Real Madrid president Florentino Perez wanted a multi-purpose Bernabeu, and he achieved it. This week, the Bernabeu dressed up in tennis with Nadal, Sinner, Bellingham, and Courtois.
Real Madrid and its president, Florentino Perez, always envisioned the new Santiago Bernabéu as a multipurpose stadium where any type of event could be held. 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, an avowed Madridista, and Federer, his great rival at the turn of the century, in a duel that would captivate the world.
Among the records that would be broken is the record for the largest attendance at a tennis match. The record is held by an exhibition, precisely between Rafa and Roger, played in February 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. At Cape Town Stadium, one of the venues of the 2010 World Cup, 51,594 fans gathered.
That surpassed the 42,517 that Federer and Alexander Zverev drew in Mexico City, which in turn improved upon the 35,681 that Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters drew in Brussels in 2010. Currently, the largest tennis center court in the world is Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open, with a capacity of 23,771 spectators.
The leadership of the Mutua Madrid Open, always pioneering, gathered Jannik Sinner, Rafael Nadal (26 Grand Slam titles between them), Jude Bellingham, and Thibaut Courtois on Thursday to inaugurate the court that was built in 24 hours for tennis professionals to use during the 1000-level tournament in the Spanish capital.
Acting as masters of the ceremony: the tournament directors, Feliciano Lopez and Garbine Muguruza. Nadal stood on one side of the court with Courtois, while Sinner was joined by Bellingham.
Florentino Perez was also there, giving Sinner and Nadal a Real Madrid jersey and serving as an impromptu chair umpire. Rafa did not stop signing Babolat rackets. Iga Swiatek and Linda Caicedo joined the event at the last minute.
Iga, dressed casually, was left wanting more tennis after dropping only three games against Ukrainian Snigur. She hit some balls with Courtois.
Bellingham and Thibaut have already visited the Caja Magica facilities in recent days to watch live tennis. Jude was seen cheering on Rafa Jodar on Wednesday. The Belgian goalkeeper, for his part, was in the box of the No. 1 player, Aryna Sabalenka, on Thursday.
Sinner, the main attraction of the Masters 1000 given the absences of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, posed for photos before his debut on Friday against French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi. The court will be available for practice starting today. The practice sessions will be closed to the public.
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