The Hermitage tour is a traditional exquisite gift from the organizers of the St. Petersburg Open to the participants of the tournament. This year, the chance to visit one of the most famous museums in the world fell to the Italian Matteo Berrettini, who took his entire team - manager, fitness coach, and physiotherapist - with him. Jannik Sinner, the youngest participant of the tournament in St. Petersburg, had lost the first round match to Mikhail Kukushkin in two sets the day before, but on Tuesday, September 17, he did not look as upset as he did the day before, immediately after the end of the meeting. The redheaded Italian was enthusiastically doing selfies on Palace Square, which the tennis players had to cross on foot because of traffic jams, and later listened to the guide with great interest.
She told the guests that for the first 14 years the Hermitage had a strict dress code: men could only visit it in dressers and ladies in evening dresses. "Just like us! - Berrettini joked - right after the tour, the third number of the tournament was to start training, so he came to the museum wearing sports trousers and a sweatshirt. This almost two-meter high brunette stood out from the rest of the visitors to the Hermitage, mostly European retirees. "You can see right away that a big man came," they whispered. And one company even asked Matteo to have a photo together right against the background of one of the paintings. Berrettini, of course, kindly agreed.
At the beginning, the excursionists were shown works by Italian masters. Including the sculpture of Michelangelo "The Rolling Boy". Berrettini bypassed it and considered it from all sides. Tennis players diligently photographed and sculptures, and paintings about which they were told, constantly exchanged impressions during the excursion. The special attention of the guests from Italy was attracted by the painting "Reception of the French ambassador in Venice" by the Italian Antonio Canaletto (the representative of the Venetian school, the master of city landscapes in the style of academism). The guide, as expected, offered visitors to walk along the picture and look at it from different angles to see different images. All this made a strong impression on the visitors.
After the Italian hall, the guests moved smoothly to the halls with Spanish art of XVII-XVIII centuries, as well as with the works of Dutch masters. Later, Italian visitors were shown the works of classic Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci - in this room there was a large influx of visitors, but it was the painting "Madonna Litta" team Berrettini decided on a joint photo, and with such a scope of hands, as a tall Italian tennis player, with a group of selfies did not have problems.
At the moment when tennis players and accompanying persons were passing from one hall of the Hermitage to another, there was a loud sound they could not understand. The Italians looked at each other with anxiety. "It's a traditional cannon shot at the Peter and Paul Fortress," the tour guide explained. The guests understood: "Oh, yes - 12 hours...". And in time to get to the bottom of it: the tour for Berrettini, Sinner and the company at their request was reduced in program and imperceptibly came to an end: Matteo still has things to do at the tournament, on Wednesday, his first match is waiting for him. After entering the US Open semifinals, the Italian has a chance to qualify for the final ATP championship in London. To do this, Berrettini needs to perform as well as possible in St. Petersburg. Therefore, inspired by the creativity of famous compatriots and not only, Berrettiini and the company jumped into the car and hurried to SIBUR ARENA.