Tennis fever seems to have gripped South African tennis fans who bought 48,000 tickets in under 10 minutes on September 4 for a Cape Town exhibition match next February between tennis world giants and superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer who recently played the US open. The game garnered such a positive response that the organizers will erect additional stands so that the people can buy more tickets. The game at the Cape Town Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is set to break the attendance record of 35,681 for a tennis match set by Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2010 in Brussels.

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Overwhelming sales

A spokeswoman for the organizers of the Cape Town match said the tickets were snapped up online and at ticket outlets. “We are overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reaction on our ticket sales and we sincerely thank you for the overwhelming support,” said Janine Handel, chief executive of the Roger Federer Foundation. “Lines were opened up by (online ticket sellers) Computicket at 0900 and within a record time of fewer than 10 minutes the tickets were sold.”

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Additional stands to be rected

Handel said the organizers would consider erecting additional stands to cater for some of those who could not buy tickets on September 4 for the Nadal v Federer Match. Prices ranged from 150 to 1950 rand ($10 to 130/9 to 119 euros) and buyers were restricted to a maximum of six for the February 7 exhibition. Spaniard Nadal is ranked second in the world and Swiss Federer third with Serbian Novak Djokovic number one. 

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The previous record was that of an attendance record of over 35,000 tickets for a tennis match set by Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams in 2010 in the Belgian city of Brussels.

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(With inputs from PTI)