GLOBAL CHICK REPORTS TODAY’S HIGH & LOWS FROM THE BARCLAYS MEN’S TENNIS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS

Written by: Global Chick on 16th November 2014

GLOBAL CHICK REPORTS TODAY'S HIGH & LOWS FROM THE BARCLAYS MEN'S TENNIS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS

epa04492432 Switzerland's Roger Federer pulls out of the ATP World Tour Finals final with injury ceding the win to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

A round up of sorts of a very gloomy tournament Or When Good Tournaments Go bad

It probably seems quite fitting that a bizarre week of elite tennis came to a bizarre end on Sunday, when Roger Federer in all his cardigan-ed glory walked onto court to announce his withdrawal from the final.

Switzerland’s Roger Federer pulls out of the ATP World Tour Finals final with injury ceding the win to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

To audible gasps he explained he had tried everything to be ready for the final against the ‘exhausted’ Djokovic, but that he would not be able to compete. The greyness of the woolen top seemed to match the general mood around this tournament this week. We can’t blame the weather – it’s November in the UK, for heaven’s sake!

However the crowd were informed they would be treated to a Pro-set exhibition between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, followed by the whippersnapper partnering John McEnroe in a doubles against Tim Henman and Pat Cash, amidst rumours of a fall-out in the Swiss camp aired by McEnroe in an ESPN interview.

The good folks at the ATP provided us with their interview transcripts after Federer spoke to them following his announcement to the paying punters.

“I can’t compete at this level with Novak. In finals like this, it would be too risky at my age to do this right now. I hope you understand.”

The gasps changed to sympathetic applause, and ironically to shouts, cheers and excited jumping up and down when they found out who the support act would be.

The simple fact is this tournament has struggled for a variety of reasons. We could reasonably expect that the best eight players in the ATP could put on a competitive show, but as Marin Cilic pointed out, they would not expect to play top guys in the opening rounds of tournaments so it was difficult to adjust to that kind of format.

Novak Djokovic from Serbia poses with the trophy after Switzerland’s Roger Federer pulled out of the final through injury at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

The round robin also seems to throw people with the whole “you lost but get another chance” mentality. Which also seemed to throw people for a loop. Will the tournament stay here? Federer wanted it to, Djokovic feels it needs to move around and take tennis to a larger audience, and now with the emergence of Kei Nishikori as a contender for the big prizes, surely there is an argument for the World Tour Finals to move back and perhaps necessitate a change to the schedules to switch the Asian and the European swing around.

Either way, this year is best swept under the rain clouds that hung over the giant dome of the O2, until we all traipse back here to do it again!

Editors Note : Roger made a change to his team before the end of the season. His big hulk of a massage therapist named Stephane switched camps to team Dimitrov. Sorry but not a good time to make such a change. We’ve heard lots of versions of why he left TEAM FEDERER. But. And here’s the big BUT. ( almost as BIG A BUTT like Kim K . ) An elite athlete like Roger is very similar to the precise Swiss watch that he endorses. So who takes their ROLEX to un authorized dealer ? It takes a massage therapist time to know a body like Rogers. Months. Years.

P.S. Thanks to Hilary Peck and the amazing staff at the Barclays World Tour They really ran a first rate media room.

Thanks to the events HEAD CONCIERGE MR . FRASER RUSSELL WHO SAW TO IT THAT THE MARTINIS WERE DRY AND COLD. OH SORRY THAT THE CORONAS WERE COLD AND REFRESHING.

ALL KIDDING ASIDE THERE’S ONLY ONE PLACE TO HOLD THIS SOLD OUT SUCCESSFUL EVENT AND THAT’S RIGHT WHERE IT IS AS CHRIS KERMODE SAW HIS VISION BECOME A TERRIFIC SUCCESS.

Topics: ATP Finals, Barclays Championships, global chick, Tennis, World Tour Finals

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10sBalls_com says:

November 16, 2014 at 2:12 pm

GLOBAL CHICK REPORTS TODAY’S HIGH & LOWS FROM THE #BARCLAYS MEN’S #TENNIS YEAR END CHAMPIONSHIPS- http://t.co/wCRpVhC2Ly #Federer #Djokovic