Around the Madrid grounds: An ode to European summers, worlds collide and more

MADRID — Scattered outside Estadio Manolo Santana at La Caja Mágica are various practice courts, where WTA Driven by Mercedes-Benz players will book spots to get adjusted the Madrid altitude, red clay and weather conditions. 

But one practice court will be in a unique location this year at the Mutua Madrid Open. Several miles away in the Chamartín distrcit, a clay court was installed at Estadio Bernabéu, home to the famous Real Madrid Football Club.

The club recently won their La Liga match against Deportivo Alavés 2-1 on Tuesday, with the installation commencing shortly thereafter. Some of the WTA’s top stars will have the opportunity to train at the venue until April 30. It’s the first time the tournament and the venue have partnered to make this available at one of the most iconic stadiums in sports. 

“I think it’s a good way to promote tennis, so it’s nice,” said Jasmine Paolini after her second round win over Laura Siegemund Thursday. 

Just before the venue converted from it’s football grass to the tennis clay, one of the WTA’s recent champions enjoyed the club’s win on Tuesday. World No. 23 Marta Kostyuk attended the match, a few days after her second career singles title in Rouen, France.

That final was historic not only for Kostyuk but for Ukrainian tennis as a whole. Kostyuk and her opponent Veronika Podrez were part of the first all-Ukrainian final. 

Ode to European summers

Not only did Naomi Osaka shine in her 6-2, 7-5 win over Camila Osorio, her all-orange outfit also shined. Walking onto court this afternoon, she donned a headscarf, too, part of her latest fashion statement.

“That was kind of a nod to European summers,” Osaka said to press Thursday. “My outfit is all-orange, which is kind of tying this back into clay courts. 

“I know it’s weird to say, it’s a little simple for me [laughing], given all the extra-ness that I’ve been doing recently. I think it’s a really elegant look, and I’m excited because there’s different themes and stuff to do in Rome, and obviously here too. I’ll just keep trying to switch it up a little. 

At the Australian Open in January, Osaka dazzled the Melbourne crowd and tennis fans across the globe with her iconic grand entrance ahead of her opening match against Antonia Ruzic. Osaka sported an outfit that included a veil, a parasol and a gigantic, butterfly-emblazoned hat with a grand entry onto Rod Laver Arena, so grand that Ruzic thought Osaka was part of a pre-match show.

Check out Osaka’s entry ahead of her Thursday second-round match below:

Worlds collide

Many of the world’s top athletes congregated in Madrid ahead of the tournament to celebrate the Laureus World Sports Awards. Several players on the WTA Tour were featured in attendance, including Alexandra Eala and Paolini, who both were in awe of meeting some of the fellow athletes. 

For Eala, she was super ecstatic to meet Olympic gold medalist freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who co-hosted the event alongside 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Eala managed to grab a selfie with the two co-hosts, and even for Eala, the moment was certainly nerve-wracking. 

“She’s so inspirational,” Eala said of Gu. “She does it all, and she’s so authentic. I think she carries herself with so much grace.

“Once they came close to me I could feel my heart racing — seriously racing,” Eala said. “My heart rate spiked up when they came close to me.”

Paolini had the chance to meet one of her Italian compatriots, Paralympic fencer Beatrice “Bebe” Vio. Vio e is a three-time European champion and four-time World champion. 

“I wanted to meet her since a long time,” Paolini said. “Of course, I knew her, but not in person, so it was nice to chat with her.”

And if Paolini would want to try fencing?

“I don’t know, maybe. I can try, but it’s not easy to set everything,” she laughed.

A day of firsts

The first few days of action had some incredible firsts. Here’s a snapshot summary of them all:

Jaqueline Cristian: The Romanian is the first player to win from match points down three separate times this year. On Thursday, she saved three against Yuliia Starodubtseva. Last week, she saved four vs. France’s Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah in Rouen. In March at Indian Wells, she saved three match points vs. Maya Joint.

Anna Bondar: The Hungarian scored her first career top 10 win, defeating last year’s Madrid semifinalist Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4. The match was just her second career top 10 matchup.

Laura Samson: The Czech, 18 years old, is first player born in 2008 or later to reach a third round at WTA 1000 event or Slam. Iva Jovic, also 18, was born in 2007. 

Tyra Caterina Grant: The Italian qualifier picked upped her first main-draw tour-level win on Wednesday, and she won in convincing fashion in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Elsa Jacquemot.

Anhelina Kalinina: The Ukrainian qualifier defeated Marie Bouzkova in straight sets to earn her first top 30 win in 15 months (Diana Shnaider, Brisbane 2025).

Next up for Cristian is World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, while Bondar — who evened up the head to head vs. Svitolina — will face Samson in the third round. As for Grant, she can get her biggest win to date, facing No. 25 seed Sorana Cirstea Friday.