London Thursday Diary: Bryans, Bogomolov Honoured; A London Thanksgiving

© ATPCzech Tomas Berdych relaxed at the Corona Beach Bar on an off-day at The O2.

Each day during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals we’ll take a look at the happenings on and off the court at the season finale.

Double The Honours
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were recognised Thursday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals as the ATP World Tour No. 1 Doubles Team and ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite. The 33-year-old Americans received their trophies from ATP Executive Chairman & President Adam Helfant.

Watch Bryans Interview

While they claimed both awards for a record seventh time each, Bob admitted they were worried that their Fan Favourite streak could be in jeopardy following the reunion of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes this season. “That one we were actually a little nervous about this year because the Indian Express came back,” he said. “I think India has a few billion people so we didn’t know how that was going to play out.”

Bhupathi and Paes finished third in the voting, behind the Bryans and Michael Llodra/Nenad Zimonjic.

Bogomolov Feels Blessed
Alex Bogomolov Jr. accepted his trophy Thursday evening as the Most Improved Player Of The Year. The 28 year old rose from No. 166 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings at the end of 2010 to a career-high No. 33 in November.

Watch Trophy Presentation

“It’s surreal for me because it was voted for by the players. It feels incredible to have respect from the players. It just motivates me to work harder,” said Bogomolov, who won more matches during the 2011 ATP World Tour season (27-21 record) than the previous nine years combined.

“I think I would’ve done the exact same thing if I knew this was going to happen. Just for some players it takes a little bit longer and especially with me, the way I was brought up, the way my tennis career played out, I think it made me who I am today. I don’t think I was ready for it earlier in my career or at the stage where I was getting a contract with adidas when I was 20 years old. I took it for granted and now I’m very humbled and sort of experienced with what life throws at you, and so now I’m just blessed.”

Fish’s London Thanksgiving
Mardy Fish wrapped up his debut appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday afternoon, and confessed that he had some nice souvenirs to remember his week. “I’ve taken like 10 towels already,” said Fish of the popular mementos featured in the Bryan brothers’ blog. “We have a lot of bath towels and pool towels for L.A.  We’ve taken a lot of pictures. We've taken the shower door, the mirror. No (smiling). I've taken a lot of towels still.”

And though the American won’t be spending Thanksgiving dinner with a home-cooked meal stateside, Fish found a silver lining in being in London for the occasion. “A lot of us are going to go to an American restaurant and have some turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, enjoy all being together over here still. Unfortunately for me, I live in Los Angeles, my family still lives in Florida, so I don’t get to spend many holidays with them. They’re actually here, which is nice, so I can cherish that, as well.”

Federer’s Arsenal
Following his win over Mardy Fish on Thursday, Roger Federer shared his unique experience of sitting next to Thierry Henry during the previous night’s football match at Emirates Stadium . “I’d ask him a question, why would they play this way, why did they do that, what does that player do well? He can explain all these things. He’s like a manager.

“It was very interesting for me. I enjoyed it. I think he enjoyed it as well to host me. He’s come and watched a lot of tennis. I’ve provided him with a lot of tickets. For him to give back like this was a beautiful thing, as well. I was able to go down on the pitch, go in the locker room, meet the players. They were extremely happy.”

Watch Federer At Arsenal Match

Arsenal was represented Thursday at The O2, with Andrei Arshavin, Robin van Persie and now-retired Robert Pires all in the house for the evening session between Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Persie (@Persie_Official) tweeted a courtside photo with the text: “ATP Finals with my m8s @piresrobert7 and @AndrArshavin23 and the other halves! Enjoying #nad-tsj”

Other celebrities in attendance on a sell-out night at The O2 included Frenchman Richard Gasquet, Chelsea footballer Juan Mata, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart and English comedian and actor Ralf Little.

Berdych At The ‘Beach’
Enjoying a day off Thursday ahead of his must-win round-robin match against David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych headed to the Corona Beach Bar in FanZone to take on a fan in a game of PlayStation tennis. “I think it will be better for me to stay with my gear, my racquet,” Berdych later joked while signing autographs for fans. “But it was something fun and different. It was nice.”

After blowing a match point in his opening round-robin match against Novak Djokovic and then saving a match point in his second match against alternate Janko Tipsarevic, Berdych said that he hoped to be able to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament with a win over Ferrer.

“I will need to do something differently if I want to go through [to the semi-finals]. I need to be ready.”

Tweet Of The Day
@TipsarevicJanko Am I a nerd if "The Eye" here in London associates me to #Sauron from Lord of The Rings?