Sun, beach and tennis - Marbella opens clay court season in Europe
Anyone who wants to get a head start in the European clay court season is in good hands this week at the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Marbella.
by Florian Heer
last edit:
Apr 07, 2021, 08:42 am
No, the usual hustle and bustle does not take place on the famous beach promenades of the Costa del Sol these days. Despite the Easter holidays and relatively low corona incidence values, it is largely quiet on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. While the foreign tourists are mostly absent, it is the local residents in the Semana Santa - the "Holy Holy Week", even forbidden to leave their own province without good reason.
Marbella heralds the European clay court season
A similar picture plays out in the Club de Tenis Puento Romano in Marbella. For a good week and a half some of the best players on the ATP tour have gathered there to ring in the European clay court season as part of the AnyTech356 Andalucia Open.
After an ATP Challenger 80 event last week, an ATP 250 tournament will take place these days. The cracks do not have to leave the extensive tennis facility with an attached five-star hotel, located on the western edge of the glamorous tourist stronghold. Everything is within walking distance.
Legends and spectators in the club
In 1979 the plant was opened under the management of a certain Björn Borg. 42 years later, his seventeen-year-old son stood on the "Center Court Manolo Santana", named after another tennis legend who is also closely associated with the club, in order to play his first match at ATP level.
Even if the debut in the first round of qualifying against the Russian Evgeny Donskoy was lying in two sets and under an hour of playing time, the Swedish blonde attracted a lot of attention. And this in the truest sense of the word as several hundred spectators per day are allowed on the facility at the tournament. These get their money's worth in bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures above 20 degrees.
In terms of sport, the Spaniards dominate the action in front of their home crowd. Led by number 15 in the ATP world rankings, Pablo Carreno Busta, there are a total of ten local heroes in the main field of the individual competition.
Zverev cancels, Alcaraz is moving up
Marbella has around 140,000 inhabitants. Around 2,500 Germans were also reported. They would have been particularly happy about Alexander Zverev's participation. The native of Hamburg had already been guaranteed a wildcard for the tournament, but had given it back shortly before the start of the tournament week. A minor injury was the official reason for the cancellation.
In return, the only 17-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has moved up into the main field of the tournament, which is endowed with 408,800 euros. Even if the number 177 in the world rankings among tennis aficionados is no longer a blank slate, the teenager could cause some sensation and establish himself further on the ATP tour by collecting valuable points. The start against Nikola Milojevic on Tuesday worked out well.