Members of Spanish political party VOX has set out a proposal for the venue of Spain’s most prestigious tennis tournament to be renamed in honor of world No.2 Rafael Nadal.
Madrid councillor Fernando Martínez Vidal is part of the group campaigning for the Caja Magica to be renamed the ‘Caja Magica Rafa Nadal.’ The venue is home to the Madrid Open which is Spain’s most prestigious tournaments in terms of attendance and Tour category. The multi-purpose arena also held the first edition of the revamped Davis Cup finals last year, as well as other events outside of tennis.
“Nadal already has other recognitions from the Community of Madrid (he received the Gold Medal of the Community of Madrid in 2007 and was named adoptive son in 2014), but we believe that this is going one step further,” Marca newspaper quoted Vidal as saying.
Nadal has won the Madrid Open more times than any other player in the history of the tournament with five titles. Originally the tournament was held on hard courts before switching to the clay in 2009. Nadal is one of two players to have won the tournament on both surfaces along with Roger Federer. So far in his career the Spaniard has achieved a win-loss record of 52-12 at the Masters 1000 event and has earned more than $6.4 million in prize money.
Despite being in line for another honour, Nadal has stepped in by saying that should the proposal get the green light he doesn’t wish for the Caja Magica to have its name changed until after he retires from the sport. At the Barcelona Open their premier court has been named after the 20-time Grand Slam champion since 2017.
“They are delighted with the proposal, but understand that it is not the right time. He (Nadal) feels comfortable playing in the Caja Mágica, but he does not want his rivals to feel more uncomfortable about playing in a facility that bears his name,” Vidal explained.
“He has asked us, and thus we have accepted, that the name change be done once his stage as a professional ends.”
It is understood that one term in the possible renaming of the venue is the person in question, Nadal, will need to ‘stop playing in professional championships’ first.
The Madrid City Council will debate the motion put forward by VOX at a session on Tuesday.
