King Felipe of Spain was joined by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway in Paris to watch the final of the tennis men’s individual tournament Roland Garros.
The final was played on Sunday, 5 May by Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal and young Norwegian promise Casper Ruud, whom Nadal defeated in 3 sets, with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
Upon his arrival, King Felipe, who travelled to the French capital with the Spanish Minister of Culture and Sports Miquel Iceta, was welcomed by Roland Garros’ authorities, as well as Spanish authorities in the world of sports among many others.
It was a rare weekend engagement for King Felipe, who mostly makes exceptions for state events or sports matches. The King seems to be a great fan of Rafael Nadal, as he often tweets about his successes.
Roland Garros is one of the four Grand Slams, the most important tournaments in the tennis year (the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open).
Rafael Nadal is the player who won the most Roland Garros tournaments (14) and is the second one in history to achieve a career Golden Slam (meaning that the player won all four major Grand Slam titles and the Olympic medal in the course of their career), with the first being Andre Agassi.
King Felipe is a keen sportsman, having competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for sailing and being a regular attendant of Atletico Madrid’s football matches. He also skis and plays squash, as well as is a staunch supporter of all Spanish athletes.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are also very passionate about sports, and the future King recently completed an expedition to Greenland. The Crown Princess is still very keen on physical activity, despite having health issues that prevent her from performing at the same levels she used to.
