November 4, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Calvin Rhoden
With the field of eight all set for the ATP World Tour Finals in London next week, the ATP released the group draws for the tournament. As expected, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer earned the top seed in each respective group. Since 2003, Federer and Djokovic have combined to win all but two ATP Finals, and the two enter this year’s tournament with supreme confidence. Below is the draw:
Group A
Group B
Novak Djokovic
Roger Federer
Stan Wawrinka
Kei Nishikori
Tomas Berdych
Andy Murray
Marin Cilic
Milos Raonic
The round-robin stage begins Sunday, Nov. 9, as two matches get underway.
The first match of the tournament will pit Kei Nishikori against Andy Murray, two players who were not in this tournament a year ago. Murray had season-ending back surgery which forced him to miss the finals, while Nishikori was still a relatively unknown to the tennis world. Murray has won all three previous matches between the two.
In the second match on Sunday, Roger Federer will take on Canadian Milos Raonic in a rematch of the Paris quarterfinals last week. The six-time ATP Finals Champion from Switzerland is seeking his first title at the end-of-the-year tournament since 2011. Raonic enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2014 and was the final player to qualify for London with his run to the BNP Paribas Masters title match in Paris. Federer is 6-1 all-time against Raonic, with the only loss coming in the pair’s most recent match.
The other two opening round-robin matches will be in Group A and take place on Monday. Stan Wawrinka battles Tomas Berdych while top-ranked Novak Djokovic will battle US Open champion Marin Cilic.
