The second round commences and first round concludes at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday as four-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Andy Murray begin their campaigns. Nadal enters on a 10-match and 11-set winning streak with clay-court titles at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. The Spaniard has victories over No. 2 Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Kei Nishikori during his unbeaten run. He opens against in-form Andrey Kuznetsov, who has won a career-best 16 matches already this season and is a career-high No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Murray has the distinction of winning the last Madrid title on a hard court in 2008 and on a clay court in 2015, when he dropped only five games against Nadal in the final. Should the Brit defend his title this week, he will capture his first ATP World Tour crown of the season. Murray meets 37-year-old qualifier Radek Stepanek at 8 pm on Manolo Santana. Stepanek has lost 17 of his past 18 matches against Top 10 opponents, upsetting then-No. 5 Murray to reach the 2014 London/Queen’s Club quarter-finals.

Also on the schedule are five players who competed in finals on Sunday: Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber and runner-up Dominic Thiem, Estoril champion Nicolas Almagro and runner-up Pablo Carreño Busta, and Istanbul runner-up Grigor Dimitrov. Thiem seeks an ATP-best 30th win of the season against former World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro, who is playing in Madrid for the first time since reaching the 2012 semi-finals. In other matches, new World No. 10 Milos Raonic faces Alexandr Dolgopolov and No. 13 seed Gael Monfils meets Kevin Anderson, who is returning from knee, shoulder and ankle injuries.

In Tallahassee, Florida, for last week’s $50,000 ATP Challenger Tour event, Tim Smyczek shares the last time…

I missed a flight? 

John Isner were and I flying from Tampa to Milwaukee for my charity event a couple of years ago. We went to get lunch and missed our connection.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?

I’ve bought tennis balls relatively recently. You kind of have to when you get to a tournament before everything is fully set up.

Being famous helped me?

I can’t say it has. I have an example of where it didn’t help me! Last year in Miami, I got to the tournament and the credential office was closed. I had to go to the locker room because I needed to get treatment and the attendant guard said he recognised me from my match against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. I was like, “Thanks, man.” I tried to explain that the credential office was closed, but he still wouldn’t let me in.

I strung a tennis racquet?

Three years ago. I would string a few on my own, but it would take me an hour and I just decided it was worth it to pay someone else to do it.

I cooked for myself or someone else?

Last night. We had some chicken and pasta with broccoli. I cook a lot whenever I can.

I asked someone for an autograph?

Probably a long time ago when I met Marat Safin.

I shared a hotel room with another player?

Denis Kudla and I have the same coach, so sometimes we’ll let him have his own room when his wife is around and we’ll share a room.

I went to a concert?

I went to Coldplay a couple of years ago and they were awesome. That was a lot of fun.

The second round commences and first round concludes at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday as four-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Andy Murray begin their campaigns. Nadal enters on a 10-match and 11-set winning streak with clay-court titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open BancSabadell. The Spaniard has victories over No. 2 Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Kei Nishikori during his unbeaten run. He opens against in-form Andrey Kuznetsov, who has won a career-best 16 matches already this season and is a career-high No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Murray has the distinction of winning the last Madrid title on a hard court in 2008 and on a clay court in 2015, when he dropped only five games against Nadal in the final. Should the Brit defend his title this week, he will capture his first ATP World Tour championship of the season. Murray meets 37-year-old qualifier Radek Stepanek at 8 pm on Manolo Santana. Stepanek has lost 17 of his last 18 matches against Top 10 opponents, upsetting then-No. 5 Murray to reach the 2014 London/Queen’s Club quarter-finals.

Also on the schedule are five players who competed in finals on Sunday: Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber and runner-up Dominic Thiem, Estoril champion Nicolas Almagro and runner-up Pablo Carreno Busta, and Istanbul runner-up Grigor Dimitrov. Thiem seeks an ATP-best 30th win of the season against former World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro, who is playing in Madrid for the first time since reaching the 2012 semi-finals. In other matches, new World No. 10 Milos Raonic faces Alexandr Dolgopolov and No. 13 seed Gael Monfils meets Kevin Anderson, who is returning from knee, shoulder and ankle injuries.