My last ever ATP World Tour finals for Sky Sports

Up on top of the O2

I have just finished working on Sky Sports' last ever tennis event, the ATP World Tour Finals, for the foreseeable future. Maybe one day it will come back but for now the global giant Amazon has taken it on.

I was fortunate to be asked to do my first ATP back in 2009. In those days we had a tiny studio and even tinier make up area if you can call it that. It was a set up on a chair outside the studio with limited lighting. I shared the space with the lighting director, an air conditioning unit and spare camera kit - luckily we got on.

Eventually we moved across the way to a larger studio and I was able to secure a little more space (although not much) with better lighting. I would do Annabel’s hair and makeup at the hotel in the comfort of my room and do the guys at the location.

We had two sessions per day which always seemed to run over giving us a slap dash break for dinner and then a rush to get to a news cross down on the court side, then another dash to the fan zone for the evening show opener. The Evening sessions would often overrun and we’d be lucky to see our beds before midnight. We've also had some great guests over the years including Peter Fleming, Boris Becker, Judy Murray, Pat Cash, Jamie Delgado, Lleyton Hewitt, Lindsay Davenport and Marion Bartoli, to name just a few.

Marcus, Annabel and Greg

Last year the fan zone area disappeared due to the construction of a shopping centre within the O2 dome which opened this year as the Icon Outlet. No more running to various locations with indigestion. For our last 8 days of broadcasting they cut the screen time for the presenters giving us an altogether much more relaxed experience with a proper meal break every day. This was also probably the first year we didn’t overrun on any matches – most were done in 2 sets.

On our last day, the presenting team, a producer, cameraman and I had the opportunity to walk over the top of the O2 to film the opener for the finale. We couldn't have asked for a better day. If you ever get the chance to do it, I would highly recommend it. Safety is obviously the primary concern so we had to watch a video, wear all the gear including safety harness and boots before embarking on the 15 minute climb which begins with a flight of stairs. The view from the top was amazing – albeit blowing a bit of a gale up there on the day. The descent felt a little harder as there are no stairs on the other side and quite a steep drop on the last bit to negotiate. We had a very experienced team of guides to help us along the way and never once felt nervous or insecure.

Annabel transformed

Back on the ground again, we had to prepare for the final show. Annabel's windblown hair and make up had to be redone and Marcus and Greg groomed for the camera.

After a decade of epic finals, it was a fantastic way to end our last show watching a relative newcomer, 21 year old Alexander Zverev beat the number 1 Novak Djokovic in 2 straight sets.

The end of an era, I will always treasure my memories from the US Open and the ATP World Tour and will miss working with such a fab team of people.

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We stayed at Novotel Canary Wharf, just one stop away on the Jubilee line.