Ana Ivanovic predicts who will win the men’s and women’s Madrid Open titles this year

Which of these players have concerned you the most in Madrid?

Coco Gauff, Alex de Minaur, Iga Swiatek and Ben Shelton all suffered early exits in Spain 😬

Former Grand Slam champion Ana Ivanovic has made her Madrid Open picks.

Ana Ivanovic backs Jannik Sinner and Mirra Andreeva to win the Madrid Open in 2026

During an interview with ‘Eurosport‘, Ivanovic was asked to predict who will win this year’s Madrid Open.

“If we talk about men’s, I would definitely say [Jannik] Sinner,” she said.

Sinner is the clear favourite to win the tournament, and has been ever since his biggest rivals, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, withdrew from the Madrid Open.

Madrid Open contenders (Men’s)

In the quarter-finals, Sinner beat Rafael Jodar to reach the Madrid Open semi-finals for the first time.

There, he will meet the in-form Arthur Fils, with Casper Ruud, Alexander Blockx, Flavio Cobolli, or Alexander Zverev awaiting the winner in the final.

He will be wary of the threats posed by Zverev and Ruud, two former Madrid Open champions.

Ivanovic continued, predicting the winner of the women’s tournament.

“In the women’s draw, with [Aryna] Sabalenka and [Elena] Rybakina being out, I would probably give chances to Mirra Andreeva, because I like her game style and I think clay suits her,” she said.

None of the top eight seeds reached the semi-finals in Madrid, as Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and others all suffered shock defeats.

That leaves Andreeva as the top seed and favourite to win this year’s title.

Madrid Open contenders (Women’s)

Ivanovic thinks Andreeva can win the Madrid Open, but also believes she has the potential to win a Grand Slam title.

“I think there is so much depth, many players who can compete for Grand Slams,” she said.

“Someone like Andreeva and, of course, Coco [Gauff], who has already won, there are many, many good players.

“And also from America, which is nice to see, especially after Serena [Williams] and Venus [Williams].

“But Sabalenka is definitely very dominant, Rybakina has been playing well this year, so it’s nice to see their rivalry as well.

“There are so many tournaments, this is kind of the first clay-court tournament for some of them, so it takes a little time to adjust to the new surface, playing week in, week out. But they are doing really amazing.”

Sabalenka and Rybakina have been a level above this year and contested the first Grand Slam final of the season in Australia.

Whether Andreeva can insert herself into the conversation and challenge for the French Open title remains to be seen.

Ana Ivanovic delivers her verdict on what Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have done for tennis

Ivanovic was also keen to share her thoughts on the two best players in men’s tennis: Sinner and Alcaraz.

“I think it’s great the awareness they’ve brought to tennis, and what they’ve already achieved at such a young age,” she said.

“I think they just brought tennis to a new level and a new depth.

“They have [slightly] different styles, but still very powerful, very inspiring to watch, totally different characters, which is great for tennis.

“But we do see in men’s tennis a lot of new players coming up, playing well, and challenging them.

“Which is, I think, very important to have rivalries, like the big four in the past, and Novak still being active.

“I think all those rivalries really help the sport.”

Alcaraz is currently injured and will miss the remainder of the clay-court season.

He hopes to be back fit in time for Wimbledon, where he can resume his rivalry with Sinner.