The presence of the legendary Manolo Santana gave luster to the prologue of the Challenger and the new ATP 250 Andalucía Open that will take place at the Puente Romano resort in Marbella from March 29th. The former tennis player from Madrid, who lives in the town of Malaga, was the great star of the presentation of the tournaments sponsored by the AnyTech365 company, which also had the participation of the Mayor of Marbella, María Ángeles Muñoz, the Minister of Education and Sports, Javier Imbroda, the Secretary General for Sports José María Arrabal, the Director General of Planning, Facilities and Sports Events, Isabel Sánchez , Marbella Sports Councilor Manuel Cardeña, Tournament Director Ronnie Leitgeb and AnyTech365 CEO Janus Nielsen. Imbroda greeted Santana and asked that his name be displayed on the central court of the Puente Romano Club which already owes its name to the winner of four Grand Slams. In recent months there had been speculation about his health and from what was seen in the ceremony held on 'his' court, he is fine.
Both the Challenger and the ATP event, which are held on clay, will have an audience, in the first case from the round of 16 that start on April 1, with a limit of 20% of the capacity in the central (about 500 spectators). In the Roman Bridge the bubble will be mounted in which the tennis players, teams, organizers, workers and the media will be immersed between strict anti-COVID measures (mandatory mask, PCR test, temperature control, online interviews …). And the matches can be followed by Teledeporte from April 2. The Challenger broadcasts will begin that day and the 250 will be broadcast in its entirety in sessions of three daily games starting at 12:00.
Outstanding participation
Regarding the list of tennis players, the Marbella Challenger will include, among others, the Spanish Pablo Andújar, who will also be at the Andalucía Open, Pedro Martínez (current champion), Roberto Carballés, Jaume Munar, Carlos Alcaraz, Carlos Taberner and Bernabé Zapata, in addition to the son of Bjorn Borg (he will be one of the figures who hands out the trophies together with Santana), Leo, who also received an invitation to the previous ATP championship, in which Andrey Rublev (first favorite), Roberto Bautista, Pablo Carreño, Stan Wawrinka, Casper Ruud, Dusan Lajovic, Albert Ramos, Richard Gasquet, Alejandro Davidovich and Feliciano López.
These will be the broadcast times:
Friday, April 2 – 12:00: 3 games – Challenger 80 Quarterfinals
Saturday April 3 – 12:00: 2 games – Challenger 80 Semifinals
Sunday April 4 – 12:00: 1 match – Final Challenger 80
Monday, April 5 – 12:00: 3 games – First round ATP 250
Tuesday, April 6 – 12:00: 3 games – First round ATP 250
Wednesday 7 April – 12:00: 3 games – Second round ATP 250
Thursday, April 8 – 12:00: 3 games – Second round ATP 250
Friday, April 9 – 11:00: 4 games – ATP 250 Quarterfinals
Saturday April 10 – 12:00: 2 games – ATP 250 Semifinals
Sunday, April 11 – 12:00: 1 match – ATP 250 Final