Another exciting Nitto ATP finals at the 02
Apologies for taking so long to get these blogs finished but blame the cold miserable weather, and of course other distractions.
It was unfortunate Qatar’s finalised dates for their golf trip overlapped the first two days of the ATP Nitto 02 finals as this meant missing some of the early round matches but as the event is played on a round robin format I was still able to watch all eight players in action throughout the rest of the week even though both Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer lost their first round matches, (Rafa to the up and coming Austrian, Domininc Thiem, and Roger to German, Alexander Zverev), both won their next two matches but sadly neither qualified for Friday’s semifinals. What was exciting, was definitely watching some scintillating tennis, in many ways the best I’ve seen at the 02 since its inception ten years ago.
Groups are named after past Champions, this year’s singles groups were called Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg both favourite players of mine. Sadly none of the worlds top three tennis players qualified for the finals with Dominic Thiem unexpectedly beating Novak Djokovic in three sets. The finals was a feast of fascinating tennis played between 26 year old Thiem and Next Generation superstar, Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece. This was by all accounts a high quality match that had me sitting on the edge of my seat for most of its three sets and one of 02’s most exciting finals. It took the twenty-one year old Tsitsipas the best part of three hours to eventually subdue the in-form Austrian 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Punters watching that day certainly got their moneys worth!
Next up on the agenda was the Austrian Tourist Board’s invitation to join their table at the annual Austrian Ball held at the Sheridan Hotel in Park Lane and attended by over 1,000 guests, and what an amazing evening that was. Fortunately our table of ten was strategically placed next the ballroom floor with perfect viewing for the evening’s entertainment. After the delicious three course dinner, the first on the evening’s performances began with a series of opera songs by one of Austria’s top opera singers and followed by an amazing ballet performance by a group of dancers from Royal Opera House. Typically the evening finished with a flourish and a Viennese Waltz which I found quite nostalgic having once lived in Austria. It must have been nearly two in the morning before we finally bade farewell to our hosts.
The following week was the British Open Singles Real Tennis Championships 2019 at Queen’s club with reigning world champion Rob Fahey taking part. Admittedly this is a sport that although I often watch (there are two courts at Queen’s Club), I have never quite come to grips with its complex and rather strange scoring system. Fortunately their on-the-ball PR and media liaison, Freddy Adams was on hand to help out and had thoughtfully printed a small crib card that explained the scoring idiosyncrasies in detail. The finals was an exciting three setter between Rob and former number one, American Camden Riviere. Rob was on scintillating form and won in three tightly fought sets.
Next up is the Lawn tennis Writers’ Annual Awards lunch – that was the week that was!