Players Take In Manchester City Football Grounds
Players Take In Manchester City Football Grounds
The exclusive tour of Etihad Campus was a welcome break at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester
Several players competing this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester visited a different patch of green grass before their first-round matches. Americans Denis Kudla and Dennis Novikov, Britons Alexander Ward and Brydan Klein, and Australian John-Patrick Smith enjoyed a tour of the world-renowned Etihad Stadium, home of the Manchester City Football Club.
The three players and their coaches got a behind-the-scenes look at the stadium and Etihad Campus, which houses the training facilities for Manchester City’s young academy players. For Klein, whose mother is from Manchester, the experience was particularly memorable.
“My family follows City,” said Klein. “The stadium was amazing, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen…I’ve played tennis in some big stadiums, but nothing compared to that. This is a city which just really loves sports.”
More: Players Visit Manchester United Football Stadium
Smith, top seed Kudla and wild card Ward all play their first-round matches on Wednesday. Kudla takes on Eduardo Struvay of Colombia, Ward plays another Colombian in Alejandro Falla and Smith faces No. 5 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany.