Full Madrid Open lineups announced: predictions for the winners

The Madrid Open lineup has been completed. Which two players are going to come out on top? We’ll discuss the full lineups, as well as the projected winners.

The virtual Madrid Open lineups have been officially filled, with 16 ATP and 16 WTA players preparing to take the stage for tennis’ first-ever virtual tournament. From April 27-30th, players will compete in a  group stage (in fours), with the top two players from each group advancing to the single-elimination knockout round. The two winners, one from both the ATP and WTA, will be awarded 150,000 euros to give out to lower-ranked players in need of financial support. An additional 50,000 euros will be given to help fund the social impact of COVID-19.

With that being said, the full lineups have been made official. On the ATP side, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov join the fold to complete the 16-player ATP side. Tsitsipas, the current champion of the Nitto ATP Finals, was also the 2019 finalist in Madrid (losing to Novak Djokovic) and is excited to join the field.

"“Happy to prove my parents wrong back in the day when they used to tell me playing video games would bring me nowhere in my life,” said Tsitsipas to the ATP. “It’s great being part of the first virtual online tennis tournament with actual professional tennis players.”"

Shapovalov, the current ATP #16, reached the semifinals of his first Madrid Open appearance in 2018. He’ll look to build off of that momentum going into the virtual tournament. On the WTA side, recent retiree and former WTA World #1 Caroline Wozniacki, as well as current #24 Donna Vekic will complete the field for the women.

"“I’m very excited about playing,” Wozniacki said to the WTA. “I’m looking forward to showing off my skills with a PS4 controller and I can’t wait for my first match!”"

Here are the full tournament lineups for both sides:

ATP: Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andy Murray, Denis Shapovalov, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, David Goffin, Fabio Fognini, Diego Schwartzman, Karen Khachanov, John Isner, Lucas Pouille, David Ferrer, Frances Tiafoe,

WTA: Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Bianca Andreescu, Belinda Bencic, Kiki Bertens, Angelique Kerber, Madison Keys, Kristina Mladenovic, Carla Suárez, Victoria Azarenka, Johanna Konta, Fiona Ferro, Eugenie Bouchard, Sorana Cirstea, Caroline Wozniacki, Donna Vekic

Who’s going to come out on top?

With all of the anticipation that there is regarding the event, we need to know who’s going to come out on top?

It’s a pretty tough one to judge. 5-time champion, Rafael Nadal, may not be the best gamer and could end up getting knocked out early. The game’s top players may not be the best gamers!

On the ATP side, I’m going to go with either Tsistipas or Gael Monfils to come out on top. Monfils, as well as Elina Svitolina (who I’ll get to shortly), have been regularly gaming in preparation for the event. Although mostly playing FIFA, the familiarity with playing on PS4 will surely give him the advantage. Apparently, Monfils was gaming so much that it led to a hand injury two months ago. Regardless, he’s one of my picks to come out of the tournament as the winner.

For Tsistipas, he’s made it clear that he’s been gaming for a while, to the point of being able to challenge YouTubers in FIFA. Yes, he hasn’t been playing much virtual tennis, but I think his gaming experience will outweigh most of his competitors.

On the WTA side, Elina Svitolina is my choice to come out on top for the women. Svitolina has been gaming alongside Monfils and has been getting her fair share of practice over the last few weeks. Given her practicing, I’d bet on her to come out of the women’s side on top.

Let us know who you think is going to win the tournament @lobandsmashfs on Twitter!