At the Born Cultural Center, words flourish.
Montse Busquets, host of the event, the presentation of the 71st Open Banc Sabadell-Conde de Godó Tennis Trophy (April 13 to 21), has an obsession: she asks each of her interlocutors for a word that defines their relationship with the tournament.
Xavier Pujol, CEO of the competition, responds with a request:
-It does not rain.
David Ferrer, who played in four finals – he lost all of them to Rafael Nadal – and today is the tournament director, asks for a wild card, as he needs two words:
–I would talk about a “memorable” tournament because of its history. And “epic” because of the possibility of having a legend like Nadal and someone heroic like Alcaraz.
(Later, in the canutazo, Ferrer silences the skeptic and insists that he trusts in having the Manacorí: Nadal has told him that he will test himself thoroughly at the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000, in the week before the Barcelona tournament).
Javier Godó, Count of Godó, talks about “history” and “Future”.
The chronicler sticks with the Disney concept.
(…)
The Disney concept was coined by Jordi Cambra, president of the RCTB, who is extraordinarily ambitious, as ambitious as this Barcelona is that, in a few months, has seen its edition of the World Padel Tour receive 16,000 spectators (a record for the discipline ) and its marathon received 20,000 marathon runners, and they hope to throw themselves en masse into the sea (or at least, to the seafront) to witness the exploits of the America’s Cup boats, which appear on the horizon.
–We have the club we have in size, but the club is host to the players and that makes us different. Everyone gets involved here. The partner sacrifices himself. We encourage the love of tennis, which is positive for boys and girls as an educational tool. The tournament is a meeting point for businessmen. And we try to make it a pleasant experience for those who come to see us. We want everyone to find a polite and respectful environment, a Disney environment.
–We want to be the best 500 tournament in the world –says Xavier Pujol–. And for that reason, we take it as if it were a Masters 1,000. To achieve excellence we take care of the small aspects.
To reinforce the thesis, David Ferrer details the names of those registered, that piece of paper that the communications office has discreetly circulated among journalists:
–We will have five Top-10. We are one of the few 500 tournaments that will have them. Out of deference, I name Rafael Nadal first, our standard bearer and the player who has won it the most times (12). There is also Carlos Alcaraz, who has just won in Indian Wells. And Andrey Rublev, world number 6, who lives and trains in Barcelona. Or Casper Ruud and Alex de Miñaur and last year’s finalist, Stéfanos Tsitsipas, or Karen Kachánov and Sebastián Báez, who has won in Rio and Santiago de Chile. And a former Top-10 like Cameron Norrie, and representatives of the Next Gen like Lorenzo Musetti and Nicolás Jarry. And a two-time champion here like Kei Nishikori.
More than applauding the successes, Xavier Pujol expresses his concerns:
–We have increased income by 25%, results have multiplied by four, but there are countries that are doping, like Saudi Arabia, which has entered football and golf and has now made a significant offer to win the next Masters. 1,000. Today, 500 tournaments we are Premium, but we will have to all sit together to remain Premium. And since the RCTB is a private institution, we will need public-private collaboration.
Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona, ??resorts to nostalgia and memory. Remember that the RCTB turns 125 years old.
And Javier Gordó seconded it:
–I have lived since the tournament was born. I have experienced heroic moments. I have seen the family’s determination to make Barcelona a great city and to create events that develop the city. My father was a visionary because tennis was unknown then. In this time, I have seen how tennis has changed: the sport has gained in power, in speed, in the way of dressing. This is a more active, shorter tennis, before it was longer.
At the end, a range of decisive tennis players in the history of the tournament is portrayed: Orantes, Robredo, Corretja, Arilla, Ferrer himself…
