I never thought this would actually happen to me. Seeing Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco live was my huge dream and it finally came true. Last week the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tennis tournament started and I totally had to be there!
The problem with tennis tournaments is that up to the day itself, you never know what match you'll be seeing. As long as I can remember, Rafael Nadal has always my number one tennis player. I admire his passion for his sport, the way he plays, his perseverance and how (mentally) strong he stays until the very last strike. So I really wanted to see him playing. Luckily he won his match the day before, but unfortunately for us he was scheduled to be playing in the afternoon (me and my friend bought tickets for the evening matches). What a bummer! We eventually decided to go earlier to Foro d'Italico, the sport complex in Rome, but when we arrived we couldn't get in, not even on the ground area. Since we were so close I made my decision: I was going to by a ground ticket. I'm so glad me and my friend did as we were able to see some other matches as well!
Ten minutes later we got in! I knew that a certain match I wanted to see was about to begin, so me and my friend immediately went to the court. There he was, ready to play his double match. Sitting front row (next to his coach, being a little way too enthusiastic, oops!) and seeing Fernando Verdasco playing tennis at not even 10 meters distance.. wow, I was so happy!
We also walked around a bit and saw other tennis players as well such as Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Haas, Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Radek Stepanek..
As we waited for the evening matches to begin at the main stadium, Rafael Nadal was still playing there. I couldn't handle the fact that if I just climbed up the stairs and walked five meters, I could see Nadal playing. With any doubts, I walked to the security man and asked if I could enter. Of course it was not possible, I knew, but you never know right? He saw that I really wanted to get in, so eventually he told me that as soon as the match was finished, I could get in. Not even a minute later I finally saw my all-time favorite tennis player celebrating his victory! Instant happiness! Such a pity I couldn't see him playing, but hey.. at least I saw him!
After everything was set and done, the matches we bought tickets for, were about to begin. First Serena Williams vs. Varvara Lepchenko. Williams is such a strong woman, unbelievable! It was a pretty easy game for her, so the match was finished quite soon. After this match, Novak Djokovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber played against each other. In the beginning it seemed that Djokovic was going to lose, but in the end he was the strongest.
I much more prefer watching men's tennis rather than women's tennis as there is much more power, plus the feeling of a true competition is stronger. Are you a tennis fan? Who's your favorite player?
