ATP World Tour Finals preview: Top eight look to end on a high note in London
The ATP World Tour Finals, which get under way at London's O2 Arena on Sunday 21 November, are set to cap off the tennis season in sublime fashion.
The event, which concludes every ATP Tour, sees the top eight players on the ATP Singles Ranking contest, the last title of the season.
Four semi-final spots are up for grabs as the players, divided into two groups, play each other in a round robin to determine the last four.
This year, Group A includes Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick of the USA and Czech Tomas Berdych.
Scotland's Andy Murray, Swiss Roger Federer, Robin Soderling of Sweden and Spain's David Ferrer make up Group B.
Murray opens against Soderling
Murray opens the tournament against Soderling on Sunday. On Monday 15 November, the Swede overtook the Scot in fourth place on the rankings by winning the Paris Masters final against Gael Monfils the day before.
Along with Djokovic, Murray and Soderling are still in with a chance of finishing as world number three in the rankings if their performances in the tournament are up to par.
Murray won two of his three games at last year's finals before losing out on a semi-final place to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, whose percentage of won games was stronger than the Scot's.
"It's an incredible atmosphere, a huge arena and it's one of the biggest competitions in tennis behind the Grand Slams, so I'm really looking forward to it," the 23-year-old Briton told his website ahead of the start of the tournament. "It would be a big
one psychologically to win, so I'll give it my best shot."
Federer enters as number two
Federer, whose only Grand Slam title of 2010 came in the Australian Open in January, enters the tournament as world number two after ending five of the last six seasons as the world's top-ranked player.
The Swiss, who will play Ferrer on Sunday, said it will be difficult to catch Nadal at the top of the rankings any time soon.
"It's not something I have in mind right now," Federer said about chasing the Spaniard. "The goal is to play well here in London and prepare for next season and hopefully at some stage get it back. If not then I will focus on just winning tournaments. That
is something I like doing as well! I have Australia to defend first. Rafa has no points to defend here, that's why things look very good for him for the next few months."
After playing 11 matches against Ferrer since 2003, Federer is still undefeated against the player, who is nonetheless expected to put up a stern fight on Sunday.
A more closely contested encounter may be when the Swiss plays Murray or Soderling, both of whom have overcome Federer during the current season.
On Monday, Djokovic will face Berdych in the early afternoon before Nadal and the hard-hitting Roddick play each other in the evening.
Nadal has won three of the pair's last four encounters, and will be expected to do so again on Monday.
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