London Is Very Close To A Sellout

Written by: Staff on 2nd November 2012

London Is Very Close To A Sellout

epa03286892 Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he plays Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 28 June 2012. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

If there is still any doubt that the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals should stay at London ’s 02 Arena for another three years, the fact next weeks’ event is now only 6,000 tickets away from being a 262,000 sell-out should clinch the deal.

ATP World Tour executive chairman Brad Drewett is expected to make the formal announcement about the extension of the London venue next week.

Andy Murray’s gold medal triumph at the London Olympics plus the Scot’s long overdue breakthrough as a Grand Slam champion at the US Open has been a major factor in pushing ticket sales to a record level.

With three days remaining, 11 of the 15 sessions of the event to be played on the banks of the River Thames from November 5-12 are sold out.

Chris Kermode, the tournament’s managing director, said: “In times of recession, we are definitely bucking the trend.” Talking of a sell-out, he added: “We are cautiously optimistic we’ll be very close.”

The event moved to London in 2009 after a four years stay in Shanghai under the title of the Tennis Masters Cup. The London debut attracted a record attendance of 256,000 and the two ensuing years saw the attendance remain just above the quarter of a million mark.

This summer the Olympic Games were viewed as an overwhelming success by the British public , who saw the nation’s team win a total of 65 medals including 29 golds.

Kermode continued: “The whole Olympic summer of sport reignited a desire to go and see live sports. Having Andy Murray here as a domestic star definitely helps. It adds that extra buzz.”

The only negative to the event is the enforced absence of world no.3 and twice Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal because of ongoing problems with his left knee and the Majorcan is a huge favorite of the British tennis public .