London's O2 Arena To Host ATP Tour Finals Until 2015

London will host the ATP World Tour Finals through '15 after the men's tennis governing body revealed a "two-year contract extension" on Wednesday, according to Martyn Herman of REUTERS. The O2 Arena on the banks of the River Thames has "staged the season-ending showpiece" since '09, and the original five-year deal was due to expire in '13. The tournament, featuring the top eight singles and doubles pairs this year, has total prize money of $5.5M (REUTERS, 11/7). BLOOMBERG's Danielle Rossingh reported that financial services company Barclays Plc also "extended its title sponsorship of the tournament" (BLOOMBERG, 11/7). GAZETAESPORTIVA.net wrote that the announcement "frustrated the plan of Rio de Janeiro," which had hoped to host the tournament in the upcoming years. The city had hoped to take advantage of the attention generated by sports in the country with both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games already scheduled to take place in the coming years (GAZETAESPORTIVA.net, 11/7).