Nadal, Murray, more bring reality to virtual Madrid Open

Monday marked the beginning of a new frontier for tennis entertainment, with the start of the Madrid Open Virtual Pro video-game tournament, which pits real pros against each other in a PlayStation version of the classic clay event.

With vast difference from real-life tennis, as well as some striking similarities, this unusual competition can be a lot to take in. Here are five takeaways from the early matches:

1

Fast & Furious

Even for Rafael Nadal, the serve clock is no issue at this event. With no time needed for physical recovery or to retrieve the balls, there are mere seconds between points, which changes the feel of the game completely compared with a traditional tennis match—replacing the familiar build-up-and-stop pace with a relentless density of action.

It also helps that the matches are shortened (it's the first to three games with a tiebreaker at 3-all) and the entire event is just three days long.

2

Superhuman Abilities

There's a reason it's a cliche that a treeing player is said to be playing "video-game tennis." These first sets were full of lightning-fast and laser-accurate winners that would have been mind-blowing had they taken place in the actual Caja Magica.

Belinda Bencic, after carving a forehand drop-shot to win her match versus Carla Suarez Navarro 3-1 in just nine minutes, ended with a first-serve percentage of 100, as well as 16 winners and 0 unforced errors.

To be fair, Bencic is treating the tournament with quite the level of enthusiasm:

3

King of Clay?

Due to some technical difficulties, Nadal initially struggled to start his match, but once he got online, the five-time Madrid champion made his presence felt.

His ball doesn't have the same kind of biting movement in the virtual game, but just by the way he handles his digital player, his intensity and his anticipation of the ball are visually evident—especially on the return of serve, when he bounces side to side in preparation for a clean strike.

Of course, in traditional Nadal fashion, he also won the match, though not as decisively as he might be accustomed to, 4-3 (3), over Denis Shapovalov.

Tournament director Feliciano Lopez caused a stir by saying, "We had Rafa, but I think he had an issue on his back today. I think he was a bit injured. He requested to play against DjMaRiiO tomorrow."

It turned out that he was just joking:

The tournament did lose a big name in Gael Monfils, due to streaming platform conflicts.

4

Dominant Performances

The biggest wins so far, though, were't by Nadal, but by No. 53 Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro, who beat Karolina Pliskova 3-0 in just six minutes, and Sorana Cirstea, who beat Johanna Konta in three minutes, giving up only a single point. In matches that last just one set to three games, the perfect start can be everything.

5

Murray is Back

In his opener, against Benoit Paire, Andy Murray came away with a comfortable 3-1 victory, but what might delight fans of his even more is the return of his (frustrated) running commentary:

With short sets and a round-robin format, many more matches are scheduled for the remainder of Monday, with stars like Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Bianca Andreescu. The tournament last through Thursday and can be streamed on TENNIS.com and Tennis Channel.

It remains up in the air how this event will be received by fans, but commitment from players is looking strong, especially from Bencic and Murray.