ATP Tour Finals - O2

Sunday 20th November
Federer and Tsonga kicked off this years World Tour Finals at the O2 and what a match it was. Fed cruised the first set 6-2, dropping only three points on serve, and it looked to be a masterclass from the master until Tsonga kicked into gear in the second set and beat a suddenly below-par Federer to the same score. The third set was tense and pretty even until Tsonga made fatal errors in the final game and Fed capitalised. He eventually squeezed through 6-2 2-6 6-4. He said afterwards that this is the best he's played all year and the time off before Basel and Paris has helped.


Nadal v. Fish was the evening match and the one I was lucky enough to attend. After buying our foot long hotdogs and chips (the chips were just normal sized...) we found our skyscraper seats in the incredibly warm arena and settled in to watch first a great doubles match then an even better singles. 


It was the best match I've seen at the O2. Full of pace, great rallies, incredible gets and not without some drama and emotion. Nadal is not at his best - hence running to the toilet when 2-0 up in the deciding set - but neither is Fish. The feel around the place as we waited for the players to come out was that Fish didn't have a chance. Yes, he's had the best year of his career but beating Nadal at the O2? No way. And after the first set was won easily by the Spaniard it looked as if the crowd had it right. 


I, however, was not convinced. Fish hits a beautiful clean, flat, hard backhand which is exactly the kind of shot that Nadal hates. In the second set Fish stepped up his game and we were treated to a brilliant display on how to play Nadal. It reminded me of Soderling beating Nadal at the French. He took the set 6-3 and roared out a 'come on!' in true American style. He was well and truly back in the game.


Nadal started the third very well and was quickly 2-0 up. After playing a great point to take the break early in the set, Nadal ran off court for a toilet break. Fish looked perplexedly up at the umps who merely watched Nadal's retreating form. It was all a little odd, I have to say. When he came back in, pale and shaking his head, he apologised to Fish and promptly lost three games in a row. Fish was a break up in the decider against a crook Nadal and looking on course for a shock win. 


Nadal, however, decided, sickness aside, that he was not going down without a fight and preferably not at all.  What followed were beautiful beautiful points. That set is going to be hard to beat. It came down to a very tense tie break in which Fish made one too many mistakes and Nadal made none. 


After the players shook hands we had a crazy mad-scramble to get the last tube back to Waterloo and then a bizarre round-a-bout train/bus/car journey to get home, but it was all worth it. I would do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next. 


I'll keep you blogged...