BARCLAYS CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN’S TENNIS FINALS START SUNDAY ! WE ARE IN LONDON !

Written by: Lovey on 7th November 2014

BARCLAYS CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN'S TENNIS FINALS START SUNDAY ! WE ARE IN LONDON ! |

Barclays Championships Men’s Tennis Finals Start Sunday ! We Are In LONDON !

Greetings from London. It’s cold , it’s damp , rain is expected , welcome to London. But when you are @ the ATP championships who cares ? Big Ben is our alarm clock ! The London EYE is in our view and the town is tennis crazy. Sounds like I’m in the right place. From the moment the car came to collect us ( thank you Richard Branson ) the magic carpet ride began.

The flight was great. The arrival was even better. Everywhere I look I see world class tennis players and their teams. I feel happy , comfy and content and lucky. The rest of our team arrives in dribs and drabs.

The 10sballs.com team member we are really excited to show around the beautiful 02 ARENA is Ricky Dimon. Ricky is one of a small handful of dynamic young American Tennis writers. He has his own tennis web site ” The Grandstand ” but is always happy to join forces with us. He loves tennis from the top to bottom. He loves to watch the puppies “rookies ” too. He can be found on a grandstand court more than a main arena. Till this week anyway.

Barclays is such a great host. It’s really hard to explain how perfectly organized and planned this event it. The staff at the event really has the whole thing down so well that everyone is a VIP. Everyone. The players have their own dressing rooms. The players restaurant is always open with chefs standing by. You just walk in and get a snack or a meal. It’s all just there. No food credits needed. No limits. Just help yourself. Eat and be merry. Snack as you get hungry. Simple concept.

The media room. The interview room. The media lunchroom. I don’t know where to start. The press room looks like NASA control center. The interview room comes in off of it. So you can be working at your desk and you look up and there’s Roger Federer walking past you to go to an interview. That’s cool no ? The meals served the hardworking media is like nothing we’ve ever seen. Lunch and dinner both five course meals self serve. All hot and beautifully planned meals even for the gluten free and vegans.

I’m not a “foodie ” so why all the hospitality chat. I guess because it’s just that GREAT in EVERY aspect. Chris Kermode set up and organized this event years ago. His brilliant team have followed his formula. You have an event that is so successful and amazing it should stay there for along time. The players often want to move events. They play tennis. What else do they know. They are clueless to the thousand of invisible hours to takes to stage such a MASSIVE undertaking. Tennis players do know. ” never change a winning game “.

The finals @the 02 arena is a winning game. I’m not saying tennis players aren’t brilliant. I’m just saying they are clueless to the way things really work. I’ve known more retired tennis players not understanding that cars need more than gas. They just don’t know from water in radiators to tred on tires to air pressure. Well you get it. They seize engines. Have cars with no brakes. What are brake pads ?

Bottom line: We are thrilled to be covering this event for our third year. It’s absolutely without a doubt the most amazeballs week of the year. The players camaraderie is a beautiful thing. We miss Rafa and wish him a speedy recovery. Cheers we are off to the local pub for some fish and chips. Please look at the photo below we found on Instagram. It’s one big reason why we love the ATP.

P.S. : We wait all year for the “suit shot” . It didn’t disappoint. We can’t wait till tomorrow.

Topics: Atp, Barclays ATP Championships, London, Lovey's Lob, Tennis

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