Wimbledon 2022: Kyrgios beats Nadal - unfortunately only at the press counter
Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios should have faced off in the semifinals at Wimbledon today. After the Spaniard's injury-related withdrawal, this is now a thing of the past. On Wednesday there was at least a duel of a different kind: that for attention.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 08, 2022, 12:37 pm
Press seats in the stands for Center Court and Court 1 at Wimbledon are limited, with long-serving reporters or those reporting for the lofty media enjoying priority in the allocation of seats. For the other interested parties there are ribbons that you have to pick up at the press desk. On Wednesday, Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios started their games against Taylor Fritz and Cristian Garin almost at the same time, the demand for the ribbons was high.
SkyWimbledon2022Article
However, only in line for Court 1! If you wanted to go to Kyrgios and didn't have a seat on the 1er per se, you had to be patient. For the Nadal match against it? No problem! Maybe a second ribbon for the colleague at the next table?
At least two circumstances can serve as an explanation: It was to be assumed that Nadal Taylor Fritz would send Fritz home from Wimbledon with the comment "always tried". Who could have guessed that a drama would develop that only found its winner in the tie-break of the fifth set. That was more to be expected from Kyrgios, who had delivered the most entertaining match of the entire tournament on Court 1 against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Here, too, the rule was: If you hadn't secured a seat before the first serve, you couldn't get one afterwards either.
From Thursday all singles matches on Center Court
Incidentally, the differences between the two stadiums with a roof are surprisingly small. At Center Court, the stands are a little closer to the lines. And the respective entourage of the opponents actually follows the games together in a very long box on Centre. On Court 1, the supervisor seats are on different sides of the court.
As of Thursday, the situation has become even more complicated. Because all individual matches will of course only be played on the center court. For the mere mortals among the journalists, that means writing a friendly email to the press department and hoping that the right lot will be drawn. However, no one is spoiled for choice anymore. Although of course nobody forgets that it is a privilege to be able to experience most matches live at all.
In the case of Kyrgios and Nadal, you have to wait at least another year in Wimbledon.
Here is the individual tableau in Wimbledon
wimmap