ATP World Tour Finals 2014: Draw, Groups, Fixtures, Dates, Live Stream, TV Info
Novak Djokovic heads into this year's ATP World Tour Finals in London as world No. 1 and looking to win the season-ending tournament for a third consecutive year in the elite eight-man event.
He will battle with Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic for a place in the semi-finals after the groups were named Monday, announced by the official ATP Tour Twitter account:
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The Serbian claimed the BNP Paribas Masters on Sunday, beating Milos Raonic, but has arguably been dealt the easier group as home favourite Andy Murray lines up with Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori and Raonic in Group B.
Despite his position high up in the world rankings, No. 3 Rafael Nadal will not be on show in London as he has withdrawn to have appendix surgery, per The Guardian.
Read on for the full draw and fixture details as the best tennis players on the planet go head-to-head.
Dates: Sunday, Nov. 9, to Sunday, Nov. 16
TV Info: BBC (UK), Tennis Channel (US, subscription required)
Live Stream: BBC iPlayer, Tennis Channel
Draw and Preview
Unlike every other ATP event, the Finals are not a simple knockout tournament. The first stage adopts a round-robin group format with two four-man pools. BBC's Piers Newbury provides the contenders:
The two groups were drawn on Monday, as displayed here:
| Group A | Group B |
| Novak Djokovic | Roger Federer |
| Stan Wawrinka | Andy Murray |
| Tomas Berdych | Kei Nishikori |
| Marin Cilic | Milos Raonic |
Here is the schedule of play for Sunday and Monday's matches.
| Kei Nishikori vs. Andy Murray | Sunday, Nov. 9 | Not before 9 a.m./2 p.m. |
| Roger Federer vs. Milos Raonic | Sunday, Nov. 9 | Not before 3 p.m./8 p.m. |
| Stan Wawrinka vs. Tomas Berdych | Monday, Nov. 10 | Not before 9 a.m./2 p.m. |
| Novak Djokovic vs.Marin Cilic | Monday, Nov. 10 | Not before 3 p.m./8 p.m. |
While Djokovic is the favourite for the event, with such quality on show, all eight players are genuinely in with a chance of winning.
Federer has had a fantastic season, and although he is now unlikely to catch Djokovic in the world No. 1 spot, per Live Tennis, he is playing at such a high level that he could easily be picking up the trophy come Nov. 16:
"After Djokovic's Paris victory, does Federer have any chance of reclaiming world no. 1 spot? http://t.co/RzG8suSbdb pic.twitter.com/bNoauzoWrS
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) November 2, 2014"
The legendary Swiss lost to Raonic last week in the quarter-finals in Paris, but prior to that he had won 17 consecutive matches, proving he still has what it takes to beat the best.
Equally, Murray has had a storming end to the season. Having dropped out of the world's top 10 earlier in the year, the Scot won events in Valencia, Vienna and China in September and October to storm back to the sixth spot in the rankings and qualify for London.
Nishikori has maintained his spot among the world's elite since breaking into the top 10 back in May and is the first Asian player to take part in the season-ending tournament.
He showed at the U.S. Open by beating Djokovic and fellow Finals competitor Wawrinka that, on his day, he is a match for anyone.
Cilic, Nishikori's victorious opponent in New York, qualifies thanks to his U.S. Open win and is ninth in the world but will be a tough opponent for anyone and is clearly raring to go:
Perennial Finals participant Berdych will also be a contender, the Czech's vast experience and terrific consistency making him one of the best players on the circuit.
The quality set to be on show in London is truly staggering and there should be some incredible matchups on the way to the final.
The two previous winners on show, Federer and Djokovic, are the favourites but no player can be written off as each man will be looking to end the year on an incredible high.
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