CHRIS KERMODE HAS A MILLION DOLLAR DECISION TO MAKE

Written by: Staff on 17th November 2014

CHRIS KERMODE HAS A MILLION DOLLAR DECISION TO MAKE |

Editors Note from 10sballs.com : We have attended the event for the past three years. It’s been a really amazing event on a lot of levels. The daily format. Great. Noon doubles. Followed by singles is super. Chris Kermode is the best ATP president to come along in a really long time. Except – Not sure why he made a board up of legends ? It’s a headache. They don’t understand today’s game. John McEnroe thinks no ones played great dubs since he retired. We feel the people are entitled to the face value on their tickets. It was a sad day for tennis and Chris was BRILLIANT in what he threw together. But the people / fans at all ATP events need to be treated more fairly on all levels.

Now Kermode Has To Determine How Much Money To Refund Finals Ticket Buyers

Chris Kermode, the ATP World Tour’s executive chairman and president, is the man who developed the Barclay’s sponsored Tour Finals into one of the most successful and lucrative events in the history of men’s tennis, but he will not look back on the 2014 edition with great fondness.

Not only was there the abject disappointment of not having a final to round off the week after Roger Federer was forced to withdraw because of back problems. But a week of dull one-sided group matches and repeated complaints from ticket holders tainted the London02 Arena experience.

Kermode maintained there would be a partial refund for ticket holders and priority given to booking for next year’s event – possibly the last in the London Thameside venue. But he could not hide his disappointment and after an intensely stressful day, patching together an alternative program that involved reaching out to Andy Murray, John McEnroe, Pat Cash and Tim Henman, said: “This has never happened before in the history of the ATP.”

The most expensive single tickets for the final were sold at $170 but it is understood the official ticket agency Viagogo had been asking upwards of $950. Some spectators had also traveled from the United States specially for the weekend’s tennis.

“We feel we need to do something for authorized ticket holders and within 48 hours there will be some kind of refund,” said Kermode who maintained that Murray (who was at home 40 miles away and playing video games) gave up his time for free along with McEnroe, Cash and Henman who broke off from their contracted media duties.

“We had two hours to put something on and get Andy here. I called him up and said ‘you have got to help me out!’ He thought I was winding him up but instantly he said yes and no one received any money. People say many critical things about Andy in the UK but he felt a responsibility for tennis and the people who paid money to see the final.”

Kermode went on to explain: “It won’t be a full refund because the session included the doubles final which was played and it has a value. We also had Novak playing against Andy and we must decide what value that had.

“We will also give fans first chance to buy tickets for next year’s final. I only knew about 1pm there could be a problem after a lot of rumors and Roger said the back was sore and that he was coming down to the O2 to see how it was and so I got Plan B into action.”

All week there had been unrest amongst the paying public at the London 02 Arena because those arriving at the venue with pre-packed food brought from home had sandwiches, sweets and drinks confiscated by security staff.

Some fans claimed the reason was that the venue’s food outlets were not making enough money However in August, the UK’s terror threat level was raised from “substantial” to “severe” in response to conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

One fan, Martin Allpress from Essex, said security prevented him and his wife from taking in grapes, homemade sandwiches in a container and some oranges. He complained to BBC News

“They just threw the food and drink into a big bin. It was nothing to do with security, it was clearly to boost the profit of businesses inside the venue.”

Content via Bob Larson Tennis News Service.

Topics: ATP executive, Chris Kermode, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 17, 2014 at 3:07 pm

CHRIS KERMODE HAS A MILLION DOLLAR DECISION TO MAKE- http://t.co/Pqb6TsVOL6 #tennis #ATP @rogerfederer @stanwawrinka #SeverinLuthi
asanokaoru says:

November 17, 2014 at 3:15 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: CHRIS KERMODE HAS A MILLION DOLLAR DECISION TO MAKE- http://t.co/Pqb6TsVOL6 #tennis #ATP @rogerfederer @stanwawrinka #Sev…