The WTA Madrid Open 2022 will be the first WTA-1000 category clay-court event of the season on the WTA Tour. It will be the first of the two WTA-1000 events that are scheduled during the Golden Swing. This year’s event will be the 13th edition of the tournament on the WTA Tour.
Tournament Details:
- Tournament: WTA Madrid Open 2022
- Date: April 28- May 7, 2022
- Number of Entrants: 56 (Singles), 28 (Doubles)
- Venue: Park Manzanares, Madrid
- Surface: Clay Court
- Prize Money: $6,575,560
- Defending champion: Aryna Sabalenka
Top Seeds at the WTA Madrid Open 2022
- Iga Swiatek
- Paula Badosa
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Maria Sakkari
- Karolina Pliskova
- Danielle Collins
- Garbine Muguruza
- Ons Jabeur
Top Half
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek opens the top half and awaits a qualifier looking to meet Petra Kvitova who starts against Jil Teichmann. Apart from Elena Rybakina who also starts against a qualifier, Iga can easily move to the quarter-finals with the Round of 16 clash with Elena being the only tricky affair for the Pole.
British No. 1 Emma Raducanu starts against Tereza Martincova in her Madrid Open debut and can meet Clara Tauson in round 2 with the Danish girl starting against Marta Kostyuk. Sloane Stephens starts against Anhelina Kalinina while Ajla Tomljanovic will take on local girl and 7th seed Garbine Muguruza in a fiery first-round clash. Muguruza looks likely to take on Raducanu in the third round.
4th seed Maria Sakkari begins against Madison Keys with the winner set to take on Leylah Fernandez who looks likely to defeat Daria Kasatkina in the opener. Naomi Osaka will make her clay debut awaiting a qualifier while 13th seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will also return to action against localite Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Surprise package Linda Fruhvirtova awaits a qualifier and could take on Jessica Pegula in round two if the American beats Camila Giorgi. Bianca Andreescu will start against Alison Riske while Monica Puig takes on Danielle Collins in the first round to complete the top half of the draw.
1st Semifinal Prediction: Iga Swiatek vs Maria Sakkari
Bottom Half
Karolina Pliskova starts against a qualifier and is likely to meet another qualifier in the second round as well. Apart from former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, there is no challenge for the former World No. 1 to stop her from reaching the quarter-finals. 15th seeded Victoria Azarenka will take on Viktorija Golubic and could set up an all-Belarusian clash in the third round as defending champion Aryna Sabalenka starts against Amanda Anisimova and can make her way to the third round easily.
8th seeded Ons Jabeur begins against Jasmine Paolini and has an easy route to the third round except for the challenge of 11th seeded Belinda Bencic who awaits a qualifier in the first round. 14th seeded Coco Gauff also waits for a qualifier and can meet her compatriot Shelby Rogers in round two as Rogers starts against Yulia Putintseva.
Simona Halep starts against Shuai Zhang while home favourite and World No. 2 Paula Badosa takes on Veronika Kudermetova in the first round. Badosa has a tough road as she is likely to clash with Halep in the second round and can meet Gauff in the third round.
2nd Semifinal Prediction: Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa
Semifinals
Swiatek and Sakkari are slowly building a good rivalry between them. After Sakkari won the first three meetings, Iga won the next two with the 2022 Indian Wells Open finals being the latest one. While Sakkari has not had a good start on Clay losing her only match, she has a good record on the surface but will it be enough against Iga remains a question.
Sabalenka and Badosa have met thrice so far and two of those have been won by the Spaniard. Sabalenka has been in a hot-and-cold form but her run to the finals of Stuttgart this year would have boosted her confidence and being the defending champion this year, she will surely be looking to make a good defence.
WTA Madrid Open 2022 Final: Iga Swiatek vs Paula Badosa
Final
Swiatek and Badosa look to make a good final given their consistency this season across surfaces. The two share one win apiece against each other. While Badosa will have the crowd support, Iga can expect some for herself as well given she is slowly turning crowd favourite wherever she goes. Comparing their form this season, it looks like another Iga victory but Badosa won’t be a pushover and the duo can certainly put up a great final.
Champion: Iga Swiatek
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