MADRID - This weekend's Davis Cup final between Spain and the United States is to set a new record for the number of spectators at an official tennis match.
About 26,600 people will fill the converted La Cartuja Olympic Stadium in Seville on each day of the December 3-5 finalafter organisers decided to sell extra tickets.
"(Organisers) have finally decided to expand capacity to include new areas of the stadium, after checking that visibility from those zones was adequate," the Spanish Tennis Federation said on its website.
"Never before have so many spectators been to a tennis court to watch a Davis Cup match."
The current record of 25,578 spectators dates back to the 1954 final between Australia and the United States in Sydney, according to the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
The 2004 US Open final between Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer drew the next highest crowd, 23,226 people, the USTA added.
A specially constructed, covered clay court has been built for the match inside a stadium generally used for athletics and soccer, which staged the 2003 Uefa Cup final between Porto and Celtic.
Seville was chosen for the final because its low altitude helps slow down balls, favouring Spain's top two players Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya, who learned their game on slow clay courts and do not serve as fast as their American opponents.
About 1000 people are working on the event, which has a budget of six million euros ($11.30 million), the federation said.
