Madrid and its president Florentino Pérez They always thought of the new Santiago Bernabéu as a multipurpose stadium in which any type of show could be organized. From an NFL game to a basketball game, a concert or an exhibition between two racket legends like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
One of Florentino’s dreams has always been to see Nadal, a self-confessed Madrid fan, and Federerhis great rival at the beginning of the century, in a duel that would go around the world.
Among the records that would be broken is the largest number of spectators at a tennis match.. The historical record is held by a friendly, precisely between Rafa and Roger, played in February 2020 in Cape Town (South Africa).. At the Cape Town Stadium, one of the venues for the 2010 World Cup, 51,594 fans gathered.
This surpasses the 42,517 that Federer himself and Alexander Zverev gathered in Mexico Citywhich in turn improved on the 35,681 that Serena Williams and Kim Clisters gathered in Brussels in 2010.
Currently, the largest tennis center in the world is the Arthur Ashe, of the US Open, with capacity for 23,771 spectators.
Courtois, Nadal and Sinner, at the Bernabéu.
The management of the Mutua Madrid Openalways a pioneer, rThis Thursday he brought together Jannik Sinner, Rafael Nadal (26 Grand Slam titles between them), Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois to inaugurate the court that has been built in 24 hours for use by racket professionals during the 1000 category tournament in the capital of Spain.
Florentino gives a Madrid shirt to Sinner
It was also Florentino Pérez, who gave Sinner a Real Madrid team shirt. Nadal did not stop signing Babolat rackets. At the last minute he signed up for the event Iga Swiatek.
Bellingham and Courtois have already visited the Caja Mágica facilities these days to watch live tennis. Jude could be seen encouraging Rafa Jódar on Wednesday. The Belgian goalkeeper, for his part, This Thursday he was on the bench of number one, Aryna Sabalenka.
Sinner, main claim of the Masters 1000 due to the absences of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovicagreed to take a photo before his debut this Friday with the French qualy Benjamin Bonzi.
The track will be available for practice starting today. The preparatory sessions will be behind closed doors.
