10 FACTS FOR MADRID & ROME

10 Fast Facts to Know for

10 Fast Facts to Know for Madrid & Rome 56 2020 US OPEN PREVIEW

The Mutua Madrid Open cancelled its 2020 edition due to safety concerns over spiking coronavirus cases. The tournament, originally scheduled for May 1-10th, was initially rescheduled to September 12-20th before its cancellation.

The 2021 Mutua Madrid Open is scheduled for April 30th-May 9th. Fans who purchased tickets for the 2020 tournament can retain those tickets and are guaranteed the same seats for the same session in 2021.

The Internazionali BNL d’Italia commonly called the Italian Open will be staged on the red clay of Rome’s historic Foro Italico September 14th-21st. Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova are the reigning Rome champions.

Rafael Nadal has won a men’s record five Madrid titles (2005, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017). Petra Kvitova holds the Madrid women’s record with three titles (2011, 2015, 2018).

2020 US OPEN PREVIEW 57 Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Five of the last 10 Madrid finalists Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem (2017-2018) and Stefanos Tsitsipas have one-handed backhands.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy The Caja Mágica (“Magic Box”) home of Madrid hosts three stadium clay courts with retractable roofs. Court Manolo Santana hosts 12,500 fans, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario stadium court can house 3,500 fans and Stadium 3 has a 2.500- seat capacity.

Sixteen of the 18 Madrid men’s champions have been current or former world No. 1 players. Only two men—David Nalbandian (2007) and Alexander Zverev (2018)—have won the title without rising to world No. 1.

Two-time Madrid singles champion Serena Williams is the only woman in tournament history to raise both singles and doubles crowns. Serena partnered sister Venus Williams to win the 2010 Madrid doubles title.

In the 1979 Rome semifinals, 16-year-old Tracy Austin rallied from 1-4 down in the decisive set edging Chrissie Evert 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) to snap Evert’s historic 125-match clay-court win streak.

Rafael Nadal has won a record nine titles at the

The king of clay owns the record for longest finals in Rome history. In 2005, Nadal out-dueled Guillermo Coria 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6) in a fivehour, 14-minute epic. The next year, Nadal denied two championship points edging rival Roger Federer in five hours, six Foro Italico.

minutes. Since 2000, five women have successfully defended Rome: Amélie Mauresmo (2004-2005), Jelena Jankovic (2007- 2008), Maria Sharapova (2011-2012), Serena Williams (2013-2014) and Elina Svitolina (2017- 2018).

The last man to sweep both Madrid and Rome in succession was Rafael Nadal in 2013. Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka in the Madrid final before beating Roger Federer weeks later in the 2013 Rome final.

The last woman to win Madrid and Rome back-to-back was Serena Williams, who also achieved the feat in 2013. Serena stopped Maria Sharapova in the Madrid final before vanquishing Victoria Azarenka in the Rome final weeks later.