Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andy Murray, Fabio Fognini, Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov are “back” on competitions playing the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro.
The organization had to cancel its event because of the Coronavirus pandemic. However, they had the great idea of organizing a virtual tournament with the intent to help players struggling from a financial point of view.
The idea
There are 32 players competing in total (16 from the ATP and 16 from the WTA). The event will have 4 round robin groups and the top 2 players will advance to the quarters finals. From that moment, the competition will be played following a traditional knock-out format.
The 2 winners from the ATP and WTA will pocket €150,000 and they can decide how much money they will donate to the colleagues struggling from a financial point of view. In addition, the charity tournament will donate a total of €50,000 to the Madrid Food Bank.
Tournament director Feliciano López commented: “We’ve had a great response from all the players. From the first moment when the initiative was conceived, they were prepared to help.”
Big names are going to play on Monday. The top matches are (probably)” Nadal vs. Shapovalov, Tsitsipas vs. Fognini, and Murray vs. Monfils. Dreaming about the real one…
Looks like it's gonna be a hectic Monday! 😱 What a line-up for the first day of the #MMOPEN Virtual Pro! 😏#PlayAtHome 🎮 pic.twitter.com/if99uOietv
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 25, 2020
Stefanos Tsitsipas’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently the world no.6, the Greek played his last match on the 7th of March when he beat Jeson Patrombon 6-2 6-1 in the Rubber 4 of the Davis Cup.
This season Stefanos has a 11-5 win-loss record. Tsitsipas clinched 1 title in Marseille. Stefanos was the finalist in Dubai.
Fabio Fognini’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.11, the Italian played his last match on the 6th of March when he beat Duck Hee Lee 6-0 6-3 in the Rubber 1 of the Davis Cup.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Fabio Fognini played each other twice. The head to head is 2-0 for Tsitsipas. The last time that they played each other, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-4 6-3 in the 3rd round in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) in May 2019.
Rafael Nadal’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently the world no.2, Nadal played his last match on the 29th of February when he defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 in the final in Acapulco to win his 85th career title.
Presently, this year Nadal has a 13-3 win-loss record. The Spaniard has won 1 title in Acapulco.
Denis Shapovalov’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked world no.16, Shapovalov played his last match on the 21st of February when he was overcome by Alexander Bublik 7-5 4-6 6-3 in the quarter in Marseille.
Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov played each other 3 times. The head to head is 2-1 for Nadal. The last time that they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-3 7-67 in the Rubber 2 in 0 (Davis Cup, Finals, F, ESP) in November 2019.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Fabio Fognini, Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov |
| Embed from Getty Images |
