After several weeks of reconstruction and tuning, the Magic Fund opens for this edition of the Mutua Madrid Open 2025 something different from those of the last twenty years. It is the first without active Rafael Nadal and although the tennis continues, … There is a certain vacuum grounds that will try to fill with the new tennis owners in these two weeks of tournament. For Feliciano López (Toledo, 43 years old) is a new course as a director, exciting as the previous ones and with that predisposition chat with ABC in the bowels of the tournament stage.
“How is this edition so little to start?”
“So you start.” In the end, time passes very fast and it seems that it was yesterday when last year’s tournament was over. There is really eager for players to come again and get a good experience.
“Is it possible to improve?”
“The standards of this tournament are always very high.” There is always the motivation to continue growing and improving, although we cannot grow to be a Grand Slam. But within a 1,000 category tournament we try to be the best, give the best experience to the players, that everything is perfect: logistics, clues, services, food, common areas, cover needs, meet expectations … They travel with more and more people, so you have to adapt the space. The magic box is large, but we are sometimes limited to find places so that players can spend their time. But the work has been brutal for a couple of years with this format and we are in a good time.
—What tenistic attractions do they tell in this course?
—Obviously Carlitos Alcaraz is the greatest attraction, after the withdrawal of Rafa Nadal. It is a blessing to have a tennis player like him in Spain. A player who loves coming to Madrid, who hooks very well with the public in Madrid, who has very good memories of this tournament when he was not yet the player who is now. He has memorable games, like the one who won against Djokovic. And the conditions favor him a little, for that game to the attack and varied, which allow him to squeeze his abilities. And apart, the entire list of great players and players who will be here trying to take the title of Madrid.
“But Alcaraz can play despite your lesion in the Godó?”
– It’s nothing serious. They are discomfort in the pubis and their participation is not in danger. I do not think it is a problem so that I can play at its maximum level.
“Alcaraz is living a little high of ups and downs.”
“It’s normal.” We have all gone through situations like that. He is 21 years old and people have to understand that. It has become accustomed to winning everything, but that’s the most difficult. You have to give it time and space for it to develop as it is.
“How are the tennis players going to arrive?”
—We have years in which Swiatek and Sabalenka have dominated clearly. And this course is a bit different, with Madison Keys crowning in Australia. It is very difficult to keep the level when you are so up, that pressure to win all the Grand Slams as Sabalenka and Swiatek have. Of course, they will have their tall and low and there will be a small hole so that other players can fight them from you to you, plant them. And then is Paula Badosa. It returns after a very hard year, and returns to be among the top ten. It is a great news. We should value more than in Spanish tennis we have Alcaraz and Badosa. It is a luxury.
“It was also a luxury to live with Nadal.” How did that last game live on these clues last year?
“As tennis fan is hard.” They take away something that has been exciting you a lot of time. People have a hard time accepting it. It has been a part of our lives in the last 20 years. In mine, obviously, because I have lived it closer. His triumphs were sometimes almost like mine, I was so happy as if I were mine. There are people who have spent sleepless nights to see their games. He has transcended beyond sport: he has managed to excite people of all kinds, and unite and create emotions difficult to explain and you will never live again. Such a player is withdrawn, you accept it because everything has a beginning and an end, but it is still hard. It has been more than an athlete. You have to learn to live without Rafa.
“And how is it done?”
“We are lucky to have Carlos.” It is a blessing that one retires and the other is already arriving. And that is very positive for the tournament. Last year his farewell in Madrid was pretty. We try to live up to the legacy and its legend. It was very exciting.
“Are you prepared for that day?”
“It depends on each one.” Rafa is a person who is very active and likes to do many things. In that sense it will be entertaining. When you stop playing it fills you a lot to dedicate the necessary time. And he is a person who has many projects and will not be bored. But it depends on the circumstances in which you retire. Rafa spent difficult because he could not give the opportunity to compete a minimum of time to try. His body did not let him compete three or four or five months well from Australia with all the illusion with which he returned after the operation. On the one hand it is a release, because your body does not let you compete one hundred percent. But surely he will miss it.
“What do you miss most when you retire?”
“Above all the adrenaline of competing.” I loved the life I had: traveling around the world, knowing different cultures and doing what you like. It is lucky to dedicate yourself to something you love. In my case I retired playing well. He was older, but he was still competitive. I have a beautiful memory of my retirement. I have not finished my career hating tennis like other colleagues or athletes who say that the shoes have not been put in ten years because they do not have good memory or suffered more than expected. It is not the case of Nadal.
“Nadal goes and a tennis form, especially on beaten land.” Madrid is one of the few oasis on this surface.
“It has also played a lot in grass, because in the 60s and 70s both Australia and the US Open were in grass.” These two surfaces have had a very important role in the history of tennis. If there is something that I love with tennis is to play on different surfaces. It makes it unique. But today the best players play less and less such tournaments because they have other goals. Each one has their interests, and tennis goes in that direction: after Wimbledon you are already thinking of preparing in the best way for New York. They are different times; And those of us who are part of this industry have to adapt.
—What direction is tennis taking?
“He is going like the rest of sports: stronger, more prepared, more knowledge of everything.” Everything is more professional. The tennis is of power, with players above 1.90, which there are already many. In my time I was the high ones, but now you are no longer the tallest in the class. And with the materials, the balls, the tennis has become very powerful, very fast, with few exchanges. That’s why Alcaraz is so colorful, because he does different things. It is rare to see such players with courage to invent different things in a game. Within twenty years we will see where this sport is. I like it, it is very spectacular and great to see how they can exchange balls at that speed as if nothing. It has its merit, and understanding that it is today’s tennis.
—In Australia the benches approached to the track. Do you sin a little to remote the player?
“I have an internal debate.” It is understandable that a person who works with you all year can give you a hand the most important day. But it is something unique that only had tennis, solve the problems you only on the track. Without help from outside. I loved that. It was something that since childhood you mentioned to develop: to go and be alone in the danger and that no one can help you. With the exception of the Davis Cup captain. But I’m not against ‘coaching’. I understand those who think that you are paying a coach all year and that the day you play cannot help you is absurd. But if I had to stay with one of the two: I would return to before.
“Do we forget about doubles?”
“It’s another part of very beautiful tennis.” I played a few years and it is a great complement, especially when you are lucky enough to play the best. It is a huge attraction to see them in that discipline. Last year it was a surprise and a tremendous joy that won Sorribes and Bucsa. And as a result, bronze in Paris. I’m glad for them.
“What do you think of Sinner’s sanction?”
“I have said publicly from the beginning: Sinner is innocent.” He has tried it. There has been a lot of noise around that. Obviously it is a number 1 in the world and I understand the media noise around its positive, to the process, to decisions. But there have been many people who have manifested against them who did not seem fair. Especially by the tennis industry. Although it is not a partner of mine because we are different generations, but it seems to me that once he tried that he was innocent, that he has not tried to cheat, I do not seem well for the criticisms. You can criticize how organisms that regulate doping work or how are the processes. We can discuss that. But I have not liked the criticism of a player who has proven that he is innocent and that anyone who knows him minimally knows that he would never trap or take something forbidden to obtain greater performance. The sanction of three months if you are innocent does not seem fair to me. But I understand that the player has to be responsible for anything that happens to him in his professional life. The sooner it returns better, it is another blessing like Alcaraz. They will lead tennis many years and with a beautiful rivalry. Two players who do a lot for tennis at all levels and wish him the best. This has been a very unfortunate thing, but I am convinced that he is innocent one hundred percent.
