Tennis will be okay even after Roger Federer and Nadal retirement - Tiriac
In an interview to El Pais, the Madrid Open owner Ion Tiriac commented on how the tennis will look like once the Big Three leave. "Rafael Nadal is not a tennis player, he is not a Spanish sportsman: a world sportsman. For me, personally what I admire the most is that he kept himself feet grounded. He does not do crazy things, I never saw him crying, I never saw him complaining... He is a big champion. But everyone goes, as he will go, you will go and I will. Look at the Real Madrid of Di Stefano; he retired, the Madrid continued. The same thing happened with my Generation, where there were Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson or Anderson, all of my age. Then, Nastase, Borg and Connors came, an amazing generation that ended because the McEnroes were coming, and then the Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi time. Then the Big Four and Federer, who is one who almost invented the tennis ball and the racquet, came. Tennis is a sport, but sports is a market and business."
Tiriac also admitted he thought about making the Madrid Open move to Russia or Berlin: "I was very close it to happen, but I did not change idea: if you can stay in Madrid, after 20 years of hard work... It was not easy at all. In 2002, when we started here, people did not know what it would have happened. Barcelona, that has a big tournament, 100 years old, has a tennis club... There were a lot of doubts, questions and now not even 2 per cent of people speak badly about the tournament."
Roger Federer has come back to play in Madrid for the first time since 2015.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2E4CBbt
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