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I get there a little late. You never know what you'll find at the parking lots in Foro Italico, but after some tour I find a place behind the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very long queue at the ticket office: fortunately it doesn't concern me. At the entrance search with seizure of cans and bottles, as we were at a football match (but inside they sold bottles with the cap), then there is the novelty of the turnstiles, and not everyone knows how to use them.
I'm in around 11.25. I have the ticket for the Centre Court, but I don't really care about the first match: I understand, however, that the crowd won't allow so much to choose which match to watch. I try on the Pietrangeli, where Wozniacki is playing, and 5-2 behind. I have to wait until 5-4 to enter, there seems to be some place, but the only one I can find before play resumes is behind the louder: however, the field can be seen all over. The game is not so good, many errors. Wozniacki wins the set at the tie-break: many stand up and I stand up too to look for a better place, but at that moment Wozniacki announces her retirement (she had an injury break and wore a bandage).
I think it is better to eat something before the queues get too long: I choose the pasta stand, where I eat fusilli with basil and goat cheese, not bad. Then I decide to go to the only court where I'm sure to find a place: Centre. I have to make the full round, because my seat is just behind the players' corridor, like last year. But now I understand why they keep it always open: it also gives access to practice courts. Around us there are autograph hunters, with their giant balls to sign: I will hear that Federer also passed there. Kyrgios and Medvedev are playong. Kyrgios is very pleasant to see, with so many variations. However he tends to exaggerate, wanting to be original even when a trivial shot would be the best choice, so much that many call him a jester. He tries several times the low service in Chang 1989 style, without ever making the point, towards the end he will also show his butt to his opponent (dressed, of course). Medvedev keeps pace, but he is a much more ordinary player. In an hour and a half they play three sets: short rallies and never very long games. Kyrgios wins, after saving a break point with a 223 km/h ace on second serve. During the break, I look for a place that does not have a too long queue to eat something more: I choose the Puglia stand, where I eat a panzerotto. I'll be back on the Cente when Berrettini and Zverev are already on 5-4. Services dominate until Berrettini starts badly on 5-5 and is 0-40, but comes back. In the next game Zverev will play badly and therefore the Italian wins the first set. I see that they never give updates from other courts: evidently they assume that everyone sees them on the app (I do it too). The second set opens with a Berrettini blackout, who loses his service: he will equalize in the fourth game. On 5-4 he makes a great game: he gets to the match point, but it misses it, then at 6-5 it will be Zverev who makes disasters and for Italian it is done. In the interview, to the question "what do you feel after this victory?" he will answer "is not true". On the way out I see an old man walking with difficulty and exiting supported by a stewardess: just because someone points this out I realize that it's Pietrangeli.
It's 5 pm, and the program on the Centre Court is already over, which means that there will be an even bigger crowd on the other courts. In fact on minor courts it is not possible to enter and also to pass from one side to the other it takes about ten minutes, in both directions. I see from behind the barriers a men's double match where the Italians Baldi-Pellegrino (I find out from one of my neighbors who is who) get to the decisive tie-break and lose it. Then I sit in the only court where it is possible and I see a couple of Italian girls, whom I do not distinguish one from the other, lose a set.
I end the day on the Pietrangeli, where I meet with a friend of mine, who had been on the Grandstand despite having a ground ticket. Moving on, I saw that there was a long queue to enter the sector open to everyone, while the one reserved for those who had a dedicated ticket was almost empty. We see the second set between Basilashvili and Djere, won by the former, which closes the match. There are still matches going on, but we get out, because we have a commitment and it even starts to get cold.
I'm in around 11.25. I have the ticket for the Centre Court, but I don't really care about the first match: I understand, however, that the crowd won't allow so much to choose which match to watch. I try on the Pietrangeli, where Wozniacki is playing, and 5-2 behind. I have to wait until 5-4 to enter, there seems to be some place, but the only one I can find before play resumes is behind the louder: however, the field can be seen all over. The game is not so good, many errors. Wozniacki wins the set at the tie-break: many stand up and I stand up too to look for a better place, but at that moment Wozniacki announces her retirement (she had an injury break and wore a bandage).
I think it is better to eat something before the queues get too long: I choose the pasta stand, where I eat fusilli with basil and goat cheese, not bad. Then I decide to go to the only court where I'm sure to find a place: Centre. I have to make the full round, because my seat is just behind the players' corridor, like last year. But now I understand why they keep it always open: it also gives access to practice courts. Around us there are autograph hunters, with their giant balls to sign: I will hear that Federer also passed there. Kyrgios and Medvedev are playong. Kyrgios is very pleasant to see, with so many variations. However he tends to exaggerate, wanting to be original even when a trivial shot would be the best choice, so much that many call him a jester. He tries several times the low service in Chang 1989 style, without ever making the point, towards the end he will also show his butt to his opponent (dressed, of course). Medvedev keeps pace, but he is a much more ordinary player. In an hour and a half they play three sets: short rallies and never very long games. Kyrgios wins, after saving a break point with a 223 km/h ace on second serve. During the break, I look for a place that does not have a too long queue to eat something more: I choose the Puglia stand, where I eat a panzerotto. I'll be back on the Cente when Berrettini and Zverev are already on 5-4. Services dominate until Berrettini starts badly on 5-5 and is 0-40, but comes back. In the next game Zverev will play badly and therefore the Italian wins the first set. I see that they never give updates from other courts: evidently they assume that everyone sees them on the app (I do it too). The second set opens with a Berrettini blackout, who loses his service: he will equalize in the fourth game. On 5-4 he makes a great game: he gets to the match point, but it misses it, then at 6-5 it will be Zverev who makes disasters and for Italian it is done. In the interview, to the question "what do you feel after this victory?" he will answer "is not true". On the way out I see an old man walking with difficulty and exiting supported by a stewardess: just because someone points this out I realize that it's Pietrangeli.
It's 5 pm, and the program on the Centre Court is already over, which means that there will be an even bigger crowd on the other courts. In fact on minor courts it is not possible to enter and also to pass from one side to the other it takes about ten minutes, in both directions. I see from behind the barriers a men's double match where the Italians Baldi-Pellegrino (I find out from one of my neighbors who is who) get to the decisive tie-break and lose it. Then I sit in the only court where it is possible and I see a couple of Italian girls, whom I do not distinguish one from the other, lose a set.
I end the day on the Pietrangeli, where I meet with a friend of mine, who had been on the Grandstand despite having a ground ticket. Moving on, I saw that there was a long queue to enter the sector open to everyone, while the one reserved for those who had a dedicated ticket was almost empty. We see the second set between Basilashvili and Djere, won by the former, which closes the match. There are still matches going on, but we get out, because we have a commitment and it even starts to get cold.
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