Once upon an evening

Since Covid I have been following Tennis pretty closely on TV. So, this wish had been brewing in my heart - that I want to see a Live Tennis match.

I was lucky to have that chance a few weeks back when I went to the National Bank Open happening in Toronto. Oh, and I was so thrilled.

I don't remember being this thrilled for some time. I was like a kid in a candy store, or to give a better example, an adult surrounded by hundred Pani Puri stalls!

This was my first live Tennis Experience. So, I had no idea, that, when you buy yourself a ticket to a Tennis match, there is so much more than The Tennis match itself. What so much more? Many more Tennis matches. To objectify the experience for clarity, I would call it a Tennis Zoo with a fair kinda atmosphere.

Visit one section of the Zoo, and you see J Sinner doing hitting practice, go to another part - you see Taylor Fritz playing against Alex De Minaur. Another section - A doubles match with R Ram and Salisbury. These are by the way the World's Top Tennis players. (I have not yet even talked about the main ticket event). All these non Centre Court events have free access! Get bored with Tennis, you have live music, food, drinks and games. Well, I behaved and stuck to a harmless lemonade. 

The main ticket event (Centre Court Match) was Alcaraz vs Hurkacz. This was my original intention - just to see this match. Well, the match was awesome. Alcaraz played like a 22 year old (is he even 22 yet?), risking match points by playing fancy drop shots just so that he could finish with style and feel the euphoria of the crowd cheers - the 10k capacity stadium was packed and most were there only to see him. He lost 2 Match Points and really made everyone nervous. He eventually won the 3 set thriller.

Following this match, I would have been able to see Andy Murray vs J Sinner as well (the ticket allows you to see two back to back center court games), but Mr. Murray forfeited due to injury.

I have been to a few live sporting events, and I believe Tennis is one of the few ones out there where you probably get to experience so much more than the main ticketed event? 

So yes, I had a great time. The only way this whole experience could have been better? A few Pani Puri stalls please.