Pedro Muñoz Asenjo
, former president of the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET), died this Saturday at the age of 72 in the Segovia hospital, a victim of Covid-19.
The leader, known for his frontal confrontation with
Rafa Nadal
, took the reins of the federative entity between 2005 and 2009, when he was relieved by
José Luis Escañuela
.
On January 29, 2005, Muñoz defeated
Joan Margets
in the elections (111 votes by 50) to become the first non-Catalan president of the RFET since 1923. However, his volcanic character soon earned him a crude confrontation with players, technicians and agents.
The serious schism also triggered the intervention of the Higher Sports Council (CSD).
The climate of confrontation worsened even with Nadal, who accused him of constantly deceiving him.
The president, without mincing words, came to dedicate to the champion of 20 'majors' phrases such as: "That does not correspond to a 'number one', nor to a 'Prince of Asturias'.
The El Espinar tournament
The best moments of his tenure were lived during the Davis Cup in 2008. The exemplary semifinal against the United States in the Plaza de Las Ventas and that heroic triumph against the Argentines in Mar del Plata, when
Feliciano López
and
Fernando Verdasco
gave Spain their first Salad bowl on hard court and as a visiting team.
The other major milestone in Muñoz's career was the El Espinar tournament, which he started in 1986 and which five years later became the ATP Challenger.
Players of the stature of
Roger Federer
,
Juan Martín del Potro
,
Andy Murray
,
Sergi Bruguera
and
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
, as well as Nadal himself,
paraded through Segovian lands
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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