in the second round: surging Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala, who knocked Swiatek out in the Miami quarterfinals. Eala would have to first beat Viktoriya Tomova to set up that rematch.

If Swiatek can get through that area, she could potentially face No. 23 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the Round of 16. Ostapenko just beat Swiatek in Stuttgart and holds a perfect 6-0 record in their head-to-head.

Also in that portion is Petra Kvitova, who holds the record for the most Madrid titles with three (2011, 2015 and 2018). Kvitova is still searching for the first win of her comeback from maternity leave. She faces Katie Volynets in the first round.

The other end of this quarter finds this year’s lone Grand Slam champion thus far, Madison Keys. No. 5 seed Keys could meet another Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, in the second round, if Osaka beats Lucia Bronzetti first.