ATP Washington: Rafael Nadal returns with a full house
The ATP 500 tournament in Washington will take place in front of a full house this year. Thus, among others,Rafael Nadal can look forward to the support of numerous fans.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jul 15, 2021, 06:10 pm
While the stadiums will remain empty at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, there was good news at least from Washington on Thursday: The ATP 500 hard court tournament, which will take place from August 2 to 8, will also be full this year House take place. Until recently, the organizers had expected an occupancy rate of 50 percent.
"We're delighted to have the National Park Service cleared us to go from a 50 percent cap to 100 percent. This has been in the works for a while, in partnership with the city and the Park Service. Everyone came together and decided this was the right thing, " investor Mark Ein told the Washington Post .
Accordingly, Rafael Nadal can hope for the full support of the audience at its premiere in the US capital. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has not played a match since his semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic and will return to the ATP tour in Washington thanks to a wildcard.
Due to the full grandstands, the prize money for the players will also be increased by 750,000 US dollars. This will restore the level that existed before the pandemic. In the fight for the winner's check, Nadal gets competition from the two Wimbledon semi-finalists Denis Shapovalov and Hubert Hurkacz. Jannik Sinner and Nick Kyrgios also announced their participation in the hard court event.