What a difference a full house makes. That’s what the players and fans of the WTA must have been thinking as the tour’s year-end championships got underway for the first time in Istanbul in October. For the last decade, the event had skipped around the globe in a futile search for energy and atmosphere. Los Angeles, Madrid, Doha: None of them could generate much buzz for the Top 8 women. But all of that was forgotten after opening night in Istanbul, when 11,000 people, inspired in part by the affordable ticket prices, showed up and didn’t leave until all three of that day’s matches were complete. And that’s how it went all week. For the first time since the tournament had been held at Madison Square Garden more than 10 years before, the women had a big-time sports atmosphere, and the crowd they deserved.
It’s been a while since the glory days at the Garden for the men as well, but like the WTA, the ATP wrapped up its year on a high note in London. Drawing sellout crowds for one singles match per session, the World Tour Finals has found an appropriate home of its own. The same way that the rambunctious crowds at the year-end Masters in New York in the 70s mirrored those bad boy days of American domination, London, with its suit-wearing players and officials and theatrical setting, is the perfect home for this classy, European-dominated era. Now if they would only stop having the players come out holding hands with little kids, we’d be ready to rumble.
—Steve Tignor
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