Even elite tennis players, and Officers of the British Empire, sometimes take the Tube. Anyone riding the Jubilee line to North Greenwich station this week could find themselves looking across the carriage at Jamie Murray, who this year became the first Briton in singles or doubles to be the World No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (he got there before his brother). 

For all that he has accomplished – including winning the Davis Cup last year, scoring his first two men’s doubles Grand Slam titles at this year’s Australian and US Opens, and being awarded the OBE – the older of the Murray brothers has been known to travel around London with an Oyster card. Last November, when he was playing with Australia’s John Peers, and when he qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time, Murray chose to take the Underground rather than a tournament car on the way to The O2. At the end of his first year with a new partner, Brazilian Bruno Soares, Murray is once again part of the field, and he might again be commuting by Tube.

No doubt Murray will mostly remember last year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the hugely disappointing defeat against Bob and Mike Bryan, after he and Peers failed to convert their five match points, when any one of them would have taken them into the semi-finals. Now, with Soares alongside him, he has another opportunity to win the most exclusive tournament on the ATP World Tour.

Murray’s “old-school game” has pleased the traditionalists in tennis, including David Macpherson, an Australian who for more than a decade coached the Bryan brothers.

“Jamie plays differently to most of the guys today. It’s obviously a great story that Andy Murray’s brother has come up so big in doubles, but even without that, Jamie is an interesting story. He plays some very attractive tennis. He has shots that hardly anyone else has,” said Macpherson. “He has beautiful touch, he has a nice lob, he uses dinks, and he gets to net. Jamie plays a kind of old-school tennis, and people love to see that. Over the last few years, Jamie has worked hard on his game, and he has really developed as a player. Every part of his game has improved, but his serving has got a lot more accurate and reliable. His returning has also improved immensely.”

On becoming the World No. 1 this year, Murray reflected on how he almost quit. “It’s an awesome feeling to get there, especially when you consider how close I came to packing it all in a few years ago. If it weren’t for my wife, Ale, and coach, Louis Cayer, who knows where I’d be now? They both believed that I could do great things. It took me a lot longer to realise it.”

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Of late, Jamie hasn’t had to look too far afield for inspiration. “I guess that over the last few years, seeing Andy do well all the time, I’ve wanted some of that success as well. I think the past 18 months, I have started to really show what I can do on the tennis court,” he said.

Only one Murray brother has ever won two Grand Slams in the same season and it’s the one who you might encounter on the Jubilee line, who spoke at the US Open of “starting to move out of Andy’s shadow a little bit”. As Jamie said in New York: “Look, he’s had a great year, but he couldn’t win this one [the US Open] and I did so, yeah, get it up you, Andy.”  •

Dominic Thiem has practised on the blue centre court at The O2. He’s eaten in player dining and walked around the expansive arena. He’s also sat in his own personal locker room.

Yet the 23 year old is still having a hard time convincing himself that he’s actually here, in southeast London, at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, among the Top 8 players in the world.

“Everything is very impressive. It’s a unique tournament… The way the players get treated, it’s very special. I still can hardly believe I made it here,” he said.

It has been a breakthrough season for Thiem. At the end of 2015, he was ranked No. 20 and had won three ATP World Tour titles, but they had all come on clay.

This season, the Austrian has more than shown his improved game on grass and hard courts. He’s won four ATP World Tour titles on three different surfaces – clay, grass and hard. He was also the only player to win at least 25 matches on clay and hard courts.

The Austrian also set career highs in match wins (57) and finals appearances (6). “It was an amazing year, and I never expected that it’s going to happen the way it happened,” he said.

Perhaps most impressive about Thiem’s 2016 has been his improved winning percentage during his closest matches. The right-hander leads the ATP World Tour with a 21-2 record in matches that have come down to a decisive set. Before this season, Thiem had a losing record in such contests (19-21).

The tournament will get very real for Thiem on Sunday. The youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings faces second seed Novak Djokovic for the fourth time. Thiem is going for his first win against Djokovic, who’s won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals the past four years.

The two played twice earlier this season, in the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where Thiem fell 6-3, 6-4 and went one for 15 on break points. They also met in Paris during the Roland Garros semi-finals, where Djokovic advanced 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.

“I know a little bit, what I have to expect. Still the last time I played him I think he was at his absolute peak, at Roland Garros. There was no chance for me, so I hope that he’s not playing like there because otherwise I think nobody has a chance against him,” Thiem said. “I just hope that I have a good start.”

Thiem, who is also the youngest player to qualify for the finale, doesn’t mind being the most youthful player in London. He hopes that he makes many returns to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and that some of his ATP World Tour counterparts join him during future seasons.

“Of course I hope that there are maybe one or two more young players here but still, it’s only eight spots,” Thiem said. “It’s really, really tough to get here. You have to play very consistent and [have] a successful season.”

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Roger Federer added to his record haul of ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, adding two more trophies in 2016 to take his tally to 33 since 2003.

The 35-year-old was selected by fans as the ATPWorldTour.com Fans’ Favourite presented by Moët & Chandon for a 14th straight year and by fellow players as winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for a 12th time.

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Federer shared a special video message during the Awards ceremony at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Official Launch Party presented by Moët & Chandon, held Thursday evening at the Cutty Sark in London.

“I just wanted to thank all the fans who have voted for me for ATP Fans’ Favourite,” he said. “This is probably the toughest year I’ve had on tour by far with the injuries and the only 7-10 tournaments I was able to play this year. This award this year means the most to me by virtue of the tough year that I’ve had, so thank you to everybody for coming out to vote for me.”

The 35-year-old Swiss received 56 per cent of all votes cast by fans. Andy Murray finished second, followed by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori. For the player-voted Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award category, he beat out fellow nominees Murray, Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, extending his reign to six straight years. He also won the award six straight years from 2004-09.

“The Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award voted by the players is fantastic,” he said. “I really appreciate it. I try to be a good sport on the court and then of course that players think I’m a good role model or a good guy to play against, that’s really cool, but there’s a lot of other good guys out there who do exactly the same, if not better, so thank you to those guys as well.”

Federer has also won ATP World Tour No. 1 presented by Emirates five times (2004-07, 2009) and the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award twice (2006, 2013). This year’s ATP World Tour No. 1 has yet to be decided, with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic battling this coming week at The O2 for the year-end honours. The Swiss stated that he would be paying close attention to the season finale, where he is a six-time champion.

“I’ll be following the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals on TV as close as possible because I think it’s one of the best tournaments we have on tour,” he said. “I think it’s going to be really, really exciting.”