“Talk about it!”

Monday at The O2

Players Meet Maradona

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were among the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals stars to meet footballing legend Diego Maradona Monday at The O2. The multilingual Djokovic, who conversed in Italian with the former Argentina captain and Napoli striker, said that Maradona, famed for his “Hand Of God” goal in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, had a few tips for him on hand skills.

“He’s actually doing coaching; you didn’t know that, for me (smiling)?  We’re working on some specifics, like how to play with hands, high balls (laughter),” joked the Serbian. “We spoke in Italian, which made some exercise for me.  He has played so many years in Italy, so he speaks very well.  I still have to work on my Spanish. Tomorrow we spoke about eventually him coming to practice and playing a little bit of tennis and football.”

Minutes after his meeting with Maradona, Murray showed his excitement by posting on Twitter: “Just met maradona, legend, is he best player ever?” Before following with a photo of himself and the Argentine with the caption: “The legend! Not the tall skinny one! Haha”

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Celebrity Spotting

Diego Maradona was not the only famous face in attendance at The O2 Monday. Australian pop star Kylie Minogue was courtside to enjoy Rafael Nadal’s clash with Andy Roddick and drew huge cheers from the crowd when she was presented on the big screen. Kylie was joined in the courtside box by former World No. 1 Carlos Moya, who was honoured in a special retirement ceremony at The O2 on Sunday, and actresses January Jones and Rose Byrne.

Inside The Fan Zone

Shortly after he and partner, Wesley Moodie, were beaten in their opening Group B doubles match, Dick Norman was out on the practice court in the Fan Zone working on his serve. The Belgian, who lost his serve twice in the 1-6, 2-6 defeat, went through a series of drills using empty ball cans as targets in a bid to improve before the eighth seeds’ next match.

Claire Webster, a Federer fan, working for Pimms in the Fan Zone, confessed to enjoying her role. “It’s always busy before the first doubles match of the day, but then quietens down for a couple of hours. My supervisor allows us to watch some of the singles matches during the lull. So I enjoyed watching Novak Djokovic for the first time.”

Claire also revealed how she had passed Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddicken route to their match on Centre Court at The O2. “Rafa was listening to music, his head bowed, while Roddick was completely focused and looking straight on. Rafa looked cute.”

Andy Metcalfe, a student in London, couldn’t believe his luck when he got tickets to watch Nadal and Roddick. “I go to Wimbledon each year, but did not live in London when the Finals were staged in 2009. I follow all of the top players, so it is great the Top 8 are competing here. [Daniel] Nestor and [Nenad] Zimonjic showed us amateurs how doubles should be played.”

What Will You Have Tonight, Sir?

Getting into London’s top restaurants at a moment’s notice can be tricky, but not for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals players who have well-connected player concierge, “Fix It Fraser”, to call upon. While the players have been in London, Andy Roddick has eaten at Nobu, The Ivy, and Asia de Cuba; Berdych also sampled Nobu’s sushi; and World No. 1 doubles duo Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan enjoyed the Jersey Boys musical seven rows from the front at the Prince Edward Theatre.