Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Daria Kasatkina are among nine Australian players in main draw action at the prestigious Madrid Open.
Madrid, Spain, 22 April 2025 | Vivienne Christie
Stakes are high at Madrid’s iconic Caja Magica, where the world’s best players can build both clay-court momentum and career-defining milestones at elite 1000-level ATP and WTA tournaments.
As Andrey Rublev and Iga Swiatek set about defending their 2024 Madrid titles, many eyes will also be on the Australians showcasing pleasing form on clay this season – most notably, Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Daria Kasatkina, the highest-ranked contenders among nine Australians competing across the men’s and women’s draws.
De Minaur arrives at the second clay-court Masters tournament of the season with confidence from a semifinal run in Monte Carlo and a quarterfinal showing in Barcelona last week.
Granted a first-round bye by virtue of ranking, the seventh-seeded De Minaur faces either Lorenzo Songeo or Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round. He is aiming to progress past Madrid’s third round for the first time.
> RELATED: Dominant De Minaur powers into Monte Carlo semifinals
Popyrin eliminated Frances Tiafoe and Casper Ruud, seeded No.14 and No.4 respectively, as he launched his 2025 clay-court season with a quarterfinal run at the Monte Carlo Masters.
At world No.25, Popyrin also receives a first-round bye this week and will bring confidence-boosting memories into a second-round meeting with either Alex Michelsen or Alexander Bublik. In 2021, Popyrin came through qualifying to reach Madrid’s final 16.
Countrymen Aleksander Vukic, Chris O’Connell and Rinky Hijikata join De Minaur and Popyrin in the 96-player ATP draw.
The 83rd-ranked Vukic meets experienced veteran Kei Nishikori in the first round, O’Connell faces Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Hijikata, a lucky loser in Madrid, will take on world No.103 Reilly Opelka in his main-draw debut.
Kasatkina targets further class on clay
Daria Kasatkina, meanwhile, can draw on the experience of successful Madrid showings in previous seasons as she leads four Australians in the WTA 1000 tournament.
The 27-year-achieved her best Grand Slam result as a Roland Garros semifinalist in 2022. She has featured in Madrid’s final 16 for the past three seasons and defeated then-No.3 Garbine Muguruza to reach the quarterfinals in 2018.
Kasatkina, the current world No.15, has a first-round bye before a second-round meeting with either American Alycia Parks or wildcard recipient Victoria Jiminez Kasintseva, a 19-year-old from Andorra.
> RELATED: Getting to know Daria Kasatkina
Fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic faces qualifier Rebeka Masarova, a world No.153 from Switzerland, in the first round.
Kimberly Birrell and Maya Joint have added further highs to impressive 2025 seasons by making their Madrid main-draw debuts.
While Birrell suffered a three-set loss to American Peyton Stearns in the opening round, she is set to improve on her current career-high world No.61 ranking.
Joint, one of only two teenagers in the WTA’s top 100, defeated experienced opponents Sara Errani (a Roland Garros singles finalist in 2012) and Jil Teichmann to earn her main-draw debut through qualifying.
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