London Provides The Perfect Home For The World Tour Finals

'The Super Bowl of Tennis'

It was recently announced that the World Tour Finals will continue to be held in London for the next two years. 

This is fantastic news and seems an obvious decision. This event has had huge success since it arrived in London in 2009. This past week has seen the 17,500 capacity at the O2 packed out for all of the singles matches and the figures show that over 250,000 people attended the event last week.

There is no doubt that the decision to place this tournament in London has been a good one and one which must have brought plenty of revenue to the ATP. This is further highlighted by the fact that Chris Kermode, the managing director of the tournament, will taking over as Head of the ATP. Described by Kermode as the 'Super Bowl of Tennis' the Tour Finals has been seen by over 1.2 million people since 2009. How this man was overlooked for top jobs within the LTA is astonishing but that is another issue.  

Furthermore the tournament provides the public with the best chance to see the top players play one another. For example I saw Rafael Nadal play David Ferrer and Roger Federer play Novak Djokovic as well as two high quality doubles matches including the Bryan brothers for just over £60. This is incredible value. That singles line up was the same as the French Open semi-finals in 2012 of which tickets would be near impossible to get or be unaffordable to the majority of the public.

Another boost for this event has been that the players have come out and spoken very well of the tournament, the arena and the fans. Personally having attended the event this year for the first time I was amazed at just how good it was. The organisation was spot on and the whole production created a very special atmosphere. There was a sense of entertainment about it that is not seen at other tournaments or at the Grand Slams. This is not to say that it is better, but different and that is great for the tour.

However Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal while both being very complimentary of the arena and event have both voiced the opinion that the venue should be changed but for different reasons. For Djokovic he makes the point that Tennis is a global game and as such should move around while Nadal would like to see the surface changed, ideally to clay (no shock there).

Djokovic's point is a perfectly valid one and this event has moved around the world before. However the success that London is having will mean it will be a big decision to take it away. Currently 9 of the top 10 hail from Europe and so taking it outside of Europe would not really make much sense. Also the London time zone is friendly to broadcasters around the world. London will have the tournament to at least 2015 however I can seen this being extended for sure.

On Nadal comments of changing the surface, the tournament has only ever been outside on 3 occasions and none of them were on clay. The reason it is indoor is the time of year. To play a tournament in November it makes sense to have it indoors. Nadal argues the players play on all surfaces to qualify so it should be changed however I do not agree with this. It comes at the end of the indoor season and so it would not make much sense to change surface for one tournament. Also given Nadal's failure to win the event it is no surprise he would wish it could place on clay where he is so strong.

So Djokovic's point is stronger and will ultimately prevail as the tournament will eventually leave London I just hope that it is not in the near future. 

Djokovic Battles Past Federer

Djokovic serves to Federer

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer for the second time in a matter of days to start to defence of his ATP Tour Finals title in style.

Djokovic claimed a 6-4 6-7 6-2 victory over the World Number 6 in front of a capacity crowd at the O2 Arena in London. This result keeps Djokovic's slim hopes of returning to World Number 1 alive for a little bit longer. 

This match was the headline act of an already action packed day and the men who have a total of 23 Grand Slams between them did not disappoint.  However Federer could not match the consistency of Djokovic from the back of the court and on serve at the crucial moments in the game. 

Despite both mens success it was obvious from the start that the majority of the crowd were supporting Federer, who despite a disappointing season always has massive support around the world. 

After a tight start which had seen the score at 4-4, Federer managed to manoeuvre a break point chance however his forehand shot just dropped out much to the disappointment of his supporters within crowd of whom the majority thought it was in. 

This miss was compounded as Djokovic then broke Federer after some wayward forehands to hand the World Number 2 the opening set in 37 minutes. 

At the beginning of the second set Federer came out firing but despite breaking Djokovic on two occasions he could not take advantage. At 5-4 Federer was serving for the set however another loose forehand saw him miss the opportunity to seal the set. 

On to a tie-break, and Federer steamed into a 4-2 lead with a stunning forehand that just brushed the line. Federer went on a win the next 3 points and send this match into a deciding 3rd set.

Having only played two days before in his victory at the Paris Masters it appeared that maybe Djokovic was struggling. He was visible angry with himself at the end of the second set. Maybe a chance for Federer to push on and use the forward momentum he appeared to have but such thoughts soon disappeared as Djokovic broke to love in the first game of the third set, which set the scene for what followed.

Djokovic suddenly upped a gear and powered his way to a 5-1 lead breaking Federer twice. Now serving superbly and finding the lines with ease he closed out the set to love to extend his winning run to 18 matches since his defeat in the US Open final back in September. 

The defending Champion looks on course to retain his title and after witnessing his performance today it is hard to back against him. I had never really appreciated just how good he is until I saw him live in this match. Personally I just think he will be too strong for anyone in the competition. 

For Federer it highlighted the problems he has been having all season however he has certainly improved of late. He did not play that badly it was just at the key moments he faltered. I expect him to beat Richard Gasquet however Juan Martin Del Potro with be a very tough match.