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Countdown til the very first Madrid Open…

This was a commercial event in the city center of Madrid to promote the tournament…

     

   

 

Lenny Kravitz’s Magical night in Madrid

Madrid Open - 20apr09

The main stadium will host a concert by Lenny Kravitz on its stage on Friday 8th May which, on Saturday 9th May, will become the central clay court of the Madrid Open.

On Friday the 8th May the opening ceremony will take place at “La Caja Mágica” with Lenny Kravitz’s concert as its main attraction. The american singer has kickstarted his European tour “LLR 20(09)” to celebrate his 20 years singing career.

From 8:30 pm onwards, the Central Court will showcase an acrobatics, light and sound performance about Spanish history through sports and culture. The night’s climax will take place just after this show with Lenny Kravitz’s concert.

“A Magic Night”, presented by Lexus, is supported by Rolex, Madrid 2016 Olympic bid and Estrella Damm.

Zapatero inaugura la Caja Mágica, escenario del Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open

Sport – 30apr09

El presidente del Gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, la presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre y el alcalde de la capital, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, inauguraron juntos las instalaciones de tenis más modernas del mundo para demostrar que “trabajan unidos” para que Madrid sea sede olímpica en 2016.

Este es “un edificio único en el mundo” que nos va a demostrar “que es posible convertir los sueños en realidad”, ha dicho el presidente del Gobierno, quien ha subrayado que las tres administraciones se han unido hoy “para hacer de Madrid la sede de unos Juegos Olímpicos sostenibles, accesibles y solidarios en 2016″.

En opinión de Rodríguez Zapatero, la Caja Mágica “está a la altura de lo que significa el deporte español” y “es tan mágica como el deporte español”, que “no para de proporcionar inmensas alegrías y de proyectar una extraordinaria imagen del país en el exterior”.

Ruiz-Gallardón se ha comprometido con el presidente a que los Juegos de 2016 “serán en Madrid pero serán en toda España”, y, en esta línea, ha destacado que “en un momento de dudas” esta Caja Mágica lanza un mensaje de lo que representa la candidatura madrileña “una realidad tangible, efectiva y abierta a todos”.

Por su parte, la presidenta de la Comunidad ha apuntado que Madrid tiene que ser sede de unos Juegos porque “es la única capital europea que no lo ha sido” y porque está “perfectamente preparada para ello”, por eso, ha agregado que el 2 de octubre en Copenhague, “esta vez sí”, la capital “será elegida sede olímpica”.

Aguirre ha reafirmado el compromiso de su Gobierno con la candidatura y ha dicho que el Open de Tenis Máster 1000, que va a inaugurar la Caja Mágica, será muy pronto una referencia en el tenis mundial.

Diseñada por el arquitecto Dominique Perrault, la Caja Mágica es un gigantesco complejo de acero, madera y vidrio -reflectante y opaco de día y centelleante de noche- que se ha levantado sobre unos terrenos degradados a orillas del río Manzanares, en el distrito de Usera, y en cuya construcción se han invertido más de 160 millones de euros.

El complejo deportivo, que funciona con energías renovables y agua reciclada, se estructura en torno a dos edificios, la Caja Mágica y el Tenis Indoor. La Caja Mágica aloja tres estadios centrales con cubiertas móviles -que permiten que se jueguen tres partidos simultáneamente en caso de lluvia, una posibilidad que no ofrece ninguna otra instalación de tenis del mundo- con aforos de 12.000 personas, 3.500 (ampliables a 5.000) y 2.500 (con posibilidad de 3.000), área de jugadores y árbitros, prensa, restauración y público.

El Tenis Indoor incluye once pistas cubiertas y es un edificio polivalente con club deportivo, gimnasio, spa, restaurante, pistas al aire libre y una zona de aparcamiento. Esta instalación es también un ejemplo de “reequilibrio territorial”, como han recordado el alcalde de Madrid y el presidente del Gobierno, y de como unos terrenos prácticamente convertidos en vertedero, se transforman en una instalación olímpica que haría de del río Manzanares “el pulmón” de los Juegos.

El flamante complejo comenzará su actividad el próximo 8 de mayo, coincidiendo con la visita de la Comisión de Evaluación del Comité Olímpico Internacional (COI), con la celebración del Open de Tenis Máster 1000, que se extenderá hasta el día 17 y que será inaugurado por el cantante Lenny Kravitz.

A la presentación de la Caja Mágica han asistido, entre otros, el ex presidente del Comité Olímpico Internacional (COI), Juan Antonio Samaranch, el secretario de Estado de Deporte, Jaime Lissavetsky, la delegada del Gobierno, Amparo Valcarce, el vicepresidente regional, Ignacio González, la practica totalidad de la Corporación municipal y numerosos tenistas españoles.

Madrid’s Magic Inside the Box !

You’ve seen Beijing’s Water Cube, now get acquainted with the world’s latest amazing indoor sporting venue – Madrid’s “Magic Box”.

By BBC.co.uk – 17oct08

La Caja Magica is the city’s largest building site, about 15 minutes south west of Madrid city centre, with 900 construction workers doing the necessary to make sure it opens on time in May.

It’s the new home of the Madrid Masters tennis tournament which moves from autumn to spring in the 2009 calendar, becoming a combined ATP and WTA event, and BBC Sport has been allowed a peek behind the scenes.

It’s going to be amazing.

The entire complex has a total of 16 clay courts but – here’s the twist – three of them will be inside the same building, the Magic Box and, incredibly, all three will have independent retractable roofs.

So imagine the roof of a huge aircraft hanger – now press a button and one part of it opens to reveal a tennis stadium. Press a different button and another part of the roof opens above a totally different stadium.

The three courts are all close together but hi-tech soundproofing means a rock concert could be taking place inside one with a tennis match progressing next door, undisturbed.

And just like the Water Cube in China, the Olympic swimming venue, the Magic Box will come into its own at nightfall thanks to poly-bicorbonate walls with a ’see-through’ effect.

Every seat in the building – 12,500 on the centre court alone – has an individual light beneath it. At night, the lights will shine upwards through the red plastic to create an extraordinary effect – basically a neon stadium shining through the see-through walls.

One for the cameras.

A second building stretches for 600 metres alongside the Magic Box. Ten practice courts will sit side by side in this new facility with the offices of the Spanish Tennis Federation in the middle.

Five thousand car park places sit on the other side of the complex linked to the buildings by a Wembley Way-style bridge which crosses a lake.

There appears to be an awful lot of work still to be done in six months but the pride shown by tournament director Manolo Santana, as he led the tour, left one in no doubt that hiccups would be avoided.

Promoter Ion Tiriac, the ebullient Romanian with such a passion for the future of tennis, has pulled off another masterstroke. In association with the city of Madrid, he’s going to show off the world’s top male and female players in the world’s finest new tennis complex.

As long as those 900 builders keep at it for another six months, that is…

Rafa awarded in Madrid for his #1 ranking !

… See you all on Sunday on the center court for the Big Event !

Yo soy una Madrileña mañana !

Sooo…. I’m getting ready for the TMS Madrid, 200 % of stress and a full sleepless week behind me. My third year swimming and sinking into tennis, yay !!!

I’m flying from Frankfurt tomorrow morning (with Holy Spanair Crap) and will catch Yvonne from Netherlands at the Madrid airport tomorrow afternoon. Coloma from Palma will arrive the first on thursday morning and will be in charge of our appartment. Becky & Kian from London will join us on Sunday and we’ll meet Reyes & Brand, our Spanish VBers. And probably other people…

This blog is for the first time a public blog. As I’ll cover the entire tournament, I want to let it open for non-Rafa fans… Feel free to copy and paste stuff here, only to our VamosBrigade board. But I don’t allow anybody else to use my stuff, you’ll have to ask before… (Kai, Karo, you’re the only ones who can use inside info and pics for your Argie blogs).

I’ll upload pics and videos as soon and as quick as possible. Don’t forget that I’m working from 09h00 am to 4.00 pm and will be watching matches after that until midnight… I don’t think I’ll have access to a computer during the day, so I won’t be able to write a lot before I’m back home late every evening.

I won’t be working with the photographers and on the tournament’s website. I was first horrified.

You’ll be surprised : Here you’ll have an idea of what will be my new job…

If there is any important inside info, I’ll send some SMS to Dani. Chica, get your cell ready !

Our first Madrid mission will be to get the Internet connection working en “nuestra casa” !!!

Nada de nada in Metz…

Finally, I didn’t go to the Open de Moselle in Metz. Too much to do here and Madrid is much more important… The Monday schedule was pure crap and the final was not very exciting… Let’s focuse on the next tournament ! Still 4 days until the departure and honestly, nothing is ready and nothing will be ready.

A tennis marathon is on the way !

First stop in Paris for the Black Rock Tour of Champions with Edberg, Borg, Bruguera, Wilander…

Then, one or two days at the Open de Moselle in Metz. it will depend of the Order of Play.

The “cherry on the sunday” will be my ten days at the TMS Madrid, working at the players’ desk. (I swear I’ll take care of my chicos… :p)

And to kill me, back to Paris again, for the Semis and the Final at the BNP Paribas Masters.

Welcome…

I’ll add old reports very soon, it will take me a whole life to go back to 1989… Still not satisfied with the design, but I’ll try to arrange it soon !