After a nice period where tennis fans were blessed with multiple tournaments and – gasp – a one-week Masters 1000 – it’s back to the slow, eternal slog of a two-week 1000 with the start of Madrid.
Only qualifying on this Monday, but at least there are both men’s and women’s qualifying.
Yuliia Starodubtseva, the top seed, was hurt by the entry deadline as her current ranking, after her Charleston final, was more than enough to get her straight into the main draw. Timing is everything.
(Madrid is six hours ahead of EDT)
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Location: Madrid, Spain
Category: WTA 1000 (Joint event with the ATP Tour)
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Dates: April 21 – May 3, 2026
Prize Money: $8,235,540
Draws: S96 – D32
Monday, April 20, 2026
Order of play
Qualifying, first round
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Arantxa Sanchez Stadium (10 a.m. start – 4 a.m. EDT)
1. [24] Dominika Salkova (CZE) vs. [WC] Ruth Roura Llaverias (ESP)
2. [3] Donna Vekic (CRO) vs. Léolia Jeanjea (FRA)
3. [14] Tamara Korpatsch (GER) vs. [PR] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)
4. [8] Dalma Galfi (HUN) vs. Leyre Romero Gormaz (ESP)
5. [16] Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) vs. Marina Bassols Ribera (ESP)
6. [17] Lulu Sun (NZL) vs. [WC] Ksenia Efremova (FRA)
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Court 4
1. [18] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) vs. Alina Charaeva (RUS)
2. [6] Anna Blinkova 9RUS) vs. Nuria Brancaccio (ITA)
3. [4] Panna Udvardy (HUN) vs. [WC] Julieta Pareja (USA)
4. [20] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs. Viktoriya Tomova (BUL)
5. [12] Diane Parry (FRA) vs. Sloane Stephens (USA)
6. [2] Anastasia Potapova (AUT) vs. Teodora Kostovic (SRB)
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Court 6
1. [10] Nikola Bartunkova (CZE) vs. Katarzya Kawa (POL)
2. [23] Rebecca Sramkova (SVK) vs. Rebeka Masarova (SUI)
3. [5] Katie Volyets (USA) vs. Oceane Dodin (FRA)
4. [1] Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) vs. Lucrezia Stefanini (ITA)
5. [11] Hanne Vandewinkel (BEL) vs. Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE)
6. [22] Sinja Kraus (AUT) vs. [PR] Martina Trevisan (ITA)
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Court 8
1. [7] Simona Walert (SUI) vs. Despina Papamichail (GRE)
2. [21] Suzan Lamens (NED) vs. Elvina Kalieva (USA)
3. [15] Veronika Erjavec (SLO) vs. [WC] Tyra Caterina Grant (ITA)
4. [19] Darja Vidmanova (CZE) vs. Lola Radivojevic (SRB)
5. [13] Daria Snigur (UKR) vs. [WC] Nauhany Vitoria Leme da Silva (BRA)
6. [9] Alycia Parks (USA) vs. [WC] Elina Avanesyan (ARM)
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