Tennis bids farewell to an iconic British
venue this week. Twenty-four years
after John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg
turned London’s Royal Albert Hall into
a battleground for the renewal of their
famous rivalry, Emma Raducanu will
help to bring the curtain down on the
sport’s long stint at this grand Victorian
concert building.
The All England Club will always be
the sport’s most hallowed setting, but
ask 100 tennis fans for their most enjoy-
able spectating experience outside
Wimbledon and there is a good chance
that the Royal Albert Hall will be given
as an answer. While it is best known for
holding the Proms, it has since 1997 es-
tablished a place in the tennis calendar
as the host of a much-loved seniors ex-
hibition event.
Hence, the next four days feel like the
end of an era. Organisers of the
Champions Tennis tournament have
announced that this is the last year at
the Royal Albert Hall, with a new home
being sought in a bid to “grow and adapt
the event”. It is a great shame not only
for those who enjoyed watching some
of the sport’s legends in action at such
an awe-inspiring location, but also for
the competitors themselves.
“A lot of the players said that this was
one of the most special venues they
but they still love tennis and have the
hunger and drive to be on the court.
“They are still playing some
unbelievably good tennis. They haven’t
lost their ability, it’s just that they’re not
doing it for 52 weeks a year.
“In 2019 we had David Ferrer, Juan
Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Haas. The
standard was unbelievable. We were
watching what I believe was round four
and quarter-final grand-slam quality
tennis, but they were doing it over a
much shorter period of time with a
best-of-three, shorter-set format.”
Ironically, this event for ageing stars
will bow out at the Royal Albert Hall on
Sunday with a nod to the future when
Raducanu, 19, takes on Romania’s Ele-
na-Gabriela Ruse, 24 — the US Open
champion’s first match on British soil
since her grand-slam win in September.said. “All the players put
him on their shoulders as he
walked off the court. John has
been so synonymous with this event as
he was there from its infancy.”
No doubt there were some matches
that were no more than a lighthearted
“hit and giggle” — Mansour Bahrami’s
party tricks being a prime example —
but in recent years there has been a
noticeable edge to the contests. This is
linked to a reduction in the average age
of the field, with players such as Tomas
Berdych, 36, and David Ferrer, 39, wast-
ing no time in transferring to the
seniors circuit as a way of satisfying
their competitive urges in retirement.
“Players now don’t want to take a
break,” Waugh said. “They retire from
the professional tour for various
reasons, the main one being the travel,Sport
After 24 years,
tennis prepares to
take its final bow
at the Albert Hall
have ever played at,” Nikhil Waugh, the
tournament director, said. “John
McEnroe always said that this was his
Wimbledon. As soon as he retired [from
professional tennis], he always loved
coming back to the Royal Albert Hall,
which is such an amazing place and
theatre to play tennis.
“I remember another player who
came here for the first time in- He walked down to
the court but then took a
step back and gasped.
These guys have prob-
ably seen everything
tennis has had to of-
fer but we are still
able to surprise them
when they first see
the venue.”
The work involved
each year in converting
a concert hall into a tennis
arena was considerable. A
non-stop 24-hour “build” period
was required, during which staff would
take out the front six rows of the stalls
seats and construct a stilted wooden
floor for the acrylic hard court to sit on.
It was worth the effort. The likes of
Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Tim
Henman have graced the Royal Albert
Hall at various points in the past 24
years. McEnroe often proved the star
attraction, with the American’s brash
attitude, fierce competitive spirit and
one-liners providing much entertain-
ment — and commanding a five-figure
appearance fee — before he waved
goodbye to the London crowd three
years ago at the age of 59.
“The most iconic moment in my time
was John’s last match in 2018,” Waugh
Stuart Fraser on how
iconic venue has given
McEnroe, Borg et al the
stage to keep the magic
alive beyond retirement
The iconic Royal Albert Hall has proved popular as a venue
for both spectators and players, including McEnroe, insetsaid. “
hhhhim on th
walked off th
been so synonymout time in
wn to
k a
d.d
ng
nnis
ble. A
ild” period
which staff wouldTh
forPAUL GILHAM/GETTY IMAGES; DAVID LODGE/GETTY IMAGESGB captain:
We need say
on changes
Davis Cup
Stuart Fraser Tennis Correspondent
The Great Britain Davis Cup captain
Leon Smith has called for organisers to
consult with teams over future changes
to the competition after Abu Dhabi
emerged as the frontrunner to take
over from Madrid as the main host.
The second edition of the World
Cup-style finals format begins today,
with group-stage matches taking place
in Madrid, Turin and Innsbruck. In
2019 this controversially replaced the
traditional home-and-away knockout
ties that had been such a staple of the
121-year-old team event.
It is understood that the owner,
Kosmos, the investment group co-
founded by the Barcelona footballer
Gerard Piqué, is now close to announc-
ing a lucrative five-year deal for the
finals to move from Europe to the Mid-
dle East from next year. Abu Dhabi, the
capital of the United Arab Emirates,
would be the base for the latter rounds,
while other cities in the region could
host some of the round-robin phase.
However, Smith revealed yesterday
that he had heard no more than specu-
lation about future changes and strong-
ly urged those in charge to reach out
before any contracts were signed.
“If you talk to any of the players or
the captains who’ve experienced the
atmosphere, the environment is so
important... it’s got to be full crowds, it’s
got to be what’s best for the players and
the schedules,” Smith said. “There’s so
many good people working for ITF,
Kosmos, everyone wants it to be great,
I would just like us to speak a bit more
before any final decisions happen.”
Great Britain open their campaign in
group C against France in Innsbruck on
Saturday. Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans,
Liam Broady, Joe Salisbury and Neal
Skupski make up the five-man squad.
Britain’s group matches are being
played behind closed doors because of
the national lockdown in Austria,
imposed this week because of a rise in
Covid-19 cases. “It’s going to feel
strange,” Smith said.the times | Thursday November 25 2021 71