Really unusual scenes at the Foro Italico during Sonego-Thiem: the very tight match of the second round of the Internationals of Italy between the Italian tennis player and the Austrian number 4 in the world she reached the third set, but the audience present in the stands was not allowed to attend.
In fact, around 21.30, when the tie-break of the second set ended with the victory of Thiem who equalized the first set brought home by Sonego, the match was stopped, the tennis players sent to the changing rooms and the spectators present in the stands evacuated very calmly, in compliance with the rule it provides curfew at 10pm under the anti-Covid legislation.
Today was the first day in which partial public entry was allowed to the Internazionali d’Italia, but with the limitation of the curfew which all ordinary citizens must undergo. So it happened that a couple of matches broke through, including the one between Sonego and Thiem on the central court. No derogation from the legislation: the game was suspended in order to allow the public to evacuate in the quietest conditions possible and with an appropriate time buffer to return to their homes.
The two tennis players are made to return to the locker room amidst some disapproval whistles from the public, who, however, soon got over it and slowly took the way out of the Foro Italico. After a long stop, with few people left in the stands, the match is then resumed for the third and final set: the game was then won by Sonego at the third set tie-break, after a battle lasting 3 and a half hours.
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