Top five title favourites in men's singles at Madrid Open 2025

Andrey Rublev is the defending champion of the Madrid Open.

The Madrid Open 2025 will be held right after the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. Top-ranked players on the ATP Tour will once again gather at a single venue at the second clay-court Masters of the season after Monte-Carlo. 

Sandwiched between the ATP 1000s at Monaco and Rome, the Madrid Open is a relative newcomer to the tennis calendar compared to the other two events. The Madrid Masters was first played in 2002, with Andre Agassi defeating Jiri Novak for the trophy. 

Rafael Nadal leads with five titles at the La Caja Mágica. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic follow with three titles each. Carlos Alcaraz ensured a Spanish name would find a place in the winner’s list this decade when he won the tournament in 2022 and 2023. 

Andrey Rublev is the defending champion and will be joined by former champions Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, and Novak Djokovic in a crowded field of top stars from the men’s tour. The 2019 Madrid Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and the current Indian Wells title holder Jack Draper are also on the entry list.

Newly-crowned Barcelona Open champion Holger Rune will also participate in the Madrid Open 2025. On that note, let’s take a look at the top five title favourites in men’s singles.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas, too, will arrive in Madrid with a change to his coaching team. The Greek has reportedly signed up with Goran Ivanisevic, with the partnership to begin after Roland Garros. The 2025 season has been a mixed bag for the 26-year-old. After winning his first ATP 500 event in Dubai in February, he made early exits at Indian Wells (round of 16) and (round of 32).

A major disappointment was his quarterfinal loss to Lorenzo Musetti in Monte-Carlo, where Tsitsipas was the defending champion. This caused Tsitsipas to drop from the top 10 to 18th in the current world rankings.

Yet, the Athenian cannot be ruled out from making a winning return at Madrid, where he has an 11-6 record and a title round appearance in 2019. Tsitsipas’ noteworthy record on clay makes him a worthy challenger for the ATP 1000 Madrid Open crown. 

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev made history in Munich when he became the first player to win three BMW Open titles in a row. After clinching victory at the Bavarian capital, he takes back the World No. 2 ranking from Carlos Alcaraz, over whom he now maintains a slender 35-point advantage.

Zverev would like to improve on that lead when he makes his way to Madrid, the scene of his triumphs in 2018 and 2021. The 28-year-old from Hamburg has been a consistent performer in Madrid over the past few years, thanks to his 23-5 record. The seven-time ATP 1000 winner made at least the last four between 2017 and 2022, including three title-round appearances. 

Andrey Rublev

A year ago, Andrey Rublev downed Carlos Alcaraz in the last four at the Madrid Open en route to the title. In the 2024 edition, Rublev became the first Russian since Marat Safin in 2004 to hold aloft the trophy at the ATP 1000 event.

This season, Rublev returns with Safin on his coaching team to bolster his bid to retain his crown and his chances of winning a second Masters title. Rublev has an 11-3 record at the venue following his maiden Madrid Open title last season. 

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will shift focus to the Madrid Open after an early second-round exit from Monte Carlo. The former World No. 1 is returning to Spain for the first time since 2022 for the Madrid Open.

The Serbian will be making his 13th appearance in Madrid since his first visit in 2006. Djokovic has gone on to win the title thrice in 2011, 2016, and 2019, boasting an impressive 30-9 record at the venue. The World No. 5 registered his first final at Indian Wells to give a glimpse of his old self, but stopped short of taking the title when he lost to Czech teen Jakub Mensik.  

Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz remains one of the top contenders for the Madrid Open trophy, despite losing against Holger Rune in Barcelona. The two-time Barcelona Open champion failed in his bid for a third title at the ATP 500 event when he lost in straight sets to Rune on Sunday. 

As in Barcelona, the Spaniard is a two-time winner in the Spanish capital, claiming the title in 2022 and 2023. Despite losing to champion Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals in Madrid last season, Alcaraz has a formidable 15-2 record at the venue. The only other defeat came against Rafael Nadal in 2021.

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