Alcaraz, Sabalenka and Feli Lopez - The great cake scandal of Madrid
Tomorrow the tournament will end in the Caja Magica of Madrid. And tournament director Feliciano Lopez doesn't just have to deal with sporting issues.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 06, 2023, 07:25 am
The job of tournament director can take its toll even on a man like Feliciano Lopez. Feli, still active from time to time and only recently replaced (or not) by Matteo Berrettini as the best-looking player on the ATP tour, can often be seen on TV in Madrid these days. And it seems as if the nights were very short overall. Which is also true, the night sessions in the Manolo Santana stadium are almost always very extensive this year.
And then there is Victoria Azarenka around the corner. So: Actually not quite, the two-time major winner from Belarus only retweeted an observation from a tennis fan: that the birthday cake for Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid was significantly smaller than that for Carlos Alcaraz. However, Azarenka's comment, which can be translated as follows, makes us curious: "Nothing describes the different treatment better."
Two teams at the ball staff
Now it is not quite clear what exactly Vika was referring to: because women and men are equal when it comes to prize money, the champions each receive 1,105,265 euros. Maybe it's the somewhat strange match schedule, which, however, also caused unnaturally long breaks for the men.
In any case, Feliciano Lopez felt compelled to respond to Victoria Azarenka's tweet. And didn't seem quite as confident as so often with the well-groomed serve volley game. The chain of arguments (1. Alcaraz has reached the final; 2. Alcaraz played on the center court; 3. Madrid is a Spanish tournament) leaves nothing to be desired, as does the addition that Holger Rune - also a birthday boy this week - hopefully not complained about his cake. Incidentally, Aryna Sabalenka has not yet commented on the cause.
The resulting picture is at least comical (as is the fact that there are probably two teams of ball staff: one for the show matches at Manolo Santana; one for the cheaper courts - the difference in outfit is striking). On the other hand: does a tournament director of a 1000 tournament really have the time and leisure to take care of ordering sweets?
madrid map