Laurence Dollimore
MARBELLA has been awarded the first round of next year’s Davis Cup.
The Spanish Tennis Federation has chosen the Puente Romano hotel along the Costa del Sol hotspot’s so-called Golden Mile.
The event will take place between February 2 and 4.
Puente Romano’s stands will be extended.
It is believed the Spanish players’ opinions were a deciding factor in the decision.
They prefer to play at sea level, where the ball goes slower, hence Marbella proved more popular than its rival for the tie Granada.
The clay court currently has capacity for 2,500 people and will have to be expanded to fit 9,000 spectators. It is a stage that has hosted WTA tournaments and is a favourite training base for Novak Djokovic.
It is not yet known if the Spain and team GB’s biggest players – Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – will be playing in the cup.
Marbella must pay a fee of €400,000 euros plus VAT, and also deal with organizational costs, mainly the increase of stands to get a higher capacity. The total cost will be around €1 million.
For this it will have the institutional support of the Junta.
The town hall will receive 50% of the money collected from the sale of tickets and season tickets for the three days of competition.
The result of the draw for the first round of the 2018 Davis Cup was announced on September 20, with the match between Spain and Great Britain.
