“No Funds To Pay”: Rafael Nadal To Miss Mexico Open As Tournament Fails To Support His Demands

Published 02/26/2021, 7:40 AM EST

For the past few years, World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has headlined the Mexico Open tennis tournament in Acapulco. He is one of the most successful players at the event, winning it thrice in 2005, 2013, and 2020.

However, this season, Rafael Nadal will not feature in Acapulco as the organizers are not able to afford his appearance fees. The effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic have resulted in this unfortunate situation.

With the rule of accomodating fewer audiences and the compulsion to create a bubble for the players, organizers are facing difficulties managing finances.

Article continues below this ad

Acapulco Open head comments on his relationship with Rafael Nadal’s agent

Players such as Rafa charge from the range of $500,000 to a million dollars as appearance fees. However, that investment is more than beneficial for tournament organizers.

The presence of elite players such as Roger, Novak, and Rafa attracts massive audiences and helps tournaments in filling the stands.

Commenting on Rafa’s absence this year, Mexican Tennis Open’s director, Raul Zurutuza said, “The relationship with Carlos Costa (Nadal’s agent) is super good and things were very open, the reality is that there are no funds to pay. Our budget for this year is super mega limited.”

Although Nadal will not be seen in Mexico this year, stars such as Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Diego Schwartzman will compete for the title.

Speaking more about the players competing at the event, the tournament director added, “We already had a signed contract with Zverev and it was more expensive to cancel it than to pay him. And the other players, the four or five that we invited with an appearance fee have put the batteries, their economic demands are substantially lower than what they normally do.”

Last season, the twenty-time Grand Slam winner won the Mexico Open. He beat American tennis player Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal Set to Reunite in Packed Field at Miami Open 2021

Article continues below this ad

Are people really surprised about this?

No top player goes to a 250 or 500 without a big appearance fee. Really thought Nadal, Federer and Djokovic ‘costed’ over 1M tbh but it must depend on the event https://t.co/PUEtAby92o
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 26, 2021

Article continues below this ad

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stefanos Tsitsipas (@stefanostsitsipas98)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Rohan Kollare is a tennis author for EssentiallySports. Rohan has a post-graduate diploma in Sports Management and a trophy cabinet adorned with accolades won in district and state-level tennis competitions. He has previously worked in Content Operations for Disney’s Hotstar for over a year, covering tennis and Formula One.

“No Funds To Pay”: Rafael Nadal To Miss Mexico Open As Tournament Fails To Support His Demands

Acapulco Open head comments on his relationship with Rafael Nadal’s agent

Trending

Roger Federer Breaks Partnership With Billion Dollar Worth Italian Brand Days After Coco Gauff’s Stunning Commercial Appearance

Tennis News: Rafael Nadal Confirms Retirement ; Doping-Banned Mikael Ymer Announces Comeback; Stefanos Tsitsipas Dubbed as Hypocrite

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Girlfriend Paula Badosa Provides Saddening Health Update After Being Forced To Retire Against Aryna Sabalenka

ATP Munich 2024: Bizarre Interruption in Holger Rune’s Match Leaves Tennis Umpire Completely Baffled

Mad in Love, Stefanos Tsitsipas Delivers the Most Romantic Message for ‘Biggest Blessing’ Paula Badosa