20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has reportedly agreed to take part in a tennis match held at the home of Real Madrid F.C which is currently under redevelopment.
Defensa Central has reported that the world No.3 has already agreed in principle to play a match at the New Bernabéu in the Spanish capital. It is understood that the plans for Nadal to play will be one of a series of events outside of football to be held at the venue. Work on the stadium began earlier this year which will have a retractable roof built and a grass lawn which can be hidden in a ‘cave’ 30 meters deep under the steps.
Media reports have said that Nadal has agreed with Florentino Pérez to play at the Bernabeu in what will be the first ever tennis match held there. Pérez is the current president of Real Madrid. As to who he could potentially play, speculation has mounted on the chances of either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic taking part.
Organizers are said to want to break the world record for the most attended tennis match in history. The benchmark is currently 51,954 fans who attended Nadal’s clash against Federer at the ‘Match for Africa’ exhibition which was played in Cape Town last year. The Bernabéu has a capacity of up to 81,000.
As to when the match could take place, it is unlikely to happen until next year. Newspaper Diario AS has reported that work on the stadium has progressed faster than planned with a goal of opening it up to the public by either the end of 2022 or start of 2023. A total of 800 million euros has been invested in the project with plans to pay off the loan costing 29.5 million euros a year from 2023 until 2049.
Neither Real Madrid or Nadal are yet to comment on the report concerning the tennis exhibition.
