Barclays has been backing grassroots tennis through the Spaces for Sports programme as part of its sponsorship of the successful Barclays ATP World Tour Finals staged at the O2 for the first time.

The tournament is the end-of-season showdown which features the top eight players from the ATP Tour, offering each the chance to finish as the season’s No. 1 player.  It comprises a round-robin phase before semi-finals and final, with Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko triumphing in this year’s event.

In the week leading up to the tournament tennis legend Pat Cash joined inner city youngsters to unveil a new tennis wall at the Lilian Baylis Community Hub in Kennington, London. The wall enhanced tennis facilities already provided at the site as part of Barclays Spaces for Sports, the community sports programme using sport to revitalise disadvantaged communities in countries around the world where Barclays operates.

A similar wall is being built at the Tottenham flagship site at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre in North London to enhance existing tennis courts. The walls offer greater access to grassroots tennis in two deprived, urban areas where there is otherwise limited access to sporting facilities.

Other sites that cater for tennis will be consulted on how they can be supported over the next four years of Barclays commitment to the ATP World Tour Finals. This forms part of a wider objective - working alongside Barclays partners the Football Foundation - to ensure all 200 sites in the UK become self-supporting with a sustainable future.

And on Tuesday, November 24 around 600 young people from various schools and groups - many of whom already use Barclays Spaces for Sports sites in disadvantaged areas of London - attended the afternoon's play at the O2. A group of around 30 youngsters who use the tennis courts at the Tottenham flagship site were also lucky enough to meet and have their picture taken with US star Andy Roddick.

In addition to this, during every match of this year's tournament a 60-second film promoting Barclays Spaces for Sports was played on the big screens.

This is the first year of Barclays five-year deal with the ATP as title sponsors of the World Tour Finals event, which will be held at The O2 in South-East London for each of the five years.