Planning a trip to the ATP World Tour Finals in London in 2014? Here are some tips that will help you make the most of your visit.
Everyone taking photos of the courts as players walk out
The ATP World Tour Final will be held at the O2 Arena in London in 2014 and although the contract expires in 2015, it may stay in London for a while longer.
I was lucky enough to go to three sessions of this year’s tournament; Del Potro v Federer and the Semi Finals between Federer and Nadal and Wawrinka and Djokovic. Plus, it was an unexpected pleasure to see Nadal receive his World No.1 trophy prior to the Federer v Del Potro match on the Saturday.
If you’re thinking of going, it’s definitely a great experience. It’s a really well organised event with friendly helpful staff and a great atmosphere.
Here a some tips that will be useful.
1. Buy the more expensive tickets closer to the court (if you can)
From memory the upper tier tickets were GBP 60 and lower tier were GBP 95. We had tickets for both areas and by comparison, I would recommend paying extra for the closer seats if they are available and if you have the $$$ as the less expensive tickets were further back than I expected.
2. Make sure you know how to turn your flash off on your camera
It seemed crazy that although the umpire was continually asking people to not use their flash, people still used their flash. The venue is dark in the seating areas with lights on the court so flashes can disrupt the players. Enough said.
3. The mobile signal and wifi is unreliable
It seems crazy to me that in an arena sponsored by a telco company you can’t get reliable strong wifi access, or even that they don’t provide it for free. Added to that, I struggled even to send an SMS message. This makes it difficult if you’re trying to figure out a place and time to meet people.
Note that this info is based on my personal feedback, and I didn’t have an O2 sim card, but I heard from other friends that they had similar experiences.
4. There are no pass-outs once you’ve entered the arena
Once you’ve passed through security, you can’t leave and get back in again, so if you’re planning to meet people, either make sure they have tickets or meet them outside before or after the match.
5. The Underground is busy but well organised
The main way to get to and from the arena is via the North Greenwich underground station. The first time I left I thought the queue was massive and it would take ages to get on a train. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that the queue moves fast and leaving the venue was efficiently well organised. That doesn’t mean there won’t ever be delays on the Jubilee line though so check the alerts before you start your journey.
If you get to the venue another way and have to leave via the Underground, I’d make sure that you have an Oyster card and that it’s topped up ahead of time, so that you don’t have to wait in those queues before entering the station.
Here are some pics to give you a feel for the atmosphere.
Also have a look at my pics from around the O2 arena.
The lights in the arena
Rafa with his World No.1 trophy
A wave from Rafa while leaving the court
Federer and Del Potro
Mirka watching
Federer v Nadal
Rafa receiving
Rafa after winning the Semi Final
Wawrinka v Djokovic
Wawrinka working up a sweat
Djokovic after winning the Semi Final
Congrats to Djokovic for winning the trophy.
Onward now to the 2014 season and the Australian Open, which isn’t too far away….
Until next time
Grand Slam Gal
P.S. Sian – Re Rafa in his suit – yes he does! Seeing him get the trophy was the highlight of my visit.
Thanks Goran for stopping by.
Sian – I think the tickets went on sale around 6 months in advance. You can sign up for alerts at this link and get notified about the ticket sale dates http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en/newsletter
Liz – Thanks for your great input, that will be really helpful for others who want to buy tickets once the tournament has started.
Cheers
GSG
Hi GrandSlamGal,
The prices you quoted are about right for semifinals tickets. The final tickets are a little more expensive and the six days of round robin matches at the start of the competition are quite a lot cheaper. For the round robin matches I think the lower – level 1 – seats are about £60-65 each and in the upper tier – level 4 – it depends how near to the front you are. It can be as low as about £20 for seats right at the back but 40-45 for the rows right near the front.
The other thing is that for particularly the afternoon sessions earlier in the week it is sometimes possible to pick up tickets on the viagogo (official resale) website for less than face value especially if you are prepared to risk waiting until the day before or even the day of the session. Clearly if it is a very popular pairing eg Rafa V Federer or am evening session the prices are more likely to rise above face value.
You can also try Seatwave (another resale company) who have a small outlet in a block just to the right of the arena near the Tesco convenience store, but my experience this time was that they had less tickets available than Viagogo and they were more expensive.
Also the arena occasionally release a few extra tickets on just before the session starts so it’s worth trying the box office too even if the session is technically sold out.
I hope this is helpful.
Liz
Rafa looks great all dressed up!!
How far in advance did you have to buy tickets?
Great tips Mel! Thanks a lot for sharing them with us!