Bertens, Murray and realistic walkouts win in Madrid

The Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro wrapped up on Thursday with two champions crowned: Andy Murray and Kiki Bertens. What stood out all week was Murray's trash talk (which he backed up), the technical issues (Diego Schwartzman lost his semifinal to Murray due to connection fails) and all of the virtual walkouts.

The PlayStation 4 event began on Monday with 16 men and 16 women, split into four groups for three round-robin matches to three games each, followed by knockout full set quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

The virtual players not only looked like the pros, but they acted and played just like them. Eugenie Bouchard had high hopes, but was crushed by going 0-3 in round-robin matches.

Belinda Bencic might have taken it the most seriously.

She orchestrated the perfect walkout for her first match, and would fall in the quarterfinals to Bertens.

Bianca Andreescu also put in some serious preparation, complete with finger warmups.

The Canadian would also reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to Sorana Cirstea. The players have been missing out on a chance to reveal their new clay-court season kits, so Madrid gave them a chance to dress up and show off.

The men were less photo-happy about their virtual experience, but they put on quite a show. Murray—a two-time Madrid champion in real life—produced the best quotes, including:

“I am just much better than the other guys. That’s just the reality.”

“When I played Rafa, he was saying that I had been practicing so much and today the controller was wrong with Zverev. Everyone has got their excuses, but the reason is I am just better than them."

"If you speak to Rafa tell him not to be such a bad loser next time."

The Scot had trounced Nadal 3-0 in round-robin action, and would edge out David Goffin in the final, 7-6 (5), while Bertens had a much easier time with a 6-1 win over Fiona Ferro.