Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff lead Madrid entry list

Defending champion and World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and World No.1 Iga Swiatek lead the entry list for the 2024 Madrid Open.

Madrid is the fifth WTA 1000 tournament of the calendar and features a 96-player singles draw and a 32-team doubles draw. The tournament is played on outdoor clay at the Caja Magica. This year, the entry cutoff is No.72, with American Taylor Townsend earning the last direct entry.

Using their special rankings, Paula Badosa (SR 34), Naomi Osaka (SR 36), Zhang Shuai (SR 48), Irina-Camelia Begu (SR 49), Shelby Rogers (SR 51), Lauren Davis (SR 59) and Amanda Anisimova (SR 61) have also earned direct entry.

Missing from this year’s entry list are Karolina Muchova (continuing wrist injury), Petra Kvitova (maternity) and Belinda Bencic (maternity).

The top five alternates are currently No.73 Viktoriya Tomova, No.74 Cristina Bucsa, No.75 Ashlyn Krueger, No.76 Nao Hibino and No.77 Tamara Korpatsch.

The two-week tournament begins main-draw play on April 23.

Sabalenka is a two-time Miami champion, having defeated reigning World No.1s to capture both titles. In 2021, Sabalenka edged Ashleigh Barty in three sets to win her first clay-court title. She added to her haul last year, defeating Swiatek in three sets to lift the trophy again.

No.6 Ons Jabeur, a champion in 2022, also returns to the Spanish capital.

Madrid is the biggest clay-court title missing from Swiatek’s trophy cabinet. She has won Stuttgart and Rome twice and Roland Garros three times. Swiatek will go into Miami with the most WTA 1000 titles so far this season after winning Doha and Indian Wells.

Madrid kicks off a pressure-packed run through the European clay courts in the spring. It is the first of two back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments followed by the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and leading into the second Grand Slam of the season at Roland Garros.