Andy Murray isn't only big draw at Finals in London
LONDON — Walk into the city's famed O2 Arena, host of this week's ATP World Tour Finals, and enormous banners with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka hang overhead.
Missing among those images is the most famous player this country has seen in nearly eight decades: Andy Murray.
That's because Murray qualified for the year-end championships only two weeks ago, at the last regular-season event, meaning he played little to no role in the marketing of this event, an indoor tournament that is played out in stark contrast to one of the city's other, more famous tennis outings.
But the O2, known for its popularity among musical acts, has become a winter oasis for world-class tennis: It's the anti-All England Club, with a smoky tunnel for players to walk through, blaring pop music and in-match arena lights show, all played out on a glowing blue indoor court.
"I'm not saying that Wimbledon does it wrong, that tournament is phenomenal. But if you were to try to do what they do in this space, it wouldn't work," explained tournament managing director Adam Hogg. "We are at two completely different ends of the spectrum."
There are no strawberries and cream here, no Henman Hill, no Centre Court formalities. Fans don jackets and scarves as they venture in from the cold, perhaps getting Brazilian barbecue in the foyer to eat in the arena's mostly-dark seating area, which creates a stage-like affect for the tennis, which Hogg says is the end product.
"The product is still the same [as Wimbledon]: You have the world's best players competing against each other," Hogg said.
Sessions are broken up into just two matches each: a doubles and then a singles. It's four hours (sometimes as few as two) of concentrated entertainment, compared with a daylong venture at SW19's famed grass courts.
"As an indoor venue, compared to Wimbledon where you might turn up at 11 in the morning and stay through until 8 at night, I don't want to do that here as a paying fan," Hogg said. "It's not right, you would go crazy."
Murray Mania?
Having missed this tournament in 2013 because of back surgery, the British No. 1 has been a welcome addition to the line-up in 2014, even if he sealed his qualification late.
"Any tournament having their domestic star coming into this arena makes a massive difference," tournament chairman and ATP president Chris Kermode said on BBC radio before the event. "The crowd wants to see him mixed in with these icons."
Thursday night Murray will take on Federer in their 23rd meeting, the home hope needing a victory to help ensure his chance to advance.
"It's more exciting" with Murray in the draw, Federer told reporters two weeks ago in Paris. "There's more news to it. It's his home market. It's a big deal. But I think in itself, it's a successful event. It's usually always sold out more or less. It's doing very well."
Crowds have hovered around 250,000 in total each of the five years previous in London, with 261,247 tickets sold in 2013, without Murray's presence.
"It was disappointing not playing last year when I had to withdraw because of my back," Murray told Reuters in an interview. "One of the main reasons I enjoy [the tournament] so much is that it always has a great atmosphere. They get a huge number of fans during the week. Their support is always second to none and they do a great job in getting behind me."
Because of the shorter sessions, tickets are cheaper. Monday evening there were still plenty available for Murray's Tuesday night match against Canadian Milos Raonic for £28.50 (about $45USD). There is no institutionalized Wimbledon "queue" here, just a point-and-click system that often produces a nearly-full 17,800-seat arena.
"This is one of the most exciting times in tennis," Kermode said. "We have these established stars, but this new generation coming up ... and this is the first time we have them in one arena. And we'll see who comes out as the top dog."
One of the best cities for tennis
Federer, Djokovic, Murray: The names are the same as Wimbledon's billing, but the tournament is not a society-must for well-to-do Londoners.
If Wimbledon is the royal crown, then are the ATP World Tour Finals the people's event?
"We have an international fan base here, but over 90 percent of ticket buyers are U.K.-based and many of that 90 percent are London-based," Hogg said, referencing his sales numbers.
"London has proven to be one of the best cities for tennis," world No. 1 Djokovic said Wednesday night. "People have a culture of tennis here because of Wimbledon."
Hogg makes a nod to Murray as a draw, but confirms that the aforementioned well-educated tennis audience this city offers is who watches on a daily basis. And it's not a public that is purely Murray fans, as the tabloids here might suggest. Newspapers track his every move. More than 30 seats in the tournament's media center are allotted to British papers, much of the writing focused on the country's No. 1 player.
"Are we glad that we have a home-based player? Of course we are," Hogg said. "However, you look at the caliber of the other players around him – Roger, Novak, last year Rafael Nadal – and the emergence of these new guys, this is such a metropolitan city. There are so many markets to sell to.
"Just because they're London fans, that doesn't mean they're cheering for Andy. When Roger comes out, you might as well be in Geneva, or last year, with Rafa, you thought you were in Madrid. This city has so many people in it from all over the world."