What Have We Learnt So Far At The ATP Finals?

By Matt McGladrigan

We’re two days in. Two less days of the tennis season to go. As predicted, the O2 Arena has been pretty much full to the brim, with spectators dying to catch a glimpse of these eight men (well, 24 including doubles players). This is a different tennis ambiance and environment to the iconic one that Britain is used to. For a start, the court isn’t green (or dusty brown after a few days). Then, there’s music played at changeovers, and the lights are dimmed. And, what are these other colours that the players are wearing? The only colour known is white. Perhaps most importantly, there’s none of those droplets that fall from the sky, making the court damp, and causing the groundsmen to scamper on with the covers. This isn’t the tennis that the Queen’s isles know.

So, what have we discovered in London far?

The three big boys are ready to play…
A match each so far for Messrs Djokovic, Federer and Murray, and they’ve each managed a win. Smooth was the word to depict Roger in his opening match against world number nine Janko Tipsarevic. He strolled past the under-the-weather Serbian with the loss of just 4 games. Novak had a harder time against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, still coming through in straight sets but the first was a tie-break which could easily have gone either way. Tsonga really came to play yesterday (Monday) evening in his first contest of the championships, yet he now probably needs wins against both Berdych (Wednesday) and Murray (Friday) after this opening defeat to the top-ranked Serb. Home favourite Andy Murray had the hardest time establishing a win out of the three, as he powered back against Tomas Berdych after losing the first set. He squandered no fewer than 10 break points to start the match, largely thanks to some clutch serving from the Czech. But he made the breakthrough on the 11th and didn’t look back, picking up an important victory. I think it’s fair to say that Murray had the most challenging opponent out of the three big names. However, there are no easy matches in this ATP World Tour Finals.

BBC cameras have their favourite shots…
It’s surely no secret that the BBC seems to focus a lot of their coverage on the wives/girlfriends of our tennis stars. Throughout the opening matches of the tournament, both Andy Murray’s partner Kim Sears and Janko Tipsarevic’s wife Biljana, particularly, got some serious TV exposure. Almost every game we see their reaction to how their man is doing on court. The biting of nails, the clapping and encouragement. At one point we saw Biljana hiding her face behind her phone. We even get a fair bit of Judy, Andy’s mother, filling our screens too.

Federer has the greatest variety…
The title that I’ve ascribed to this article perhaps should have included the words “what we’ve been reminded of” too, as this one, in particular, is perhaps something we’ve heard many a time. But, wow, it was demonstrated once again in his match against Tipsarevic. The Swiss produced a concoction of spins, lengths and paces to overwhelm his opponent in the afternoon session at the O2 Arena. The usual favourite of running round for a forehand, and then whipping it up the line, was present a lot too. The serve was fired down straight and screwed out wide, much to the disarray of the Serbian. In one extraordinary rally, Janko threw the kitchen sink at Federer, but was met by a stream of deep, low slices and then, finally, saw a winner fly past his face. Roger was sublime. Bigger challenges wait though for Mr Federer.

It was Halloween last week Tomas…
It was brought to my attention in his duel with Andy Murray, that Tomas Berdych has incredibly chilling eyes whilst concentrating during matches. It’s like he’s completely delirious during the match and then when he made his way for the net to shake hands with the victor Murray, his eyes were ordinary again. Strange what sheer concentration and attention to something can do. Perhaps he needs some of Janko’s glasses.

Marray and Nielsen love the big occasion…
The wildcard doubles pairing that shocked the world by winning the Wimbledon title, to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, did it again on Tuesday afternoon. Jonny Marray and Freddie Nielsen, perhaps together for their last tournament, defeated experienced Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 12-10 in a thrilling tussle. They’ve done nigh on nothing since winning their first Grand Slam at SW19 in the summer, yet managed to fend off two match points and come from 5-1 down in the deciding tie-break to triumph, as they were cheered on by the home fans.

No advantage rule in doubles offers debate…
Many doubles matches are now played with it being the first to 4 points to win the game, no longer having to win the game by two clear points as in keeping with the rest of the tennis scoring system. It certainly makes the matches a lot shorter and provides the thrilling pressure situation of having to win that last point, to either hold serve or get that vital break. However, the advantage system provides all those things (except shortness) and more too. Break point down on serve, you are still under immense pressure to win that specific point. Yet, there’s also the fascination of the going backwards and forwards to deuce and advantage. Long games like that define matches. They engage the crowd in so many ways.

Tired? I don’t even know the meaning of the word, says David Ferrer…
He defines the word “consistency” on a tennis court and he has shown that he’s ready to compete in London. Just days after lifting the trophy at the Masters 1000 event in Paris, David Ferrer beat big Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, winning the deciding set 6-4. Del Potro blew hot and cold throughout the contest, finding some power and winners to take the second set and get back on serve in the 3rd. Yet, once again, errors crept in and he was out-thought and out-played by the Spaniard at the important moments. His shots just didn’t seem to have enough purpose at times; he wasn’t finding the lines (or close to them) nearly enough. He has to triumph over Janko Tipsarevic on Thursday. Meanwhile, Duracell bunny Ferrer moves on to take on fellow victor Roger Federer, who has never beaten. He’s got lots to fight for though – with a place in the top 4 of the rankings at stake and therefore an easier draw at the Australian Open. It could just happen on Thursday.

Finally, we can’t wait for the rivalry to resume on Wednesday…
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray meet each other for the seventh time this season on the indoor hard court of the O2 Arena, in what is sure to be another pulsating and high-octane encounter. Djokovic won in Shanghai last time, Murray twice before that in bigger games at the Olympics and US Open. Andy managed to eventually ride the adrenaline and pressure coming from the crowd to beat Berdych but he’ll need to raise his game another level to vanquish the Serbian world number one. It’ll be interesting to see how they both approach the match, seeing as it could be the first of two this week. It’s a match that they both need to win, to effectively book their places in the semi-finals. A win for one would give them, firstly, a psychological advantage over their rival, but also would mean that the loser would have a must-win contest in their final group game. So, it’s number one vs number three, Serbia vs GB, Australian Open winner vs US Open champion. They both enjoy a good hard court. Djokovic vs Murray.