The 1990s marked one of the key stages in the 70-year history of the Conde de Godó Trophy, both on and off the track. In the offices, the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP) took absolute control of the circuit, at a time when show-business and marketing prevailed in the organizations of the competitions. On the court, Spanish tennis, with players trained at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, began to lay the foundations of what years later was coined worldwide as the 'Armada'.
Sixte Cambra, director of the Conde de Godó Trophy, effectively led the new demands of the circuit with two transcendental decisions. The first, without losing the essence of a club tournament that is a hallmark of the tournament, was to incorporate the marketing resources that he offered after an agreement with IMG. The second was to take advantage of the remodeling of the circuit to move the tournament from its autumn dates and place it in the European tour on clay that culminates in Roland Garros.
The Ecuadorian Andrés Gómez was the protagonist of the closing and beginning of these two stages in the calendar, prevailing in the finals of 1989 and 1990. But the irruption of the new generations of Spanish tennis was knocking on the door, and, in 1991, the Conde de Godó Trophy experienced one of the most emotional finals in its long history in which Emilio Sánchez Vicario, a RCTB player, beat Sergi Bruguera.
"The tournament always took the right steps to maintain that club spirit that makes it unique and that the players love, but there is no doubt that the strong appearance of the Spanish players helped significantly," acknowledges Vittorio Selmi, one of the historical leaders of the ATP, responsible for the connection between tournament and players, and in love with the Barcelona tournament.
The victory of Emilio Sánchez was followed, in the year in which Barcelona became a world reference with the organization of the Olympic Games, that of Carlos Costa in 1992. Just as it happened in 1960, with the triumph of Andrés Gimeno raising the Conde de Godó Trophy, the victory of Carlos Costa, a member of one of the club's families of historical reference, was quite a social party. Sergi Bruguera and Carlos Costa also reached the finals of the tournament in 1993 and 1994 respectively
After the irruption of Thomas Muster, champion in 1995 and 1996, and one of the great references on clay, in 1997, another player from the club, Albert Costa, beat Albert Portas in a new final between Spaniards. A year later, it was Alberto Berasategui, also a RCTB player, who reached the final. In 1999, the year the club celebrated its Centenary, it was another player from the entity, Félix Mantilla, who culminated in such a special year with victory in the Conde de Godó Trophy.
During that decade, there was also an impact from club players in the doubles event. Javier Sánchez Vicario won the 1990 and 1992 titles with Andrés Gómez, added a third with Luis Lobo in 1996 and reached the final in 1994 with Jim Courier. Sergio Casal and Emilio Sánchez agreed to a new final in 1993, and, in 1997, Alberto Berasategui and Jordi Burillo culminated in a victory that was highly celebrated by the members of the entity.
