Henman awarded wild card

The 32-year-old Brit - who reached the final of the Japan Open last week before losing 6-3 6-3 to Roger Federer - will be making his fourth appearance in the Madrid tournament where his best result was reaching the third round in 2004.

The second wild card has been awarded to Spain's Carlos Moya, while the third and fourth places will be awarded following a poll on the web page of Spanish sports paper Marca.

The candidates are Feliciano Lopez, Fabrice Santoro, Thomas Johansson and Juan Ignacio Chela.

The Madrid Masters begins on Monday with last year's winner Rafael Nadal and Federer being among the 48 entries.