Davis Cup

The tennis was fabulous but the venue was not good. Why weren't the spectators allowed to take water into the arena? Why are there no food or drink kiosks within the arena? The fan zone (and food and drink) were outside and the opposite side of the venue to where our seats were so it was impossible to pop out quickly. There were NO screens showing the tennis in the fan zone - or outside the seating area so if you went to the WC you missed tennis for at least 2 games. The camera placement meant that we could not easily leave our seats as we had to pass in front of the whole row - this surely is a fire risk/Health and Safety issue. On Tuesday the food/drink stalls ran out of wine completely and that was early evening.

On the plus side - the atmosphere was good inside the arena and the view from the seats was good. And it was easy to get to the venue by public transport (although the Davis Cup website gave the wrong Metro station to use).

I attended 2 days of the Davis Cup.

Notifications re size of bags directions etc were clear The tennis was fantastic and organisation was good . Sadly there are things re AO Arena :

- Inspite of being told small bags snd no food allowed - many spectators had large bags and picnics ! Worrying re consistency re security .

- I witnessed some some staff extremely rude and unhelpful to people

- food shortages . Given that play went on for 8-9 hours you would think they would plan !

- water fountains not working

- some spectators couldn’t cope with the very steep steps ( bottom tier) and had to leave - some were 60+ some weren’t

- wheelchair users put ( squashed) in a small area at back of tier 1 ( awful )

I had a fantastic 2 days but the Arena boasts inclusivity and accessibility which was NOT evidenced and staff need some training re how to be helpful

not good

The information about travelling to and from the venue was rubbish. No information about suitable drop off or pick up points. False information saying there would be taxis at the North entrance (which is not described on any venue map so where is it?). When the match finished at 01.00 on Thursday morning the stewards said there were none. I had to walk 4.8 miles getting back to my rented apartment at 02.30. I am a 66 year old female and was on my own. Anyway every day should have started at 14.00 (or even earlier) so that there was at least a realistic chance of people using public transport. I later discovered OVO bikes and used one of those to travel on Friday night. These were not mentioned in the venue information either.

Tennis excellent. Great atmosphere. I would prefer an earlier start to enable an earlier finish. Long queues for food and drink.