TURIN. Between singles and doubles, the first day of the ATP Finals was a crescendo of emotions. It started with the Pavic-Mektic match against Tecau-Krawietz, the Pala Alpitour warmed up further for the victorious comeback debut of the world number two, the Russian Daniil Medvedev against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, the match continued between Granollers-Zeballos and Polasek-Dodik. Now all the wait is for the grand finale tonight, with Berrettini facing Zverev at 9pm.
Turin has entered the Atp mood, between the city center and the headquarters of world tennis it was a bustle of thousands of people. “An incredible showcase, we are very satisfied and we can only improve because every day will be a crescendo of emotions and great visibility for the territory”, comments Fabrizio Ricca, the Sport Councilor of the Piedmont Region. Simone Valente also expressed great satisfaction with the baptism of the most anticipated event in tennis: “The location is wonderful and there is still potential for development – the words of the M5s parliamentarian and member of the ATP Finals Committee – If the Government has invested more 80 million is because he wants Turin, Piedmont and the whole nation to have an important return, not only economic but also in terms of image ».
For the former first citizen, Chiara Appendino, current vice president of Fit, “it is nice to see the enthusiasm of the Turinese, from the stands you can feel great warmth and participation”. Not everything, however, went the right way: the news of the reduction in capacity, among other things, arrived a few hours before the start of the event, has sent on a rampage those who will remain out due to the new directives that have lowered the capacity from 75 to 60%. But there is still the hope of a change of course: “What is being done in these hours is to find all possible solutions, taking into account that the pandemic is underway and therefore already being here is an important step” the position di Valente on the theme of bringing the capacity of the Pala Alpitour to 68%.
The house of tennis, however, has opened its doors: a big sports party until Sunday, the day of the single and double finals with many VIPs in the stands. Today the president of Stellantis John Elkann, tomorrow the ministers Federico D’Incà and Fabiana Dadone and the Milan footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovivic. All intending to push Berrettini as far forward as possible, starting with this evening’s debut.