The end of season ATP Finals will get underway on Sunday November 15th at the O2 in London.
For the first time ever, no fans will be present, but the top eight players in the world will be there.
Final time in London for Finals
The event will be staged at the O2 for the final time, with the eight players drawn in two groups. Each player will play each other player in the group with the top two going into the semi-finals.
Current holder Stefanos Tsitsipas has made it into the final eight, but he comes into the event in bad form. He has made early exits from tournaments in Austria and France and looks short of confidence.
Djokovic starting as clear favourite
Unsurprisingly Novak Djokovic will start off as clear favourite with no Roger Federer available. The Swiss player is recovering from a knee injury which has seen him miss a fair chunk of the season.
Djokovic made an excellent start to the season by winning in Australia and Dubai before the enforced suspension of the season. He won on his comeback in the Cincinnati Masters, before being disqualified from the US Open.
Djokovic followed up a victory in the Italian Open by reaching the final of the French Open. The Serbian is hunting down his sixth ATP Final in his career.
Sixteen years in a row for Nadal
Rafael Nadal has qualified for the ATP Finals for the last 16 years, an astonishing record for the Spaniard. However, despite this outstanding record he has still not lifted the title after twice finishing as runner up.
Nadal has won the Mexican Open and French Open this season, but his overall form has been patchy. The popular Spaniard hasn’t reached the final of this event since 2013- where he lost to Djokovic.
Medvedev comes to London after Paris win
Daniil Medvedev struggled to find his form early on in the season after early exits from tournaments in Australia, Holland and France.
After the restart he improved by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open before losing out to eventual winner Dominic Thiem. Last week he won the Paris Masters and is a player to watch this week in London.
Could Thiem go one better than last year
Dominic Thiem reached the final of the Australian Open back in January and has since gone on to win the US Open. The Austrian claimed his first major by winning at New York and finished runner up here twelve months ago.
The World number seven Alexander Zverev has also qualified for the end of season event in London. The Russian was unfortunate to lose out in the US Open Final. He has since claimed two hard court tournaments in Germany and is a tough player to beat.
Debut for red hot Russian Rublev
Making his debut at the ATP Finals is another Russian Andrey Rublev. The ever improving Rublev has won five titles on the ATP circuit during 2020. However, he has failed to get beyond the quarter finals in all three Grand Slams. He is also attempting to be the first Russian to win the event since Nikolay Davydenko in 2009.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was victorious in London last year, but his form has been mediocre this season. The Greek player has made early exits from events in Austria and France and will do well to make it two ATP Finals in a row.
Last player to qualify for London is Argentinian Schwartzman
Diego Schwartzman was the final player to qualify for the ATP Finals. The Argentinian beat Nadal on the way to the final of the Italian Open before losing out to the Spaniard in the last four of the French Open.
Schwartzman reached another final in Germany and on his day is a match for the best in the world.
A mouth watering week of tennis lies ahead
So, let battle commence gentleman and the very best of luck to all eight of you. Come next Sunday we will have one of the eight crowned ATP Final Champion.
Such a pity that no crowds will be able to witness the worlds best next week in London. Still, we can watch the event unfold on Amazon Prime throughout the week at this wonderful arena for tennis.
On Thursday afternoon the Groups were drawn for the event.
Group Tokyo 1970
Novak Djokovic
Daniil Medvedev
Alexander Zverev
Diego Schwartzman
Group London 2020
Rafael Nadal
Dominic Thiem
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Andrey Rublev