BARCELONA, April 22, 2017 (Press Release)
The centre court of the Real Club Tenis Barcelona (RCTB) will be named Rafa Nadal in tribute to the player, who has dominated the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell during the last decade and who is now ready to fight for his tenth title at the historic ATP 500 World Tour event.
The news was announced on Friday. “For us it is a pride to have a player like Nadal, one of the best in the history and who has joined the club since he was 11 years of age,” said Albert Agustí, president of the club, who has indicated that “by naming the centre court Rafa Nadal we position ourselves at the same level of tournaments that dedicate their courts to their legends.”
The official ceremony will take place in the coming days. The organization will wait for the Spanish superstar to arrive in Barcelona to agree on the most appropriate time to carry out the ceremony. Nadal is still competing in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo.
All Spanish final between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer in 2011
Both, the RCTB and the Organizing Committee of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, have wanted to pay tribute to the great figure of the tournament and which everyone considers not only the best Spanish tennis player ever, but the best Spanish sportsman of all time.
At the same meeting it was agreed to appoint as members of honor Mr. Javier Godó, Count of Godó, and the tennis player Marc López, Gold Olympic champion at the doubles tournament of the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to winning the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on nine occasions, Nadal belongs to the sporting discipline of RCTB, whose facilities he uses throughout the season.
The Catalan tournament is aligned with other major tennis events that have previously decided to name their sports venues and main courts with the names of their sports legends such as Roland Garros (Philippe Chartrier and Suzanne Lenglen), the Australian Open (Rod Laver and Margaret Court), the US Open (Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King) or the Mutua Madrid Open (Manolo Santana and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario).
