Our typical ride to the courts of an ATP World Tour tournament looks like this: I sit in one row of the tournament transportation van, and my doubles partner, Jamie Murray, sits in another, and we enjoy some down time. During our rides to tournament sites, either before or after matches, we're usually not itching to catch up or talk about current events; I spend more time with Jamie than I do my wife, so we have plenty of time for small talk during every other part of the day.
But pre- and post-match transportation looks a lot different at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Namely, we travel by boat instead of by car. The boats come and go throughout the day from the London Eye pier to The O2, which sits on the edge of the Greenwich Peninsula and is half surrounded by the River Thames.
With coffee on board and plenty of space to relax, it's just about the ideal spot to get done whatever you want to get done. The first day, though, we all spend much of our time in awe, snapping photos and posting to Instagram, because, from the boat, you can spot all the London landmarks. The London Eye. Big Ben. The London Bridge. The Tower Bridge. The Shard. St. Paul's Cathedral. Everything.
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Once you've stared sufficiently and filled your iPhone with selfies, you find other ways to occupy your time on the boat. I'm privileged enough to serve on the ATP World Tour Player Council, and I've used the transport time to meet with ATP World Tour officials, including Board of Directors Player Representative Justin Gimelstob, Treasury and Benefits Director Jorge Escallon and Chief Player Officer Ross Hutchins.
During the meetings, we talk about the future of tennis and how we can continue to improve the game. Jamie, though, spends his boat time a little differently. He usually rides over with his coach, Louis Cayer, and they discuss our upcoming matches. Jamie also loves to make sure his coach notices the London landmarks each and every time they hop on the boat.
“Have you seen The Shard? Have you seen the Tower of London?” Jamie will say to Louis, knowing full well Louis has seen them many times, including the day before, when Jamie asked him the exact same questions.
Some London transportation details, though, are just like they'd be during a regular week on the ATP World Tour. For instance, Jamie and I still don't talk much during our pre- and post-match rides. In fact, we don't talk at all.
If we play at night, like we did on Thursday, I'll hop on the noon boat because I like to watch about an hour of tennis in person before we practise or get ready for our match. Jamie, meanwhile, prefers to watch the tennis on TV for that hour, so he hops on the 1 p.m. boat with his coach.
You might question why we don't spend that time together prepping for our match, but trust me, our doubles partnership is better this way.
Bruno Soares spoke with Jonathon Braden