The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal joined Kiki Bertens, John Isner and Fiona Ferro as new participants in the ‘Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro’, a tournament recreated in the Tennis World Tour video game, which will have two categories: ATP and WTA, and whose objective will be raising funds to fight the coronavirus.
The suspension of the Caja Mágica tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic will cause the tennis players to change the racket for the command of the console to be measured from their homes from April 27 to 30. Last Thursday Andy Murray, Angelique Kerber, Lucas Pouille and Carla Suárez were announced as the first members of the team.
Now, the great idol of the Manolo Santana Track fans, Rafa Nadal, confirms that he will be present in the virtual tournament. “From the confinement and with the encouragement that we are giving ourselves, happy to participate in the virtual tournament in Madrid and how could it be otherwise, I will try to give everything,” said Nadal.
“I don’t know how it will go, but I hope to be with you and feel your support as it always happens every time I play at home, this time virtual,” added the five-time champion in Madrid. Meanwhile, Kiki Bertens, the current champion of the Mutua Madrid Open, also signed up for the virtual defense of the title.
“I think it is a fun initiative for a great cause. I will miss playing in Madrid this year, since I love the tournament, but I will do my best to compete on the couch at home and to perform so well in the virtual tournament this year as I did last year on the Madrid track, “said the WTA player.
The tournament will have a donation of 150,000 euros in both tables (ATP and WTA), from which the winners will be able to decide the amount that they give to the tennis players with the most economic problems at the moment and, additionally, a total of 50,000 euros that will go entirely to reducing the social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
