The World Tour Final That Never Was November 17 2014
RICHARD JONES writes:
ROGER FEDERER was forced to concede last night's title match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals following his brutal semi-final against friend and Davis Cup team mate STAN WAWRINKA on Saturday night. That match finished at around 11pm, and Roger was still at the O2 after 1am on Sunday completing his media interviews. The crowd at the O2 were shocked but sympathetic, and despite their huge disappointment there was no booing or other audible dissension. It seemed that nearly everyone in the sell out crowd stayed on to watch ANDY MURRAY take on NOVAK DJOKOVIC in a first to eight games exhibition match. It was very good of Andy to agree to play at such short notice after his own gruelling last few weeks on the ATP World Tour. Afterwards he teamed up with JOHN McENROE to play another exhibition against PAT CASH and TIM HENMAN. It was good to see the names of these former greats on the big O2 scoreboard. The last-minute cancellation of last night's big showpiece final illustrated what we all already knew. Top class tennis is a fierce and skilful head-to-head which often produces epic matches like Saturday's all-Swiss semi-final. Each great match is a joy for those who get to watch, but because the competitors are human, anything can happen, and that includes nothing at all.