Madrid bullring to star in Spain-U.S. Davis Cup clash
MADRID (Reuters) - As world number one Rafael Nadal and his Spain team mates geared up to face the United States, workers were putting the finishing touches to another big draw of this weekend's Davis Cup semi-final, Madrid's bullring.
It will be the first tennis event played at the 77-year-old Las Ventas ring -- a Mecca for matadors and bullfighting fans -- and should provide a dazzling showcase for the Spanish capital as it competes for the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
"It's just cool," said U.S. world number eight Andy Roddick, as he prepared for Friday's start of the three-day tie.
"When you walk in, it's unlike any other stadium that we've ever played in."
In just 10 days, a small army of workers have built a clay court in the middle of the sandy arena, transforming the ornate, perfectly circular plaza into the world's second-biggest tennis venue after New York's Arthur Ashe.
Ironically, a Madrid tie was not what the Spain squad had wanted, fearing that at 660 meters above sea level, Madrid's thinner air would hand an advantage to their big-serving opponents like Roddick and Davis Cup debutant Sam Querrey.
But Querrey, who admitted he was nervous even before drawing Nadal in the first rubber, is unlikely to be calmed by the cauldron-like atmosphere as 21,000 supporters, packed onto its thin granite benches, bay for a Spanish victory.
Though not the world's biggest bullring, Madrid's is arguably the most important.
Its infamously hard-to-please crowd are just as likely to drown a matador with derisory whistles as carry the triumphant fighter on their shoulders through the Puerta Grande, or "Big Door".
"It's like the exam room. It either makes or breaks you," said Federico Diaz, the venue's head of communications.
Knowing how the ring has destroyed the reputations of complacent fighters in the past, the favorites, Spain, declined to discuss whether they would celebrate by being carried through the Puerta Grande.
(Editing by Trevor Huggins)
