Galery

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Maria S. Topalova

    Numerous fans of Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov walked all day around Athens, seeking tickets for his matches but to no avail. The reason was the fact that the Hellenic Tennis Federation had not been printed on tickets until late Wednesday afternoon. Local media had reported that the ticket sale for the match between Bulgaria and Greece for remaining in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II for the Davis Cup would start on Wednesday, 2 April. However, there were no tickets at Helioupolis courts where the matches will be played or at the office of the Federation in Pangrati neighbourhood.
    "I set off from Piraeus at 9:00 am to arrive at Helioupolis courts at 12:30 pm. I used several types of public transport and wandered the streets to find the court. And now they are telling me that they have not yet brought the tickets to them," an indignant young Greek man told me. Within about an hour at least 10 people came to the courts, vainly trying to buy a ticket and see Grigor Dimitrov from up close.
    "They are only deluding us. They are just taking our phone numbers, telling us that they will call us when the ticket sale starts but I do not believe them. In the end, they will sell them only to their people." These were the words of a young Bulgarian woman, patiently waiting to receive information about the tickets. The Hellenic Federation has confirmed the delayed ticket sale and, for certainty’s sake, it advises the fans to begin queuing up on Thursday morning.

    The organisers say that the courts can provide seats for 900 people at most. Insiders point out that ticket sales for other tournaments for the Davis Cup in the same group start at least two weeks earlier.
    Captain of the Bulgarian team Todor Enev is however calm and optimistic. "The training sessions are taking place normally, the players are feeling good and the afternoon training session will involve Grigor Dimitrov, who is already in Athens," he added.
    The first press conference of the two teams is scheduled at twelve o’clock tomorrow and the draw for the matches will take place soon after it. The Bulgarian Tennis Federation states that this will be the fifth match between the two teams. The first was in Sofia in 1990, when Bulgaria defeated Greece 5:0. (In the picture to the left Bulgarian tennis player Milen Velchev). Bulgaria lost 4:1 in Athens in 1992, and Greece won 3:0 in Nairobi in 2000 and 3:2 in Sofia in 2006.