Defending champion in the individual was Novak Đoković , but he was eliminated in the quarterfinals against his compatriot Janko Tipsarević . In this year's final, Roger Federer won a close match of three sets over Tomáš Berdych and won the title in Madrid for the third time after 2006 and 2009. Overall, this was his 20th Masters title, which equaled Rafael Nadal's record. In the current season it was Federer's fourth, in his career the 74th ATP title. Berdych, on the other hand, failed to win a second title in this category in the third Masters final of his career. The biggest surprise of the tournament was Rafael Nadal's loss of the last 16 against Fernando Verdasco , against whom he had previously won all 13 matches. Nadal had always reached the final of this tournament since 2009, when the Madrid Masters became a clay court tournament.
The Bryan brothers competed as defending champions in doubles, but were eliminated in the round of 16. In the final, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski won in straight sets against Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău . After 2008, this was their second title win in Madrid and also the second Masters title for the two of them. It was also her second title in the current season, and overall it was her 13th ATP title.
On the sidelines of the tournament, there was much discussion about the blue sand surface introduced by tournament owner Ion Țiriac , as blue represents the color of the main sponsor Mutua Madrileña . In the opinion of many players, this surface was not only faster, but above all more slippery than normal (i.e. red) clay courts. The two world ranking leaders, Novak Đoković and Rafael Nadal , therefore announced after their elimination that they would boycott the tournament in the future if the surface was not changed. The reason they cited was the increased risk of injury, even if no player was seriously injured in the course of the tournament - in contrast to the Masters in Monaco three weeks earlier , where two players had suffered an ankle injury. The Madrid tournament winner Roger Federer held back with criticism and stated that the players had to adapt to the changing surfaces. The winner of the parallel women's tournament, Serena Williams , even made fun of the complaining gentlemen and called them "wimps".
The field of participants in the single competition consisted of 56 players, that of the doubles competition consisted of 24 pairs. The eight top seeded players in singles or pairings in doubles each got a bye into the second round.
The qualification took place from May 4th to 5th, 2012. Four qualifying places were played, which entitle them to participate in the main draw of the tournament.
Novak Đoković
Bob Bryan Mike Bryan
Roger Federer
Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski
Santiago Giraldo
Serhiy Stachowskyj
Victor Hănescu
Federico Delbonis
Igor Andreyev
Tomáš Berdych
O. Rochus
J. Melzer
G. Simon
F. Fognini
M. Baghdatis
M. Raonic
T. Bellucci
B. Tomic
M. Čilić
F. Mayer
K. Anderson
D. Istomin
