Turin's Sonego Reveals 'Goal For The Rest Of My Life: Playing For My People'
The eight singles players and 16 doubles competitors at the Nitto ATP Finals will get to know Turin plenty well this week during the event’s first edition in the city. But nobody on the ATP Tour knows Turin better than Lorenzo Sonego, who still lives there today.
The Italian is proud of his hometown, from its restaurants and scenery to museums and galleries.
“The centre is nice. The Piazza Vittorio is a big place for the young people and for all the people. Piazza Vittorio and Piazza Castello are two unbelievable places,” Sonego told ATPTour.com. “In Turin there is the Po River — the big river in Italy — and small buildings. It’s the Po River, the big river in Italy.
“It’s really nice if you want to walk on the river and there are many restaurants there that are really nice.”
You cannot go anywhere in Turin without seeing some sort of signage promoting the Nitto ATP Finals. There is a fan village in Piazza San Carlo with a tennis court and various booths. There is also a giant billboard of Matteo Berrettini looking over the twin churches of Santa Cristina and San Carlo Borromeo — featuring Baroque-style architecture — in the historic city square.
“The atmosphere is really cool,” Sonego said. “You can find everything in Turin.”
There are stores and restaurants that line both sides of the cobblestone streets, and people are constantly milling about throughout the day. But one thing sticks out to Sonego.
“There are so many museums. It’s good for the heart in general,” Sonego said. “There is the Museo Egizio, the Egyptian Museum, which is really nice. I was there a few months ago, it was really cool and really nice.
“They have different parts of Egyptian history. I don’t like museums, but I like this museum because it’s the most important in Turin and in Italy.”
According to the 26-year-old, Turin is “a big city, but not too big”. And of course, he loves the food.
“In Italy, all the food is really good,” Sonego said. “In the south there is pizza, in the north there is ham and salami. The cheese is really good, the pasta is good. All the food in Turin is amazing.”
Above all, Sonego is thrilled that the Nitto ATP Finals is now in the city, showcasing it to the world. This year’s Cagliari champion is a huge Torino F.C. fan and fittingly, the club’s stadium, Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, is right next to the Pala Alpitour, which is the home of the season finale.
The venue is home to various events throughout the entertainment industry, from basketball and ice hockey to music concerts, which Sonego calls “really cool”.
“Now it has the [Nitto] ATP Finals and that is the best thing. It is for sure good motivation. It’s really important for me, because it’s the best tournament in the world and now it is in my city,” Sonego said. “For me, it’s really emotional. That is my goal for the rest of my life: playing in Turin with my people, with my fans and enjoying this tournament because it’s the best in the world.”