Madrid hit by mass exits

The 2026 Madrid Open has been reshaped before the main draw fully settles, with a wave of withdrawals stripping out seeds and former champions from both tours. (wtatennis.com) (atptour.com) On the women’s side, the WTA said on April 21 that No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova withdrew with a wrist injury and No. 12 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova pulled out with a lower back injury. The official women’s main-draw sheet released later that day lists both players as withdrawals and names Yuliia Starodubtseva and Panna Udvardy as lucky losers or alternates. (wtatennis.com) (wtafiles.wtatennis.com) On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz withdrew on April 17 with a wrist injury, and Novak Djokovic withdrew the same day because of injury as well. ATP Tour reports said Alcaraz had already pulled out of Barcelona after tests showed the problem was more serious than first expected, while Djokovic had not played since Indian Wells because of a right shoulder injury. (atptour.com 1) (atptour.com 2) Madrid is one of the biggest stops of the clay season, a combined ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event at Caja Mágica that runs from April 21 or 22 through May 3, depending on tour listings. The ATP and WTA both list 96-player singles draws, which means late exits open slots for qualifiers, lucky losers and lower-ranked direct entrants. (mutuamadridopen.com) (atptour.com) (wtatennis.com) That churn changes the bracket even when the tournament still has its top names. The women’s draw released on April 21 still includes Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Mirra Andreeva and Elina Svitolina, but Anisimova and Alexandrova are already marked out of the field. (wtafiles.wtatennis.com) The ATP field also moves differently without Alcaraz and Djokovic because Madrid has been one of the event’s most recognizable storylines in recent years. ATP Tour notes that Alcaraz won the title in 2022 and 2023, while Djokovic is a three-time Madrid champion and had been scheduled to return in May at Rome instead. (atptour.com 1) (atptour.com 2) Play was already underway in qualifying on April 21, with ATP results showing second-round qualifying matches completed before the main draw opened. That timing matters because every late withdrawal can pull another player into the tournament and alter first-round matchups. (atptour.com) (wtafiles.wtatennis.com) Madrid still has two weeks of matches ahead, but the version opening this week is not the one the tour first advertised. The draw is now being defined as much by who got in late as by who pulled out early. (atptour.com) (wtatennis.com)