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11/30/11 2:09 PM | Johan Lindahl
Free-spending world tennis center Madrid has been brought up short by the growing Eurozone economic crisis, with even the home of the May clay Masters 1000 forced to cut its 2020 Olympic bid budget by up to 40 percent.
The home of the ATP-WTA tournament, which will be played as a bold experiment on blue clay next spring over the mild objections of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, is starting to feel the pinch of the crisis gripping Spain.
The Olympic bid is still alive and well though, even as 2012 host London spends well over its own budget to save face with its Olympics starting in eight months.
Spain is one of the sickest of the European economies, with a 21 percent unemployment rate but a huge appetite for tennis and other sport. Madrid's municipal and regional government has been a big player in tennis sponsorship in recent years (Davis Cup), but will now have to cut a $50.4 million budget to around $30-35 million.
"We need the games," bid boss Alejandro Blanco told Spanish media. "This country, with its current political and economic situation, needs a project such as this. The Games mean a lot to all countries but for Spain, it means a lot more."
Also in the 2020 race: Tokyo; Rome; Istanbul; Doha; Baku, Azerbaijan. Madrid has lost bids and spent million in attempts to win the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, losing to London and Rio de Janeiro, respectively.
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