Nadal's tennis club in Malaga granted final expansion project

After two years of negotiations, the arrival of a Rafa Nadal-branded tennis club in Malaga city seems closer. As SUR has learned, the municipal urban planning department has already advanced the study and preparations for a tender to transform, expand and modify the management of the Inacua racquet centre facilities, located next to the athletics stadium. Promoter of this initiative is Marbella developer Sierra Blanca.

The roadmap set for this action to go ahead involves the resignation of the company that has been operating the racquet centre since 2014 - Serveo, which still had nine years of concession left to continue managing this tennis and paddle court centre.

In turn, this renunciation requires financial compensation from Sierra Blanca to Serveo which, according to sources consulted, is practically closed, pending clarification of some economic issues with the city council.

Meanwhile, the Nadal tennis club project has been expanding, having added a plot of land that will significantly increase its initial surface area. This also municipally owned plot is located just to the east of the current centre, between Avenida Alicia de Larrocha and Avenida Imperio Argentina.

This site, currently used as a provisional car park, will add more than 11,000 square metres. It will be used for the construction of a residence for the athletes that will attend the future tennis club.

The residence will have the capacity to attract people from other parts of the country or abroad, who will have access to a completely renovated sports centre, as is already the case with Nadal's academy in his home town of Manacor (Mallorca.

Once Serveo has withdrawn as owner of the current racquet centre, the city council will call a new tender for the renovation, extension and operation of the courts.

This sports project targets an area that is increasingly emerging as one of the main growth hubs in the city. Construction is already underway on the campus that Alfonso X El Sabio University will open in September on a plot of land adjacent to the racquet centre. In addition, various housing projects have been completed or are set to be developed on sites such as Torre del Río, La Térmica and El Pato, in what is now known as the 'Golden Mile' of Malaga's coastline.