LIVORNO. One thousand five hundred and fifty kilometers. Here the sun, up there the fascinating mist that is so British. Up there there is the grass on which to embroider that different tennis, with a low center of gravity, where the ball doesn’t bounce but slides away and asks to be anticipated. Here it is Livorno, up there it is Wimbledon. Here is the Coop Tennis Banditella, up there the All England Tennis and Croquet club. Tied, for the whole of next week, by a thin thread yet full of suggestion. Thanks to Luca Nardi, from Pesaro, number 71 in the world rankings, who for seven days chose the Banditella club as a retreat in preparation for the most famous, attractive and “formal” tournament in the world, Wimbledon, where one always plays in white and enjoys the cream with strawberries.
Nardi arrives in Livorno accompanied by his coach and under the technical supervision of Davide Galoppini, who knows the club and its structures inside out. Coop Tennis Livorno will provide a fast synthetic court, a carpet that recalls the bounces and trajectories of London grass: not exactly the same thing (ah, if only the unrivaled British gardeners were here) but a surface that still allows to adapt to lawn tennis, which is truly a different sport, light years away from brick dust. The newly renovated gym is also available. They will be days of crazy and very desperate work (who knows if Leopardi liked tennis) for Nardi, who has to make up for a searing elimination at the hands of Muller (then shot by Arnaldi) at Roland Garros, also thanks to an ankle ailment and who at Wimbledon asks a relaunch also in the ranking.
And then there is the emotional aspect: Nardi, not too many years ago, in the final of a youth tournament in via Lega, gave life to a memorable match against another prodigy: Matteo Arnaldi. The Livorno bet begins with a view of the sacred grass: perhaps 1,550 kilometers can be a breath away.
