Saint Petersburg became the heart of tennis in Russia this weekend. This is because the city currently hosts the only major tournament in the country: the Palmira del Norte Trophies. On Friday, December 1, the first games, inaugural press conferences and even a wedding were held on the field. We tell you what you will remember from the first day of the tournament.
The competition began with youth matches, in total eight youth players were called up. The girls and boys played two semi-final matches each. As a result, 16-year-old Victoria Milovanova and 17-year-old Daria Shadchneva will compete for victory in the women’s tournament on Sunday, December 3.
The boys will compete in the final between the number 70 of the junior ranking, Egor Pleshivtsev, and the former first racket in the world among juniors, Yaroslav Demin. Yaroslav, by the way, today played his first match against 18-year-old Daniel Hazime. The boys played on the main court, but during the second set they were forced to move to the alternate court, as the legends match began on the main arena as scheduled. However, this did not stop Demin from taking an easy victory 6:4, 6:1.
In parallel with the youth matches, the initial press conferences of the teams: “Lions” and “Sphinxes” were held in the arena. The Lions were the first to speak to reporters, along with general manager Alexander Medvedev. All the players were in a good mood, the free player Alexander Bublik also went to the press with the team.
First, the tennis players answered questions about the tournament, with the help of general director Medvedev, and then began to talk about freer topics. The captain of “Lviv” Svetlana Kuznetsova, for example, talked about the experience of filming the series “Trigger” and invited Karen Khachanov to star in a film.
“svetlana: I have a good friend who is a producer. She told her some of my stories and she wrote a script. But, of course, in a cinematic way. If you watch the series I can tell you that not everything was like that with me.
karen: What is more difficult: playing tennis or acting in movies?
svetlana: If I were some kind of amateur and played in a tournament, it seems to me that I would also do it in a movie. And playing tennis, of course, is easier because you practice it a lot. Karen, I can nominate you for the next season of Trigger.
karen: Nobody has invited me yet (laughs).”
Khachanov at a press conference
Photo: t.me/formulatx
The Sphinxes press conference took place calmly. It is clear that the players were preparing for the tournament and getting used to each other. Veronika Kudermetova shared unexpected news during the conversation.
“How do I evaluate cooperation? We had three weeks. We work and train together. Now, unfortunately or fortunately, we are not together, but we are in excellent contact. Here [на турнире] We had a great conversation. Dima is a good coach, a good former player and an excellent mentor. Yes, we had a good time together, but now we have gone our separate ways.”
Veronica Kudermetova
Photo: t.me/formulatx
After the press conference, the players and spectators moved to the field where the legends match began. Initially, Svetlana Kuznetsova/Yanko Tipsarevich, on the one hand, and Nikolai Davydenko/Anastasia Myskina, on the other, were to participate. Only in the end, six tennis players played on the court at once: Dmitry Tursunov joined Svetlana and Yanko, and Alexander Medvedev in a T-shirt and socks joined Nikolai and Anastasia in the trio. It turned out to be fun.
The opening ceremony of the tournament took place immediately afterwards. There the organizers celebrated the second wedding of the day of Anastasia Potapova and Alexander Shevchenko. In the morning, the couple got married at the Wedding Palace number 1 on the Promenade des Anglais and then made vows of love before the tennis players on the court. Subsequently, Anastasia received a bouquet of tennis balls as a gift, which she distributed among the fans in the stands.
In total two games were played on the first day. In the first, Yulia Putintseva, playing for the Sphinxes, easily beat Victoria Tomova (6-2, 6-3). In the second game, Roberto Bautista-Agut and Alexander Bublik, who today represents the Lions team, faced each other.
Roberto and Alexander played the last starting game on Friday night, but the fans, who were numerous today on a weekday, continued watching the game. Bublik stood up in the stands during the match, unexpectedly pulled out his hand and consulted with the crowd on the best way to play. In the end the match went to Alejandro: 6:4, 3:6, 10:6.
There are two more days left for the “Palmira del Norte Trophies” and the most interesting matches. Follow everything that happens at the St. Petersburg tournament in the “Championship”.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS