ATP World tour-changes
The ATP World Tour Finals which is the season-ending event held in London, is set to undergo some changes this year, in order to clarify the qualification system and also improve tournament scheduling. Earlier there was some confusion when the event made its Debut in London in November 2009, as players and spectators alike were left waiting to know the identity of players who qualified from group stages. This year though, all the information regarding the results of latest round-robin matches and standings will be clearly visible to one and all, as they will be displayed on the big screens.
The match in the Evening will start at 8pm, in order to avoid problems of public transport. The time change means, the matches will start 45 minutes earlier than they did in 2009, which in result meant that spectators could not stay till the end of the late match, if they were to catch the last train home. The ATP Executive Chairman and President Adam Helfant, in an official statement said, “It was a combination of factors which prompted us to change the start time,"
"We listened to feedback from the public, fans, players and media and thought it made sense to move it."
The event Last year was termed hugely as a success, as 8 of the best in the world came to London to compete, and doubles teams also contested the season finale, the tournament had previously taken place in Shanghai. Last year’s event, which was staged in indoor tennis courts, marked a record attendance of 265,000 during the 8 days of the tournament. Putting aside the transport problems faced by fans during the event, the other big issue was that, after the end of round-robin matches, Juan Martin del Potro after rebating Roger Federer waited 15 minutes on the court, to find out if he had made it to the Semi Final.
After which Andy Murray, who was watching the match on TV wrote this on his Twitter: "Anyone know what's going on?"
Chris Kermode, who is the event's managing director, said he does not expect the same problems this time around, when the tournament kicks off on November 21st. Kermode added that, the information will be displayed on big screens, and we will make sure that no such confusions arise this year.
"Actually we did know but there was a process to follow. The structure of how that decision is made has been changed now.
"What that situation showed was that we need to tell our story better to the fans who are in the arena in terms of how the round robin system works and the relevance of each match, which we will do this year."
Last year the tournament was won by Russia's Nikolay Davydenko who beat Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in a lopsided final, Del Potro however was delighted to be in the league of top 8 players after winning his first Grand Slam the same year beating Federer in the final.
Tags: