A world-famous soccer stadium will host the biggest stars in tennis next month, as Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu transforms from a soccer pitch into a collection of tennis courts.
The Madrid Open, which begins April 20, will use the stadium as a training facility between April 23 and April 30, three sources briefed on the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said.
The proposal takes advantage of the Bernabéu’s proximity to the player hotel for the tennis tournament, which is a men’s and women’s event one rung below a Grand Slam, as well as a run of away games for the club, currently 2nd in La Liga.
The tournament declined to comment on the plans.
The transformation is possible because of Madrid’s retractable pitch, the central feature of the $1 billion renovation to the Bernabéu which the club completed in late 2023. It is divided into six sections of 11.6 metres by 107 metres, which can be stored underground in what is essentially a massive underfloor greenhouse. Grow lamps and climate controls keep the grass in pristine condition, while allowing for other facilities — like clay tennis courts — to be constructed on top of the concrete base that covers the underfloor storage.
Madrid’s run of three away games in late April and early May, against Real Betis, Espanyol and Barcelona, makes the plan possible. A potential Champions League semifinal first leg against Liverpool or Paris Saint-German, played April 28 or 29, would not be an obstacle because Madrid would be away for the first leg.
Club president Florentino Pérez has long held ambitions of staging a tennis match at the stadium, between 22-time Grand Slam champion and Madrid super fan Rafael Nadal and 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. During the club’s 2019 general assembly, he said that injuries had scuppered several plans to stage such a match.
Nadal has declared a desire to become president of Madrid in the future, while men’s world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is also a huge fan of the club. Soccer stars routinely attend the Madrid Open, which is held at the Caja Mágica, six miles south of the Bernabéu.
The renovations to the Bernabéu were also designed to boost the club’s already world-leading revenues of over $1.2 billion per year, through the hosting of events outside of soccer, sporting or otherwise, as it has done since its initial construction. The stadium hosted its first NFL game last November, while Taylor Swift performed there in 2024.
For the Madrid Open, whose defending champions are Norway’s Casper Ruud and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, adding more practice courts will allow it to provide more comfortable facilities for all players.