The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals were launched on Saturday night with a gala dinner at London’s Natural History Museum.
Around a dozen competitors attended, mingling with fans and sponsors in the shadow of Dippy, the 26-metre diplodocus that bestrides the Centre Hall.
Yet there were also some glaring absentees, thanks to the daft back-to-back scheduling of Paris and London. The diners were hugely disappointed to miss the new world No1 Rafael Nadal, whose all-conquering return from injury has flabbergasted everyone. The man has become a phenomenon, evoking the sort of awed fascination often seen in this hall.
“I can’t remember a comeback like it in tennis,” says Boris Becker, who will be commentating on this week’s events at the O₂ for Sky Sports.
“And maybe in no other sport. This time last year, everybody wondered whether Rafa can come back at all. If you had told us he would be the player of the year, win two grand slams and eight other tournaments, we would have bet anything we had that this wouldn’t happen.
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31 Oct 2013“The question mark was the tendon on his knee. It was a serious injury: most people would have taken the easy way out, had a quick surgery and maybe never come back. He had the patience to say: ‘I am with the doctors I trust and I will come back when I’m ready.’
“I’m sure he could have come back in Melbourne
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