Andy Murray, Angelique Kerber, others to play in virtual Madrid Open
Put down your tennis rackets and pick up your controllers! The ATP and WTA have announced (as of April 10th, 2020) that a virtual Madrid Open will be held from April 27th-30th.
The clay-court Masters 1000 tournament was scheduled to be held from May 1st to 10th but was canceled due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. With all tennis events postponed or scrapped completely through July 13th, an e-Sports substitute will be taking place to raise money for the ongoing threat.
ATP stars Andy Murray and Lucas Pouille were the top two male professionals confirmed to take part in the event. On the WTA side, 3-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber, as well as veteran Carla Suárez Navarro are the two confirmed female players so far.
“This is going to be a very exciting challenge,” Pouille said in a recent statement. “I’ve already started training because I want to win this tournament against my tennis peers as I know they play a lot. Thank you to the Mutua Madrid Open for this great initiative.”
The tournament will automatically donate €50,000 (50,000 Euros) to the reduction of the social impact of the coronavirus. Additionally, both events (ATP and WTA) will have a €150,000 purse, from which the two winners may decide how much of the winnings they choose to donate to the tennis community’s struggles with the virus (mostly lower-level tour players with little to no income without tournaments being played).
The format of the tournament, originally reported by the ATP, will consist of 4 groups of 4 players in a group stage format. The top two players from each group will move on; the final eight players will compete in a single-elimination knockout style to determine the overall champion. Alongside the main tournament draw, there will be additional benefit matches, with some of the gaming community’s top creators facing off against the ATP and WTA stars for extra donations to those affected by COVID-19.
As the unveiling of players is confirmed, more updates will be available via the Lob and Smash website and the L&S official Twitter page.