By Jack Davies
As the doors of the London O2 Arena closed on November 22nd, it marked the end of an era for British tennis fans. Though it may not have been the send-off we hoped for, for Daniil Medvedev it was the night dreams are made of. After beating Dominic Thiem in 3 sets, Medvedev became the last winner of the ATP Tour Finals in London before they move to Turin, Italy, from December 2021.
Medvedev is the 8th man to win in London and his victory has ensured that the tournament’s stint in the UK is bookended with Russian victories, as Nikolay Davydenko won the first in 2009. Medvedev’s name will also be in the history books as the first player to beat the world numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the ATP Tour Finals and for longest ever final match the history of the event. Aside from these impressive accolades, Medvedev also pockets a cool $1,564,000 – not bad for a fortnight’s work.
The men’s doubles tournament saw Surrey’s own Joe Salisbury in action with his partner Rajeev Ram. Following Salisbury’s coach testing positive for coronavirus at the beginning of the Paris Masters, Salisbury was unable to practice for the two weeks before the Tour Finals, but that didn’t stop him and Ram from winning 2/3 of their round robin matches. Unfortunately, they lost an epic 10-point tie break against Jürgen Melzer and Édouard Roger-Vasselin in the semi-final.
Salisbury, a doubles specialist, grew up in Putney, South West London, and played at Roehampton Tennis Club. He made his ATP debut in 2014 after accepting a tennis scholarship at the University of Memphis, but his breakthrough year was 2018 where he reached the semi-final of Wimbledon with the his then partner Frederik Nielsen. In 2019 season he partnered Rajeev Ram and they won two titles on the way to qualifying for the ATP finals. They’ve continued where they left off in 2020, winning the Australian Open – Salisbury’s maiden slam – and once again qualifying for the Tour Finals. Though it wasn’t to be this year, it’s safe to say that Salisbury has made Surrey proud!
Last month Surrey Tennis’ Lewis Woodham and Justin Sherring got the chance to chat to Joe Salisbury from his hotel room for the Surrey Tennis Talks podcast. You can listen to this episode and other episodes on Apple HERE, Spotify HERE and Youtube HERE.
Now professional players from all over the world are starting their pre-season training and
getting ready for 2020. The Australian Open is scheduled to go ahead, but it will start 3 weeks later than usual on the 8th of February. So, while they will be practicing in the heat to ensure they’re ready for the Australian summer, the rest of us in Britain are are fighting a never-ending battle against the rain and the dark.
So, is anyone else thinking about going to Turin for some winter sun next December?
Surrey Tennis
Written by Jack Davies
December 2020