The Madrid Masters gets underway this week as the clay-court season continues. In the round of 128, Sloan Stephens takes on Martina Tevisan and Mirra Andreeva faces Taylor Townsend. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour – WTA 1000
Mutua Madrid Masters
La Caja Magica, Madrid, Spain (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Ro128 Matches – 24 April
Sloane Stephens 32/100 | Martina Trevisan 23/10
This should be an intriguing clash between two highly capable clay-court players. Sloane Stephens’ confidence should be sky-high after her somewhat surprising victory in Rouen last week. The mercurial American went into last week’s tournament in pretty anonymous form (she hadn’t reached a quarter-final all season).
But she came to the party in typical Sloane Stephens fashion, securing her first WTA title in over two years (and eighth overall). The 2017 US Open champion has often been criticised for lacking the hunger to remain at the very top level. But her ability to just win events out of nowhere speaks to her undoubted talent.
She is also an accomplished clay-court player, winning the Charleston Open in 2016 and reaching the French Open final in 2018. She has also reached the fourth round or better of the French Open on nine occasions. Can she pick herself back up this week or will she still be feeling the effects of her exertions in Rouen?
30-year-old Italian Martina Trevisan has endured a miserable campaign, bringing a worrying 2-9 tour-level record into this year’s Madrid Open. But she should feel slightly more confident as we enter the clay-court section of the season.
The lefty generates plenty of topspin on her forehand side and she has an excellent kick-serve that can put players out of position. She reached the quarter-finals of the French Open back in 2022 and improved to a semi-final finish in 2022.
Trevisan enjoyed a decent 2023 season, reaching WTA 1000 quarter-finals in Miami and Guadalajara. She will be hoping to reignite her flagging campaign with some solid clay-court results. She beat Osaka in Rouen last week and she will look to build on that result moving forward.
The Verdict: Trevisan to win in three sets 6/1
This will be the first career meeting between these two. This match all hinges on Stephens’ motivation levels this week. She may still be coming down from last week’s win and she could potentially phone it in a bit.
I think that Trevisan’s awkward lefty serve and undoubted clay-court prowess will bother Stephens. She produces enormous topspin and will probably force Stephens into a smorgasbord of errors.
Mirra Andreeva 6/10 | Taylor Townsend 13/10
This promises to be a fascinating early clash in this year’s Madrid Open. Russian teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva has become one of tennis’ hottest prospects over the last year or so, compiling a sequence of eye-catching results in Grand Slam tennis.
She reached the third round of last year’s French Open before reaching the final 16 in Wimbledon. She reached her maiden WTA quarter-final in Brisbane earlier this year and she reinforced her terrific young Grand Slam pedigree with a fourth round run at the Aussie Open.
Her form has subsided since then but she enjoyed a solid start to her clay-court campaign, reaching the quarter-finals of last week’s Open de Rouen. Andreeva has a solid baseline game that hinges on redirection and solid counterpunching.
Situated at altitude, these Madrid surfaces are quicker than your average clay-court and I think that will suit her. She can redirect the ball more swiftly and she doesn’t have to generate too much power on her own.
She has worked on becoming a bit more aggressive this year but I still think she needs a little more time to develop a natural weapon. Still, she moves brilliantly and she should enjoy these conditions.
Taylor Towsend has the potential to be a real late bloomer on the WTA circuit. The 28-year-old American has enjoyed some notable doubles success throughout her career, harnessing her powerful serve and excellent volleying abilities to reach two Grand Slam finals.
But she has battled fitness issues throughout her career and has struggled to really impose herself on the singles circuit. But she has trimmed down lately and she has been playing some really impressive tennis this year.
She nearly got the better of eventual finalist Elena Rybakina in the Miami Open. And she looked brilliant last time out at the Charleston Open, easily seeing off former Aussie Open champ Sofia Kenin and recent Miami semi-finalist Ekaterina Alexandrova. She then surrendered a one-set lead in her quarter-final clash against Azarenka.
But make no mistake, Townsend looks a completely different player to the nervous operator of recent seasons. She has a dominant serve and she should get decent kick off these surfaces.
Verdict: Townsend to win in straight sets 26/10
This will be their first career meeting. I think Townsend has been hinting at a bit of surge recently and she could overpower the counterpunching Russian.
She just needs to keep that first-serve percentage up and lean into her forehand wing. It will be interesting to see how much she elects to serve-and-volley. She seemed reluctant to do it in South Carolina but may feel emboldened by these conditions.
