Hello everyone, back again and as promised here to write about the fabulous arena and some of the action inside it. As we make our way down the banks of the Thames heading eastward and slightly out of the city, we start to see what appears as a huge tent with several huge antennas sticking out from it. The O2 arena [venue of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals] is absolutely massive, and unlike any tennis venue out there.

When we get off the boat, a shuttle is there waiting to take us to our locker rooms which is about a 1 km walk around the stadium. I didn’t believe it was that far until my wife and I decided to walk it with our child in arm. About halfway through I realized that it was no lie and the stroller was put to use.

Inside the place it doesn’t look much different than most hockey or basketball arenas back home, though it is quite dark at all times as they are trying to have a boxing match type atmosphere with the spotlight on centre court.

We relax in the player/guest area on the 3rd level of the building, which is basically a huge open suite that overlooks centre court. Comfortable couches, hot food, video games, flat screens, internet—who cares about watching what’s going on down there on centre court?

For some who still enjoy watching tennis they have that option too.  I am not sure but I think they may have stole this concept from our Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal which are two of the few tournaments that offer this view while having a bite to eat for the players and their guests. Whatever the story is, the hosts are doing an unbelievable job of taking care of everyone from the fans, to players, to VIP’s.

On the court, we had the honour of opening the event (perhaps the organisers were regretting their decision afterward as Nenad and I didn’t play much like No. 1’s, though all credit to our Polish opponents who are very dangerous and were definitely the better team).

But unlike every other tournament where we lose our first match, this event is a little different as we play in a round robin of two groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the semis, meaning we still have a chance to go through if we win our next two matches.

If we bored the fans with the first match of the tournament then it was quickly forgotten as Andy Murray, ‘The Last King of Scotland’, came through with a nice win over the US Open champ Juan Martin del Potro. Each day, the schedule has a doubles and singles match followed by a night session. We play again tomorrow night prior to the blockbuster between Murray and Federer (hopefully we bring our A game this time otherwise this trip will be nothing more than sightseeing on the Thames).

I was looking forward to taking my mind off tennis after the match Sunday with some NFL action because there is nothing better when you get live action in Europe, but I think I was more upset after the Steelers decided it was time for an early Christmas present as they lost to the lowly Chiefs. At least my daughter made me feel better later on that night when she pulled my hair, scratched my face and yelled at me.

I think she was trying to say, last time we were here four months ago you won Wimbledon, you call that tennis what you were doing out there today?

Anyways, that’s all for now, next time I will hopefully write to you after a win.

Daniel Nestor

Story courtesy: tennisconnected.com