Marbella synonymous with unlimited hours of sunshine throughout the year provides a spectacular environment for outdoor leisure sports. Known for its wonderful places to go for walks year round either along the Golden Miles beach, through the mountains, or round the exclusive Puerto Banus boutiques… Marbella is also well known for its abundance of sport facilities, with a large majority of outdoor sports offering great opportunities for people of all ages to have fun and enjoy. From a large variety of options offered including golf, football, beach volleyball, paddle tennis, water sports, etc. today our blog will talk about tennis, and more specifically about the Davis Cup that is coming to Marbella. The Spanish team has travelled to Marbella and played the Davis Cup twice in the past. The first time the city hosted the event was in 1989, where Spain played against Mexico in the first round on the courts of the Puente Romano Hotel. The other occasion was in 2009, hosted at the Puerto Banus bullring where Spain challenged Germany in the quarterfinals.
For those who are unaware of the tournament, the Davis Cup (known colloquially as ‘the salad bowl’) is a tennis competition, organized by the International Federation of sport. Unlike most international tennis tournaments, the Davis Cup does not involve individual players, but national teams composed of several players selected by their national sports federation. It is the largest annual sports tournament, with 130 different national teams playing. Between 2nd and 4th February 2018, the Hotel Puente Romano (created by Alfonso von Hohenlohe, named after an authentic Roman bridge, which was part of the Via Augusta, an old causeway Roman that united Rome with Cádiz almost two thousand years ago) will host the Davis Cup tournament between Spain and Great Britain. The new Spanish Davis Cup teams captain Sergi Bruguera, has chosen along with his players, and in consensus with the Spanish Tennis Federation, Marbella as the setting for the first round of the Davis Cup World Group for the two teams to compete at, making the city the focus of world tennis once more.
The Puente Romano venue is ideally prepared and used to host large events of this style on a regular basis. This past summer stars such as John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Yannick Noah or Carlos Moya (who was the winner) played Puente Romano’s centre court, the “Senior Masters Cup” that was held from 28th till 30th September 2017. The Golden Mile will host this event outbidding another important Spanish city, the city of Granada. Undoubtedly the stunning climate that Marbellas boasts is a great advantage in the month of February, playing at sea level on the outdoor court. It has also been reported that during the days of the competition there will be a well-deserved tribute to Manolo Santana, one of the legends and tennis icons and a great ambassador to our city.
Undoubtedly there could not have been a better match, as Marbella enjoys great ties between Great Britain and Spain and symbolizes one of the best Anglo Spanish tourist destinations and locations for European real estate. Brits have been in love with the Costa del Sol for several decades and as a result in 2017 there were over 2,000,000 overnight stays by British people on our coast, without counting those who already own properties in our cities. In addition, the tournament will once again show the qualities that Marbella as a city offers during the low seasons. Sport is one of the key tools that helps boast our area with tourists during the low seasons and ensured that some 10.5 million people visited Spain in 2017 for sporting events, and great recognition goes to the many golf courses that can be found throughout the city, as well as being the number 1 choice for many sports teams for their training preparation.
Marbella will once again be centre of the world media and will begin the year as one of the most visited tourist destinations. If you want to come and discover why Marbella has been chosen for this and other events, in addition to enjoying the tournament, do not hesitate to contact Marbella Unique Properties. We will help you find a property that suites your needs, whether on the Golden Mile next to the Puente Romano, in Nueva Andalucía and its great golf valley or if you prefer Puerto Banus for its exclusivity. Do not think further Marbella is the ideal location.