The ATP Finals Staying In London Is Good For Murray

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 8th November 2012

The ATP Finals Staying In London Is Good For Murray

epa03461989 Andy Murray of Britain returns the ball to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 07 November 2012. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

On the face of things, the decision to keep the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the London 02 Arena until 2015 is most favorable to Britain’s own Andy Murray.

So not surprisingly the US Open champion applauded the decision to extend the stay for a further two years that was announced Wednesday and said: “I think just from a player’s perspective in terms of how our schedule is, it’s incredibly convenient.

“It’s worked very well I think the last few years. They get very good crowds. It’s a fun arena to play in and, as I said beforehand, because of the way the schedule is, you can’t really have it anywhere else. I think it works well.”

Murray was not alone in stressing, prior to the decision, that a shift of the event to another continent (with Rio de Janeiro the biggest opponent to London) would have presented enormous logistical problems for players who conclude the regular ATP World Tour season playing indoor event in Europe such as Paris, Valencia, Basel, Vienna and Stockholm.

However Murray does not regard his involvement in the next three years of the London staged event as a given and underlined the fact he needs to qualify amongst the world’s top eight in events around the globe.

Murray said: “I look forward to hopefully getting a chance to play here more. But I know how hard it is to qualify for this competition, so I have to work hard and win a lot of matches to do that.”

Once again this year the event has been watched by maximum attendances at the London 02 Arena with 17,000 spectators traveling to the Thames-side venue for two sessions a day, each featuring one doubles and one singles match.

The ATP World Tour’s CEO Brad Drewett said: “We are very proud of our marquee event, the ultimate showcase of the best of men’s tennis. The excitement created by our season-ending tournament in London has been fantastic, with fans, players, media and commercial partners all supporting the event in an unprecedented manner.”