Court Coverage: Court Coverage: Mutua Madrid Open

The Madrid Open is located at the Caja Magica (Magic Box), a 20 minute ride on the metro from the center of the city. Of all the tournaments I have been to so far, it definitely has the most modern look. I wouldn't say it is the most modern as far as technology is concerned, though. There is one small area where fans can watch matches from other courts and it has one match playing and no seats, standing area only. Except for one of the restaurants, I did not see any other TVs around with matches playing or scores posted.

There are 3 stadium courts, located inside "the box" and several smaller match and practice courts just outside of it. Manolo Santana is huge, with a capacity of about 12,500, and it feels much bigger than that. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Stadium 3 are exactly the same size, located next to each other on the side of the main stadium.

The grounds are not typical for a tennis tournament; they feel compact, but are extensive and are multi-leveled. When you enter, Manolo Santana and the two smaller stadiums are directly in front of you and this is all under cover, feeling as if you are inside. Around the stadiums on this level are sponsor booths, food stands, and tennis apparel and equipment stores. To reach the outer courts, fans go downstairs, underneath the stadiums, where a large shopping are, the VIP section, and more food stands are located. The outer courts are outside of the lower level of "the box" and run in a straight line, with views of multiple courts at the same time very possible.

I sat in every corner of the stadium, once on the sideline, and at different levels. I usually love corner seats, but these were not typical. They are not angled like other stadiums and you often have distorted and blocked views because of the way it is set up. Your seat can literally be in the corner, facing a different direction than the court, causing you to be uncomfortable. Think about this when buying tickets - directly on the baseline or sideline is the best view here. Tickets were relatively expensive for an ATP 1000 level event. For 2 days (4 sessions), the cost was about $350. In comparison to Indian Wells and Cincinnati, where you can buy and entire tournament package for $700 at the same seating level, it makes it one of the more expensive tournaments.

The crowd here is definitely diverse. As always, the fans in Europe have a great understanding of the sport and are enthusiastic about the matches. Being in Spain, the fans obviously love Nadal and went absolutely crazy for him. But, the matches he was playing in were the only ones I saw the stadium almost full, and not completely. Once his match was over, everyone left. At times, it felt like a lot of people only came to watch him play and leave. At night, a lot of people got dressed up and came here for the social aspect and did not seem as interested int he tennis, arriving late to the matches and hanging out in the Lounges. The tournament offers a lot to those who live in Madrid and it seemed like they enjoyed it.

Another observation I made is that there are kids everywhere at this tournament. There were a lot of activities for them and they seems to be doing all of those instead of watching tennis!

If you are looking to buy some tennis clothing or equipment, don't expect to do get much here. They did have booths for K-Swiss, Dunlop, and a couple other companies, but Nike, Adidas, Wilson, and other were not available. A lot of other tournaments offer the ability to buy Federer and Nadal items, as well as the outfits currently being worn by the pros. This was not available here. There was shopping for a lot of different things, such as women's clothing and other local companies.

The tournament also gives the opportunity to watch local Juniors compete here, which was awesome. They were SO GOOD!

Tournament Grounds: