Rafa Nadal will be, once again, the star of Godó. The Spanish tennis player, eleven times winner of the tournament, will be on the courts of Tennis Barcelona between April 17 and 25 to try to win a twelfth title. And you will not be alone: in the official presentation of the event it was confirmed that the tournament will take place with the public. If the situation does not vary much from the current one, the Health restrictions will limit the capacity, but will not eliminate it. 1000 people, approximately 12% of the capacity, will be able to watch the matches live.
With the two great unknowns that the tournament kept revealed, David Ferrer, the director of the tournament, detailed who will be the participants of this edition. The ex-tennis player, who is making his debut as tournament director, assured that “it will be one of the best lists in history” and the presence of eleven top-20 ATP players is currently confirmed. Three of them (including Nadal) in the top-10. The manacorí will be accompanied by tennis players of the stature of Stefanos Tsisipas (5 in the world), Diego Schwartzman (9) or the two-time Godó champion Kei Nishikori (10). A poster that obviously does not forget the Spanish tennis players (Feliciando López, Pablo Carreño, Bautista …) and that is not yet closed: Ferrer hopes to improve it, convincing one last player among the top ten to play Godó . “There may still be some surprises,” he said.
From the organization of the Tournament, there was a lot of insistence that it will be a “different” edition but that it maintains all the values that have made Godó one of the sporting events of the year in Barcelona. With a Covid committee led by Antoni Trilla, head of preventive medicine at Hospital Clínic, it will be ensured that tennis players and the public can participate in a sporting event in the highest possible safety conditions. The open spaces, the safety distance and the masks will be the pillars of the prevention strategy. The organization foresees a “limited” but also “safe and successful” Godó.