Walking on court

Going to If Stockholm Open for the second year in a row was the perfect way to end the year: watching more live tennis, what could be better? After I walked down form Gärdet to Kungliga Tennishallen and actually got in front of the place I had to take a minute, look around and realize that I am actually there. But what happened after I took my first step in I could have only dreamed about.

Things got serious right away, mostly because one Romanian player entered the competition on Saturday. Marius Copil has made it to the main draw of this tournament for 4 times and this year he made it by playing against Henri Laaksonen, Peter Torebko and Marcin Gawron. He won all these matches in straight sets and entered the main draw to play Joao Sousa, the 8th seed, in the first round.

Marius Copil

As always when the Romanian boys are on court my desire to see them play well and win is huge. And so are my emotions. So with fists closed tight and sometimes with my breath held I watch their every move. The match was payed on court 1 where the audience sits quite close, so it is easy to see every move the players make, to hear them talk to themselves and to see where the ball falls. The match was very tight with both players wanting to win and applying all techniques in order to do so, some of them including means of trying to get the opponent intimidated or annoyed. Shortly put the one who could keep his tennis and nerves together was the one who won the match and that player was Marius. At the end of the match full with beautiful points, a crying ballboy, some complaints and lots of patience from the chair umpire (who at a certain point had to come down from his chair) I was actually shaking a bit but I was very, very happy. Marius kept his feet on the ground, didn’t give in to the teasing Sousa tried, made a ballboy cry but apologized making the crowd cheer, lost the power of his first serve but found it again exactly when he needed it most and won the match 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4. But the hard part was not over yet, the second round match was a day away and Pierre-Hugues Herbert was there to play against in what seemed an easier match at first sight but what was in reality the result of hard work and a lot of focus. Marius made it to the quarters of an ATP event for the second time in his career and I was there to watch. On Friday, he walked in on central court under the lights and on bouncy music, he was baptized Marcus by the announcer and played against Tomas Berdych. He started the match well, the first two points at least, but lost in the end with a double 2-6 mostly because he seemed too afraid to put himself out there and because his way of playing was easy to decode and attack by a player with such experience as Berdych. I believe these kind of matches is what Marius needs to build practice and nerve on. So of course I was really sad he was out of the tournament but I was so happy I got to see him play and I was, and still am, so proud. I wish his results improve and that he has the opportunity to play more often for a spot in the semifinal of an ATP event, eventually win his right to that spot and go even further because he is very talented and plays nicely.

My biggest regret is not getting to see Horia and Juls play, because during their match I was somewhere else doing things that kept me busy and staring at the live scores displayed on my phone. Their first round match seemed tight, I have no idea what happened on court, all I know is they lost to Dimitrov/Herbert (7-5, 4-6, 12-10) and I really wanted them to stick around till the end of the week, playing.

Berdych vs Brown

Moving on, I did get to see some nice matches, not too many but I enjoyed seeing Dustin Brown play against Tomas Berdych. I like Tomas, he is on my favorites list, but I can’t say that he won the match against Brown, it was more like Brown lost a match that he could have won if only he had focused more.

Kubot/Lindstedt vs Murray/Peers

Of course I kept a close eye on Kubot/Lindstedt and I was very happy to see Robert play again (old habits die hard), I really wanted them to go as further as possible because they need the points to get to London, so I wasn’t very happy when they bowed in front of Murray/Peers 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-10. Other matches I saw, as a whole or bits here and there: Dimitrov vs Sock (5-7, 6-4, 6-3), Berdych vs Bachinger (7-6 (7), 6-4), Huey/Sock vs Brown/Siljestrom (6-1, 6-4), Butorac/Klaasen vs Huey/Sock (6-4, 6-3) and Berdych vs Dimitrov, a very beautiful match, a dream final between the first two seeds, as everybody named it, won in the end by the player from Czech Republic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Final ceremony

I did get to see some really beautiful matches, to experience emotions, to clap with joy, to try to understand tennis even more and like it with every point that was played. I had a wonderful time and I want to send out a big thank you to the amazing people I had around and that gave me the chance to live this wonderful week because Stockholm Open is not just a tennis tournament to me, it is a whole experience.

Game, set, match, championship: Butorac/Klaasen, Tomas Berdych.