Feliciano Lopez: Madrid soon to be fixed by 2031?
Feliciano Lopez , Tournament Director of the Mutua Madrid Open, on a second main course and the prospects for his event in the coming years.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Nov 29, 2020, 04:11 pm
Berlin instead of Madrid? The headlines a few weeks ago could have been one thing above all: Ion Tiriac's leverage. The owner of the Madrid Open may have accelerated through his speculation about a move to extend an agreement on the clay court tournament with the city of Madrid. Because this extension is apparently imminent. "We'll be playing tennis here until 2031," tournament director Feliciano Lopez told marca.com . "We'll soon be able to announce that this agreement will be signed with the city council for another ten years."
A clear sign of this: the plan for a second main stadium. This has already been designed, "it will be the most important change," said Lopez. "Everything is aimed at making Madrid the best tournament in the world." In 2022, by 2023 at the latest, they want to play in the new stadium.
Lopez: Paris match against Nadal as an encouragement for 2021
Sad for Lopez: Although he still wants to play on the tour in 2021, at the age of 39, he will not be allowed to compete in Madrid as tournament director. "It's bitter because it's the tournament I would most like to play." However, he did not ask for an exemption, and Tommy Haas was finally prohibited from doing so in Indian Wells.
Lopez only just proved in Paris that he can keep up. There he had the honor of playing against compatriot Rafael Nadal, in whose 1000th win he fought splendidly and only lost in three sets. An encouragement for the future. "I drive myself to play games like this every day. I was able to push it to its limits and felt competitive against the number two in the world - and possibly the best in history. It means a lot to me because it is the Hope to be able to play tennis for another year. "