ATP World Tour Finals diary: Federer remains top dog

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  • After several years of watching the action at the O2 from the comforts of my own home, I finally got to see firsthand what it’s like to cover the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

    There’s no doubt the top-eight showpiece in the English capital has this special glam effect to it and you feel it the second you approach the arena.

    Over the past few years, it’s become a regular spot for celebrities from Diego Maradona to Kevin Spacey and no disrespect to Shanghai but you can’t help but notice how much more entertaining the season finale at the O2 has been.

    Heading out of the North Greenwich tube station yesterday, I heard the PA make an announcement which I assumed was going to be about some sort of mess going on on the Jubilee line before I realised they were congratulating Andy Murray on his win from the previous day.

    Murray was not passing through or anything but that is just the kind of enthusiasm you can expect when the Scot is playing any tournament in London.

    Once I entered the O2, I understood that it wasn’t really Murray Mania that was overtaking the crowds but that Roger Federer without a doubt was the most popular man in the vicinity.

    His fans were chanting throughout the day, making it almost impossible to concentrate in the media centre and the standing ovation the Swiss received would make you think we were in Basel, not London.

    But such is the universality of Federer, who now officially owns the World Tour Finals after winning a record 40th match at the event yesterday.

    The press conference room is one place where perhaps you can witness moments that could sometimes eclipse those happening on the court. Yesterday, Janko Tipsarevic followed up a straight sets humbling by Federer with a very humble presser. When asked if he thought Federer was lucky to last this long in the sport without being slowed down by injuries, Tipsarevic immediately responded: “I think Roger Federer is everything BUT lucky.”

    Freddie Nielsen was also a big highlight in the press room as the Dane, who partnered Britain’s Jonny Marray to Wimbledon this year, said he can’t believe he’s participating in an event as exclusive as the one in London that he is considering not sleeping so he can take as much of it in as possible.

    “Normally I would be sitting in the locker room in Loughborough right now considering what went wrong in my singles qualifying match,” Nielsen joked after his opening match win with Marray over Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.

    The ‘wow moment’ of the day for me was Federer remembering his first ever match in the World Tour Finals (then named the Masters Cup) with extreme detail. The match was 10 years ago but the Swiss had no problem recalling his opponent, the score and pretty much everything else.

    I also sat down with Boris Becker for a bit to chat about today’s matches and he believes regardless of what Murray does this week, nothing can take away from what he’s managed to accomplish this year. He says the season finale is basically “the gravy”. He says once you qualify, anything can happen.

    * For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook. You can follow Reem Abulleil on Twitter at @ReemAbulleil.

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