Rome’s Colosseum plays host to Sharapova and Berdych

Maria Sharapova and Tomas Berdych experienced a tennis venue of a different kind when they struck some balls at Rome’s Colosseum on Sunday evening.

The two players were in awe of their spectacular surroundings and thoroughly enjoyed the 30 minutes they spent having a brief hit and taking plenty of photos, including many selfies. Some fortunate tourists, who happened to be visiting the site at the same time as the two tennis stars, were the lucky recipients of the balls which were hit up to them once the players had finished.

Sharapova was joined at the Colosseum by a friend while Berdych was accompanied by his wife, the fashion model Ester Satorova. Italian Tennis Federation President Angelo Biaghi and local government member Daniele Frongia were also present as were many photographers and television crews.

There was palpable excitement from both Sharapova and Berdych as they took in the world famous site, which was built between 70 and 80 AD and could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators.