Atp Finals, the champions among the people of Turin

Immersed in the morning fog, the blue carpet seems to float in Piazza San Carlo as in a surrealist painting. The sun clears the haze just in time, when the strongest tennis players on the planet materialize. These are the eight champions who will compete to decide, as the slogan of the ATP Finals says, who is “the” champion. Yesterday morning the visiting card to the city, the moment in which the tennis masters presented themselves to the approximately three hundred Turinese present, was the ‘pop’ catwalk of the blue carpet, the symbolic color of the event in the Savoy version. A long walkway that from the center of Piazza San Carlo, a few steps from the Caval d’Brons, has stretched to the new headquarters of the Gallerie d’Italia.

The first to parade in front of the fans was the Californian Taylor Fritz. Unconvinced applause, some shy “Hello”. A man in his sixties nudges his son with a bewildered expression: “Who is this?” Answer: «Boh». Then comes the Norwegian Casper Ruud (number 4 in the world), blue wool pullover over a white shirt, and the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (number 6, his most elegant look). Many, almost all, are there to see the two big names up close. One of them is the Serbian Novak Djokovic, sunglasses and a Lacoste jacket, who stops to sign autographs and take some selfies with the fans. Some of them are luckier than others like Francesca Ciccone, 21, who will return home with two tennis balls signed by Djokovic, Rublev and Nadal. “As a child I used to play tennis, then I converted to padel, but the first love is never forgotten – she says – Now I will put these balls in the window, on Sunday I will go to Pala Alpitour to see the Nadal-Fritz match, but I bought a ticket also for Wednesday ». She is one of the people who had their two-game tickets canceled last year due to anti-Covid restrictions. This year the quota scarecrow has also been overcome.

The Russian Rublev – voice out of the chorus against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – parades with a total black look that recalls his love for metal music and contrasts with the smile with which he responds to the requests of the fans. The loudest screams and applause are the soundtrack for the arrival of Rafa Nadal: after the draw that puts them in two different groups, the fans are already dreaming of a grand final against Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard greets with a smile, a fan yells: “He continues to play until he is 40, please”. He pulls straight, without making a crease. Immediately after at the press conference he will explain: “I can’t predict the future, but I know that every year I play is a gift”. The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, golden curls on a body that touches two meters, is the most sought after by girls’ smartphones. On the sides of the carpet there is also Manuela Accattino, 28 years old: “Too bad for the absence of the Italians, I think there would have been more people”. A name above all? “I was hoping for Sinner, I follow all his games.”

After the catwalk it’s time for the official photo for the eight champions along with the trophy. The one closest to the cup, for ranking reasons, is Rafa Nadal. He caresses her with his gaze only for a few moments, perhaps out of superstition: it is the only important trophy that is orphaned by the noticeboard of the Spanish champion, record holder of Slams conquered (22). The cup is then placed in a display case, next to a life-size replica made with 13 kilos of chocolate. «Puro gianduia» swells the chest of the pastry chef Silvio Bessone from Vico Forte, whose creation was born together with the Gianduiotto Torino committee. The cup contains gianduiotti offered to the players. «I do it without milk, Djokovic who is vegan loved it» says the master chocolatier. «Tsitsipas tasted it and told me in Italian“ Buonissimo ”», he adds proudly. The Gotha of world tennis that winks at the art of Turin pastry chefs.

From tomorrow, however, it gets serious with the first official match of doubles and the singles that opens the dances, the one that at 14 will put Ruud and Auger-Aliassime in front of each other. The most awaited match of the first day is instead the one that sees Rafael Nadal against the American Taylor Fritz, the last qualified to replace the injured Alcaraz.